Bush Tells Europe It Is Time To Repay Debt To America

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 5-28-2002 | Peter Delves

[DoughtyOne]

[dsutah]

I think you're right. My dad is an airman, and we were
talking about the military traditions. I was asking him
about the origin of the 'riderless horse' with the boots
in the stirrup in the opposite direction. I had been
reading about the funeral of G. Washington, in the book
titled 'John Adams'; where they did that 'riderless' horse
custom. I asking him about that tradition; he told me.
Also, he told me about the plane going off by itself. He
said that custom was like the one with the 'riderless' horse.
He said they were very old, and may have come from the
Middle Ages, with the armored knights.

[McGavin999]

You're welcome. It does put things in perspective doesn't it? To think of what they must have faced, the bravery it must have taken, the horrible loss they must have seen before they gave up their own lives.

It puts you in absolute awe.

[cynicom]

blam...

No..Was in 9th Army.

[Incorrigible]

What is this salute called?

What kind of salute was Clinton doing over there when he arrainged the rocks in the form of a cross with a battleship in the sea behind him?

[Lady In Blue]

I learned something today that I didn't know. They were buried facing west toward America. It breaks your heart to see all those crosses, to know that each one represents a young life, barely lived, and that they were so incredibly brave.

I heard that too.I never knew that and it nearly broke my heart when I heard it.

[dsutah]

That's beautiful. Thanks for sharing that with
us. I have tears in my eyes; just reading that.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

He added: "Each person buried here understood his duty, but also dreamed of going back home to the things and people they knew."

VERY strong statement. Message to Europe: HELLLOOOOO?

Is it me, or do the Europeans seem to be an awfully self-absorbed and petulant lot?

M Chirac spoke outside the church yesterday and said: "Monsieur le President, France knows what she owes America.

We'll see, Mr. Chirac. We'll see.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

RE #25

Thank You.

[Brad’s Gramma]

Thanks, blam. I'm going to save the pics so my grandson can see them tomorrow. He saw some, but man.....the ones you posted are incredible. May God continue to bless this great country. Please everyone, continue your prayers for her and our President.

[brat]

They were buried facing west toward America.

[SkyPilot]

Notice the contrast of Clinton and Bush on their respective visits to this hollowed ground.

Bush was respectful, reflective, grateful.......

Clinton made it an "It's ALL about ME pornographic novel....with aids supplying him with stones for his pocket so he could make crosses in the sand for the cameras..........

Clinton's aids also pondererd singing "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" while Clinton strolled the cemetery, but even they nixed it as too much propaganda.......

[Incorrigible]

[Clemenza]

My grandfather served in the European and Pacific theatres (USS Bayfield) and took part in the Normandy invasion. He was a very talkative individual, unless you pressed him on his war experiences. Then he would clam up and a sad expression would appear on his face.

He passed away nine years ago. We continue to lose more of our WWII vets everyday. I am grateful for even the "general" stories my grandfather told me. Maybe it was a good thing that he avoided the specifics. I do know that he lost a lot of friends and came close to losing his own life himself.

[GretchenEE]

The news about the Americans being buried facing west had the same effect on me. I had not known that. Whoever designed the cemetery surely had a long view of things, a sense of purpose, destiny, and history that moves us still.

[GretchenEE]

My second stepfather was on an LST on D-Day. He never talked about it although we children were wrapped in Navy blankets each night. One day, around age 12 I think, I asked him where he had served in WW2, and he told me, as I knew, that he'd been in the Navy. Really vague. I didn't know it then but have learned since that this is typical of men in the war -- they didn't talk about their war experiences with their families, but with their buddies, yes.

So I, having an intense interest in history, and wanting to know more about what he'd seen and done, what the war was like for someone I knew, asked where specifically he had served. Gradually he let down a guard that had been present for some time, and piece by piece told me a little about what he saw and heard that day, and how it felt. His job wasn't to go ashore, but to transport soldiers from the ship to shore, where all faced such heavy German fire. He said, when asked repeatedly what it was like, that it was hard watching the first soldiers go overboard. Due to the heavy German fire, they couldn't get the men into shallow enough water and many men on the first transports drowned --their packs were too heavy and no one had anticipated this aspect. They lightened the packs for the remaining men.

I asked him how the men handled the fear ... how they could just keep going in, wave after wave, seeing what had gone before them. It was tough, he said. He didn't go into what I have since learned, that the times were so full of evil, America having been attacked by then, that a sense of duty did overtake these young men. Perhaps in the face of such monstrous evil, a sense of duty is the one thing that is most useful.

[Wave Rider]

Yes by all means, Thank God that the Last 8 years of the Lefto-Pinky Commie Klitoooon Era of Abuse and Corruption is over, we still have some of the hold over in the Administration that needs to be Weeded out and Hung!

[FlyVet]

My Grandfather only told me two stories about the war.

While in France, the enlisted were eating little better than garbage, (raw cabbage, cold beans etc., and whatever the locals would give them.) The officers were eating steak. One night, they got so mad they broke into the storage and stole some good food. He said, "What could they do? We had guns." For the most part, in battle, they had little logistic support like our troops do now. They basically let them off the ship, pointed them east, and said "Go get'em." They had to rely on the French people, who were grateful for what they were doing, for food and shelter.

The other thing he told me about was sleeping in a French farmer's barn on Christmas eve. They buried themselves in a stack of hay to keep warm. He said Christmas morning their wet boots were so frozen they had to work their bare feet into them gradually, using their body heat to thaw them.

When he was in his 90's, I visited him and found that my Aunt had mounted a German bayonet on the basement wall. She told me he'd gotten it from a dead German, but he never would talk about it.

I wish he had written his memoirs. He had an amazing life, also sailed the Great Lakes for six years just to save enough money to marry his sweetheart. He went through a lot, struggled through the Depression too. Yet, he told me it is much harder to raise a family now than it was then, due to all the negative influences kids face now. He used to let his 5 daughters roam the local woods without fear. He said he'd never let them out of his sight if he was raising them today.