American-French partnership: U.S. cadets from West
Point march in the Bastille Day parade, left, and a New
York Fire Department truck rumbles down the Champs-
Elysees carrying firefighters who survived the collapse of
the World Trade Center.
Posted on 07/15/2002 11:43:42 AM PDT by Temple Owl
Arab News
SAUDI ARABIA'S FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY
http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=16877
French govt says ‘no’ to NYC firetruck in Bastille parade
By Paul Michaud, Special to Arab News
Published on 14 July 2002
PARIS, 14 July — This year’s Bastille Day parade, which today will go down the Champs-Elysee before a reviewing stand top heavy with such dignitaries as President Jacques Chirac, will not include one exhibit that US authorities had hoped would be accorded a place of honor in the July 14 manifestation: A shiny bright 9-meter long firetruck belonging to the fire department of the city of New York.
But, "enough is enough," say sources at the Elysee Palace who claim they’ve been besieged by phone calls from the highest levels of the United States government demanding that the truck — which took part in rescue efforts during last Sept. 11th’s attack on the World Trade Center — be allowed to roll down the world’s most famous avenue alongside the tanks, jeeps and other military vehicles that usually have their place in the annual July 14 event.
"We’ve already invited several hundred West Point cadets to march in this year’s parade, as well as some of the New York firemen who took part in Sept. 11 and have been decorated with the Legion of Honor, but there just isn’t any room for a firetruck!" said a presidential source in exasperation, imploring US authorities to stop placing pressure on Chirac to accommodate what one of his advisers has referred to as "some of the most capricious requests that have ever been made."
Without even apparently obtaining a green light from French authorities, the bright red firetruck arrived by boat quite symbolically last July 4, after a two-week sea crossing from New York to the Atlantic port of Le Havre. Ever since, it’s been parked at an undisclosed well-protected location in Paris awaiting an invitation from the parade’s organizers who, it was hoped, it would make it their guest of honor.
For the moment, though, the nine-meter long 20-ton vehicle will have to content itself with being exposed today in front of Paris City Hall, where Parisians will be allowed to discretely walk around it, although not go aboard (FDNY authorities are fearful that a terrorist or two may place a bomb under the driver’s seat).
Already, though, some of the firemen accompanying the truck are claiming that the refusal smacks of the same anti-Americanism of which the French have been accused these past several weeks in the United States, where Americans have been encouraged — notably by American Jewish organizations — to travel anywhere but France, the world’s most-visited destination with 76 million visitors last year — for this year’s summer vacation.
Other firemen note that if the French don’t want to include the firetruck in the parade — where the only vehicles are traditionally of military origin — it’s simply out of jealousy. "Our truck," says one firemen, making light of how the FDNY truck weighs 2.5 times a French firetruck, and is 50 percent longer — "would have attracted all of the attention away from the other vehicles in the parade."
What he doesn’t say is that French dockers at Le Havre decided to unload the FDNY truck free of charge, while the seventy New York firemen and their families who are in Paris on a special visit are the guests of the French government which is footing much of the bill for their housing and transportation.
"This is not New York," says the Elysee Palace source, "and one just doesn’t show up and decide to take part in the Bastille Day parade on a whim. The choice is made by the French president himself, upon the recommendation of the military governor of Paris. Imagine if we had to accommodate every organization that felt it had a God-given right to take part in a parade whose principal purpose — let’s not forget — is to commemorate military valor on the battlefield, not in the streets of New York.
Consider the source.
Arab News ( SAUDI ARABIA'S FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY)
If you are really offended that the French does not want to turn their own patriotic holiday into yet another commemoration of the American 9/11, then start a petition to return the Statue of Liberty to them.
American-French partnership: U.S. cadets from West
Point march in the Bastille Day parade, left, and a New
York Fire Department truck rumbles down the Champs-
Elysees carrying firefighters who survived the collapse of
the World Trade Center.
SPIT ON SAUDI ARABIA
| Sun Jul 14,10:21 AM ET |
|
A NY firefighter truck leads French firetrucks during Bastille Day parade on the Champs Elysees avenue Sunday July 14, 2002 in Paris. Firefighters and family members of colleagues killed in the Sept. 11 attacks are in France to mark the signing of a cooperation agreement between New York and Paris departments and attend celebrations of Bastille Day, France's national holiday. The Arc de Triomphe is seen in the background.(AP Photo/Michel Euler) |
See the article about the French Rolling out the Red Carpet for NYC firemen and the TRUCK.
By the way, the trip was paid for by donations from the French Firemen from what I can see.
See link to the Newsday article:here
They would probably love to have Dykes on Bikes, and we would love to be rid of them!
And why even have NYC firemen in France's national parade? In thisa case the French have been surprisingly accomodating, IMO....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.