You could have heard a pin drop

> 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.

>

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

>

>

>

>

> 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

> when 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.

>

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

>

>

>

>

> 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.

>