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 America's 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. If you ever take the time to check, you will find the only land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those who 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 was 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 pulled? He has sent an aircraft carrier toIndonesia 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.
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A U.S. 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.
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AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE.........
A group of Americans, retired teachers, recently went to France on a tour.
One of them was an elderly, retired teacher aged 83. At Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry-on bag.
'You have been to France before, Monsieur?' the Customs Officer asked sarcastically. The old fella agreed he had, indeed, been to France previously.
'Then you should know enough to have your passport ready,' was the curt, smart-arse response.
The American said hesitantly, 'The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it.'
'Impossible! You Americans always have to show your passports on arrival in France!'
The American Elder 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.
