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 won’t be Macron’s 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 Conqueror’s invasion of England in 1066.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
An extremely thoughtful gift. Macron put more effort into it than the Obamas ever did with their trashy offerings.
Un beau geste. Merci. A nice gesture. Thank you.
He always spoke highly of the French.
I hope it is planted appropriately and is well taken care of, for many, many years.
Obunghole would have just thrown it in the trash.
I’m glad your Dad made it back home. How old was he when he was fighting in France? My uncle was 25 when he died. I’ve got a picture of him in uniform on horseback. Not sure where it was taken, at training in Canada, or once he got overseas. He was the only boy and had two sisters. One was my grandmother who I never got to know because she died before I was born. My mother wasn’t born until 1920, and all she ever knew about him was that he was buried in Flanders Field. After she passed I traveled to Canada to find out more about her side of the family, and I’m glad I did. It filled in a lot of blanks, but there’s still a few more blank spaces that may never be filled.
I too have pictures of him in uniform. He was a Corporal, Company K, 320th Infantry. I have his dog tag and his whistle.
There is an organization that maintains records of soldiers, National Personnel Records Center,St Louis, Mo. Of course, they have records for American soldiers. I don't know about Canadians, but they were very helpful to me.
I was able to get my great-uncle’s records from the military archives in Ottawa. I tried to get my Uncle’s WWII service records from St. Louis, but supposedly they were destroyed in the fire they had there. The VA sent me a copy of his DD-214, and his medical records for when he was in a VA hospital before he died in 1964, but that’s all I’ve ever been able to locate. He was supposedly in the China, Burma, India theater as that is where the unit he was with was stationed, but I can’t locate anything on the actual unit online other than confirming that they were there. Some of the unit’s records may be at the National Archives or at St. Louis. I wrote both of them years ago, but can’t remember what the responses were, and at this point, I’m too old to travel to either place to track them down.
True. The French bailed us out. The English, however, who we have a “special relationship” with never did. It was actually quite the opposite . Remember that after WWI, we were worried about going to war with them.
I think Obama’s crappy gifts to Britain were deliberate slights. Like removing Churchill’s bust from the Oval Office.
Damn, you’re old. My maternal grandfather was in the Austro-Hungarian army on the Italian front.
....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...
A beautiful reminder. Thank you!
Perhaps, with POTUS Trump and Macron working together, maybe Paris may become Paris, once again.
Nous pouvons espérer.
You think Obama flipped off the Queen of England on purpose? That’s a bridge too far...
Obunghole would have just thrown it in the trash.
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That reminded me of when Baraq took a small tree sapling to Israel. They made a show of planting it and when the jerk left they dug it up and threw it away.
His father was a communist from Kenya.
74.
As a result of his WWI injuries, my dad had difficulties holding permanent jobs. He only did part-time or seasonal work. No GI bill for WWI vets.
He married late and was 51 when I was born in 1944.
Considering Macron is coming to shill for the Iranians, the French can go to Hades with my blessing.
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