Subject: 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.
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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 onboard 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
seawater each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters
for use intransporting 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 timeI 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
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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.
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