Once upon a time …when our politicians didn't tend to apologize for our country's prior actions, here's 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 DeGaulle decided to pull out of NATO. 

DeGaulle said he wanted all US  

   military out of France as 

soon as possible. 

   Rusk responded,  "Does that include 

those who are buried here?" 

   DeGaulle 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.

  

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

  

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.

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

  

If 

you are proud to be an 

American, pass this on! If not, delete it.

  

  

I am proud to be of this land, 

AMERICA