I saw these posted on another forum, I think it's an e-mail going around at the moment, well worth the read.
Every American should read these Four SHORT, but GREAT Stories ...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
Powell 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, included in which both French and American, were taking part.
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 ******** 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 - "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 damn Frenchmen to show it to."
You could have heard a pin drop
Every American should read these Four SHORT, but GREAT Stories ...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
Powell 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, included in which both French and American, were taking part.
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 ******** 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 - "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 damn Frenchmen to show it to."
You could have heard a pin drop
