A good friend sent me this by email. Thought I'd share it with you....While it's true we make errors, we try. To act is to err, but that does not excuse inaction. People have different opinions, but one thing we should all do is stand behind the Marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen who lay it on the line for all of us, so we CAN have opinions and express them. They don't make the decision to go, but they are there to do it when it needs getting done.
Let's support them, and try to figure out how best to serve them for a change. There'll be folks who say figure a way to avoid it...and I'll but that, because each of them is a Universe. But this thread isn't about that. It's some support for guys like messiah1 (remember that Marine!) and men and women who have done it, and who will continue to do so... and our pride and love for them!
You Could Have Heard A Pin Drop
At a time when our president and other politicians tend to
apologize for our country's prior actions, here's a refresher on
how some of our former patriots handled negative comments about
our country.
These are good:
JFK'S Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the early 60's when
De Gaulle decided to pull out of NATO. De Gaulle said he wanted
all US military out of France as soon as possible.
Rusk responded, "Does that include those who are buried here?"
De Gaulle did not respond.
You could have heard a pin drop....
~~~~~~~~~~~~
When in England at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the
Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an
example of 'empire building' by George Bush.
He answered by saying,
"Over the years, the United States has sent many of
its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom
beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for
in return is enough to bury those that did not
return."
You could have heard a pin drop....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was a conference in France where a number of international engineers
were taking part, including French and American. During a break,
one of the French engineers came back into the room saying,
"Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft
carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he
intend to do, bomb them?"
A Boeing engineer
stood up and replied quietly: "Our carriers have three
hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are
nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to
shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to
feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand
gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry
half a
dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and
from their flight deck. We have eleven such ships;
how many does France have?"
You could have heard a pin drop....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included
Admirals from the U.S. , English, Canadian, Australian and French
Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with
a large group of officers that included personnel from most of those
countries.Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped
their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many
languages, Americans learn only English. He then asked, "Why is it that
we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than
speaking French?"
Without hesitating,
the American Admiral replied, "Maybe it's because the
Brit's, Canadians, Aussie's and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't
have to speak German."
You could have heard a pin drop....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AND
THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE...
Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane.
At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport
in his carry on.
"You have been to France before, monsieur?" the customs officer asked
sarcastically.
Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously.
"Then you should know enough to have your passport ready."
The American said, "The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it."
"Impossible. Americans always have to show their passports on arrival in
France !"
The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look.
Then he quietly explained, ''Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in
1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find a single Frenchmen
to show a passport to."
You could have heard a pin drop....
