Just Sad

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/05/18/france-breaks-promise-to-fly-american-wwii-vets-over-for-d-day-anniversary/

I can’t believe this

Without us France wouldn’t exist

What a bunch of Dumb es

Without France we lose the revolution.

I do agree with you though.

If it wasn’t for our WWII Veterans France would be speaking German.

I wonder if that means freedom fries will be coming back?

Look, I realize that bashing the cheese eating surrender monkey nation of France is technically a bigger sport than the NFL in terms of fan participation.

However… The “promise” seems to be hearsay. Somebody at the French embassy allegedly made it. Nobody seems to know who. It was never made by the French government.

Should the French government have offered to pay? Probably, but making them out as if they reneged on a promise that was never made is a bit tabloid trash IMO and of course there’s the extension that this makes the whole nation ungrateful…

My personal experience is that the French are profoundly grateful for the Allied liberation of France. They are also deeply embarrassed by the combination of their own military’s defeat and the collaboration with the Germans by some of their countrymen/women.

This is a very difficult subject for the French. One one hand they are grateful, but they are also a little resentful that they are singled out as if they were the only country to “surrender” to the Germans or to have their countrymen turn into collaborators.

To be really accurate, in the early years of the war, the German war machine ran over plenty of countries and they pushed the British right off the European mainland as well. The primary weapon that most probably saved Britain from becoming one of the larger German provinces was the fortunate placement of the English Channel.

France had plenty of company in the “surrender” category. I would also question if the depth of their collaboration was any deeper than some other countries that quickly got cozy with the Germans as an effort to save their own skins or after Germany invaded.

Sorry, don’t mean to dampen a good game of France bashing, but IMO as Americans we need to get back to the long view and treat our friends like friends again. Don’t know if anyone has noticed, but on the global scene we aren’t exactly the Mr. Popularity we once were. I would venture to guess that the VAST majority of Americans don’t even know that France turned the tide of the Revolutionary War in our favor. Does that make us all “ungrateful Americans”?

Grouse

Soooo grouse…..

…how much French are you?

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Soooo grouse…..

…how much French are you?

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Exactly 0%. All of my ancestors are Bohemian with the exception of a few oddball Czechs and some mirth-filled Prussians thrown in just for variety.

Mrs. Grouse happens to be British and her best friend (and maid of honor at our wedding) is French. It was through her and her parents and meeting some of their relatives (in France) that I got some real insight into a more nuanced picture of how the French see the war, the relationship with America, etc.

A friend of mine in the UK (and best man at my wedding) introduced me to his grandfather. This gentleman was a Paratrooper in the British Army and his D-Day story (as he told it) was that he participated in D-Day for, “Only a few moments.”

He jumped out of an airplane at 3:00 AM on D-Day. And parachuted down in the pre-dawn darkness. Unfortunately, he got a little close to the rallying point for his unit, a little Normandy country church with a churchyard around it. He landed on top of cast iron grave marker and was impaled through the shoulder on top of it. He hung there until a couple of other British Paratroopers found him and pulled him off(!). They then figured he was done for and hid him in a hedge row where he called out in desperation to some French locals who were passing by and they kept him alive and away from the Germans for 5 more days until they managed to make contact with the Allied forces and get somebody to come and get him.

Given that Germans simply shot anyone in France who was even suspected of aiding the enemy, I’d say only that I would not want to be in a position that would test my courage the way they were. It’s easy to SAY what you think you’d do…

Grouse

Interesting info Grouse, I still want to tell my joke though.

I saw an ad on EBAY for a French army rifle…

Mint condition French rifle, never fired, dropped twice.

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Interesting info Grouse, I still want to tell my joke though.

I saw an ad on EBAY for a French army rifle…

Mint condition French rifle, never fired, dropped twice.

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That’s a good one BT. Here’s another:

Q: The word “the” is the most frequently used word in the English language. What’s the most frequently used word in French?

A: “Retreat!”

Grouse

Q: How many gears does a French tank have?
A: 4 reverse and 1 forward, in case the enemy attacks from the rear.

Q: How can you identify a French Infantryman?
A: Sunburned armpits.

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Sunburned armpits.

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Now that’s funnuh raught thar
Ah doan care who yar
That’s some funny stuff raught thar