A few things to consider

[trystinn]

Not that I'm into the whole rah-rah Patriotism thing, but hubby sent me this and since I am a huge fan of the "you don't know what you're f*cking talk about, so sit down and shut up" retort, I'm posting this here.

Behind a cut for those easily offended.

"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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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? '
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.'

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.'

"

Comments

[dana3.livejournal.com]

I get this stuff, along with some amazing photos, from an old colleague at DoD. She'll retire some day and the mail will slow down, but until then it IS a goldmine. Thanks for the reprints!

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

Anytime. I have an aunt who works for the VA, lovely people who do a hard job with little financial or community support, sadly.