JFK’S Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the 60’s when DeGaule decided to pull out of NATO. DeGaule said he wanted all US Military out of France as soon as possible.
Rusk responded, “Does that include those who are buried here?”
DeGaule did not respond.
There was a famous political cartoon that was emblematic of this DeGaulle decision. I have been looking for it on the internet, but have not found it so far. But I remember seeing it on the day this was announced in 1967.
The first panel shows DeGaulle pointing away, back to the US, and demanding the exit of American forces from France. The next panel shows the ghosts of American soldiers killed fighting for France in WWI and WWII asking,”Do you want us to go too?”
Would like to see this cartoon again, if anyone can find it.
Honestly, if I was De Gaulle I wouldn’t have answered that childish quip either. Does WWII mean France should have accepted being filled with foreign troops, and that the French army should be under their control forever?
Breaking out of NATO was a courageous act that put their well being and sovereignty in it’s proper place.
It squares perfectly with George Washington’s thinking as to how a nation should act.
And the withdrawal and an independent nuclear force has worked out well in the long run. God only hope they didn’t fight hard to escape NATO only to succumb to the EU and it’s 4th Reich islamofascism.