THE 4th OF JULY

[GinaGaller1978]

These short stories seem appropriate on this day close to July 4th:

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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then 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 intended 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 Brits,
Canadians, Aussies 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...

A group of Americans, retired teachers, recently went to France
on a tour. 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 your
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 '44 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find any Frenchmen to
show it to.'

You could have heard a pin drop.

What Is A Veteran?

A 'Veteran' -- whether active duty, discharged, retired, or
reserve -- is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank
check made payable to 'The United States of America,' for an amount of 'up to,
and including his life.'

That is honor, and there are way too many people in this
country today, who no longer understand that fact.