Roy Exum: Fourth Of July, 2015

  • Saturday, July 4, 2015
  • Roy Exum
Roy Exum
Roy Exum

As one who is about good and fed up with being “socially correct” so less than 10 percent of us can dictate how the other 90 percent of us ought to think, I am going to pause today in order to share a wonderfully fun email that has been around for a while. It is aptly called, “You Could Have Heard A Pin Drop.”

Before I do, I got a sweet note the other day from my dear friend Mike Stewart, who once coached the Baylor School football team, and it explains, pretty precisely I believe, what is “really” going on in our country today.

Coach Stewart, if you please…

* * *

“Last weekend we were returning from a combined family reunion and wedding of a niece in Chapel Hill, N.C.  We stopped at a Cracker Barrel outside of Asheville, NC for lunch and, while waiting for our table, I noticed the hostess bring a chair from the dining room and sit it next to the hostess station.  Soon after that two waitresses brought an elderly gentlemen to the chair, each one assisting him with their arms, so he could sit while waiting for his table.

“I noticed the cap he was wearing said ‘WW II – Korea’ on the front and on the back it said, ‘Veteran of Two Wars.’  I walked over to him, shook his hand and thanked him for his extraordinary service.  I mentioned to him that my father had served as a Marine in the South Pacific during WW II and my wife's father had served in the Army in Europe during the same conflict.

“We made our way to our table and five minutes later I saw the hostess once again escorting this veteran, arm-in-arm, to his table quite a distance away from us.  When our waitress came to take our order, I asked if she had seen the gentleman come in and she said she had.  I told her I wanted to buy his lunch as just a small token of my appreciation for what he and his generation have meant to this country.

“She said she would be happy to tell his waitress and she would get his bill to me.  A few minutes later, our waitress returned to tell me that she was sorry but by the time she got to the gentleman's waitress two other people had already offered to do the same thing and she had promised she would give it to the first person that had asked.

“While disappointed, it gave me a great feeling to know there are still people out there who care about what the generations before us did to allow us to live as we do.

“The added bonus to this story is that it gave me a chance to give my two beautiful granddaughters, ages nine and seven, who were along on the trip, a brief history lesson because they wanted to know why I wanted to buy lunch for a complete stranger.”

* * *

Is that America at its best or what? Coach Stewart is symbolic of so many of us who care very deeply and I’ll guarantee you there are more of “us” than “them.” This is still the greatest country that was ever created and never forget in whose name it was created.

Now, here is a series of vignettes that have been circulated on the internet for several years and they make me giggle every time I read them. What better time to share them than on the 239th anniversary of our Independence Day.

* * *

YOU COULD HAVE HEARD A PIN DROP

JFK’s Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the early 60s when Charles de Gaulle decided to pull out of NATO. De Gaulle said he wanted all U.S. military out of France as soon as possible.

Rusk responded, “Does that include those who are buried here?”

DeGaulle did not respond.

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.

* * *

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 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.

NOTE: For the record, the United States provided $350 million in emergency aid after the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia. At the height of the Dept. of Defense humanitarian support activities, there were nearly 16,000 U.S. military personnel in the region focused on this effort. There were 26 ships, 58 helicopters, and 43 fixed wing aircraft. Over 10 million pounds of food and supplies were provided by the United States in addition to over 400,000 gallons of fresh water. Over 2,500 medical patients were treated and a supplemental $950 million was allocated to help rebuild the country. (Do you still want to apologize to everybody and everything for being an American?)

* * *

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 United States 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 finally…

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 their passports upon 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 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn’t find a single Frenchmen to show a passport to.”

You could have heard a pin drop.

* * *

As you celebrate our Independence and our country, let’s vow to celebrate one another. No matter of race, creed, political beliefs, neighborhoods or whatever, we are bound together by the fact we are Americans and, my goodness, we should act like it.

royexum@aol.com

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