You Could Have Heard A Pin Drop

Robert Whiting, an elderly American gentleman 83 years old and a retired High School History teacher arrived in Paris by plane with a tour group.  At French Customs, he took several minutes to locate his passport in one of his coat pockets.

"You have been to France before, monsieur?" a French customs officer asked sarcastically.

Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously.

"Then you should know enough to have your passport ready."

Mr. Whiting replied  "The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it."

"Impossible,  French law requires all Americans to have to show their passports on arrival in France!" said the French customs official.

Mr Whiting gave the French Official a long hard look, then, quietly explained, ''Well, when I came ashore in 1944 it was at Omaha Beach on D-Day to help liberate your country.  At that time none of us could not find a single Frenchman to show a passport to."

You could have heard a pin drop.

What a few more "You Could Have Heard a Pin Drop Stories? 

These are all very good short stories that every American government official - Federal, State and Local - should know and remember.  The next time you are criticized for the way you voted - never, ever apologize.

Sit back relax and learn ...

Dean Rusk - President Kennedy's Secretary of State - was in France in the early 60's when President Charles DeGaulle made the decision to pull France out of NATO.  President {Former General} DeGaulle said to Mr. Rusk he wanted all US military out of France as soon as possible.

Mr. Rusk looked him straight in the eyes and responded,  "Does that include those who are buried here as well?"

DeGaulle never responded to Dean Rusk.

You could have heard a pin drop.

While in England, attending a large conference, Colin Powell, as the Secretary, was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans {the American Plans} for Iraq were just another example of  'empire building' by George Bush.

Mr. Powell turned to the Arch Bishop and said,  "Over the years, the United States has sent many of  its finest young men and women into great peril to fight for others freedom beyond our borders.  The only amount of land the United States has ever asked for in return was enough to bury those that could not return."

You could have heard a pin drop.

At another European conference held in France a number of international engineers were in attendance. During one of the morning breaks, a French engineer came running back into the room saying,  "Have you heard the latest dumb stunt the American's are doing?  They are sending an aircraft carrier to Indonesia because of the tsunami.  What do they intend to do, bomb Indonesia?"

A Boeing Aircraft Corporation engineer who was in attendance spoke up and said:  "Every American aircraft carrier has three fully functioning hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people a day;  they are all nuclear powered and can supply unlimited emergency electrical power to critical facilities on shore; they each have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 4,000 people three meals a day, they can produce 72,000 thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters which can be used to transport the injured and any victims to and from their flight deck. 

We Sir, have eleven such ships; said the Boeing Engineer,  how many does France have?"

You could have heard a pin drop.

A few years later a U.S. Navy Admiral attended a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S., England, Canada, Australia and France. During an evening cocktail reception, the American Admiral found himself standing with a large group of officers. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks.

One of the French Admirals suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans are content to only learn English.  He then asked,  "Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than French?"

Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied, "Maybe it's because the Brit's, Canadians, Aussie's and Americans arranged it so you and your fellow countrymen wouldn't have to learn to speak German."

You could have heard a pin drop.