Posted on 04/22/2018 9:30:14 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Macron will offer an oak sapling taken from the scene of a key World War One battle, where the Marine Corps repelled a German offensive in the final year of the conflict almost exactly a century ago, the French presidency said on Sunday.
The sapling grew close to the so-called Devil Dog fountain, a spot that has become legendary within Marines ranks.
It is where U.S. soldiers are said to have gathered after the battle, which took place in June 1918 in Belleau Wood, about 100 km (60 miles) northeast of Paris in the Champagne region.
It wont be Macrons first foray into soft diplomacy and symbolism. During a state visit to China, the French president went out of his way to please Chinese leader Xi Jinping by offering him a horse from the elite French Republican Guard.
That choice of gift was made after Xi had expressed fascination over the 104 horsemen who escorted him during his last visit to Paris in 2014.
In a display of cordiality towards Britain after its referendum on leaving the European Union, France also offered to loan its Bayeux Tapestry, an 11th century treasure that tells the story of William the Conquerors invasion of England in 1066.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
CINC should hang little effigies of EU ‘leaders’ from its limbs, engrave a plaque about watering the tree of liberty from time to time.
The sapling grew close to the so-called Devil Dog fountain, a spot that has become legendary within Marines ranks...............
The sapling grew close to the so-called Devil Dog fountain, a spot that has become legendary within Marines ranks. It is where U.S. soldiers are said to have gathered after the battle, which took place in June 1918 in Belleau Wood...
"The Battle the Saved the Marine Corps." Thanks BenLurkin.
Come on you sons of -———, do you want to live forever?!
WWI Marine Memorial at Belleau Wood, Chateau-Thierry - TripAdvisor (the monuments are huge, more pictures here)
I like many others have slagged the French from time to time, but if you ever stand at Yorktown battlefield before the monument to the French sailors and soldiers who saved our infant republic, you will forever more cut the French some slack.
The French fleet's victory at the Battle of the Capes saved our republic.
That’s a very smart and thoughtful gift. Much better than an iPod with his speeches on it.
My great-uncle served in the 38th Btn. Canadian Expeditionary Forces (CEF) in WWI, was wounded and died eight days later near the village of Dury, France. This was approximately two months before the Armistice. He's buried in a British Cemetery north or Boulogne. I took a day trip to Normandy, and now wish I had had more time to visit the area where he had been wounded, and the cemetery he's buried at. Many years before I was able to get a photo of his grave from the cemetery records department in Ottawa.
history ain’t wot its cracked up-2-b!
WTF’s in control is the only factor!
Never Fergit To Laugh! ;)
@PlanetWTF?
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Yup!
Liberal of course but a certain éclat
The French definitely helped us when we needed it.
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In times gone by they were one of our most stalwart of allies. Seems, though a somewhat socialist he appears to be, that Monsieur Macron remembers the past.
Two Frenchmen stopped Islams southwest approach into mother Europe
The French and their heirs exerted major power over England for centuries
The French got a big chunk of the colonial world and their influence in the USA is still felt
Im a Huguenot example
Napoleon and his Le Grand Armée were hell on wheels and Napoleon to his credit instituted some liberty to his subjects compared to most monarchs let alone emporers
The French fought tenaciously and died by the multi millions in WWI
They like Britain are a ghost of their former power but they are still on occasion relatable
And other times not
And thats the rub
And yes I like France....
I like Macron, he has proven to be something of a pleasant surprise. He’s even trying to reform France’s economy and praises American business and economic practices in some cases. He’s even trying to chip away at France’s intractable welfare system. He says he doesn’t want France left behind. He has been very friendly toward Trump even while the UK tried to poo-poo him.
You are right that France helped us a great deal with money, arms, and naval forces during the Revolution. They didn’t do it because they loved us though, they did it because they wanted to weaken Britain. Spain and Netherlands also helped. That doesn’t change my feelings about it. We took what help we could get. It isn’t remembered enough how much they helped. The colonies were struggling with financing the war before they intervened on our behalf.
That's NOTHING! In 2009 Obama gave Prime Minster Gordon Brown a box of DVD's with 25 movies ... after receiving a pen made from the same wood as the Resolute Desk. (Oh, and the DVD's couldn't be played on British systems) This horrible gift was topped in 2009 by a Ipod given to the Queen of England... with pictures of Obama's inauguration ... Trump has a low bar on this one...
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