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We appreciate your help
in keeping this site going.
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03-16-2014, 09:48 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Sonoma County, CA
Posts: 20,496
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueStreak
I was once told that the French were why we "...ended up in Vietnam. To take care of something they were too weak to finish."
Ummmmm....... We never "finished" Vietnam, either.
Dave
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It's also important to remember that the French collapse in Indochina was precipitated in part by a broken promise. We had agreed to assist the French military at the siege of Diem Bien Phu. We promised to send US aircraft to assist the French forces being decimated there but, somehow, we just sorta didn't.
John
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Smoke me a kipper. I'll be back for breakfast.
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03-16-2014, 09:59 AM
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Jigsawed
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Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 10,580
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Boreas
It's also important to remember that the French collapse in Indochina was precipitated in part by a broken promise. We had agreed to assist the French military at the siege of Diem Bien Phu. We promised to send US aircraft to assist the French forces being decimated there but, somehow, we just sorta didn't.
John
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I guess we wanted to see them fail so we could take over the show.
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03-16-2014, 10:02 AM
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Jigsawed
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Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 10,580
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Dave I believe the reason you hate the French is Charles De Gaul...he was
a pompous bastard.
He felt everyone and everything were inferior to the "French".
Anyhow I love the French they gave sanctuary to a lot of our musicians and treated our
non white troops - especially in WW1- with respect.
Last edited by Dondilion; 03-16-2014 at 10:06 AM.
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03-16-2014, 11:23 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Sonoma County, CA
Posts: 20,496
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dondilion
Dave I believe the reason you hate the French is Charles De Gaul...he was
a pompous bastard.
He felt everyone and everything were inferior to the "French".
Anyhow I love the French they gave sanctuary to a lot of our musicians and treated our
non white troops - especially in WW1- with respect.
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In WW1 the French took our black troops, notably the 369th Regiment of the New York National Guard, away from duty as stevedores or other types of manual labor and put them in the line. Even though these soldiers had been trained for combat, the higher ups in the US Army felt they couldn't be trusted in the line. The French even had to give these American soldiers French rifles and French helmets.
At the end of the war the French awarded the French awarded the entire regiment the Croix de Guerre for their service to France. When it was time to return they had a tough time finding an American ship that would carry them and, when they got here, they weren't allowed to march in the official 1919 Victory Parade.
Sometime between the wars, the black American dancer, Josephine Baker moved to France and established her life and career there. At the outbreak of WW2 she was recruited by French intelligence to spy on the Germans. When France fell, she began working for the Free French. After the war she was awarded the Croix de Guerre, the Rosette de la Resistance (Resistance Medal) and the Legion d'Honneur.
Many American Jazz musicians, like Lester Young and Dexter Gordon, moved to France after WW2 to escape Jim Crow and white racism. Some returned but many stayed.
John
__________________
Smoke me a kipper. I'll be back for breakfast.
Last edited by Boreas; 03-16-2014 at 11:26 AM.
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03-16-2014, 11:55 AM
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Resident octogenarian
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: Maryland
Posts: 20,860
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Boreas
In WW1 the French took our black troops, notably the 369th Regiment of the New York National Guard, away from duty as stevedores or other types of manual labor and put them in the line. Even though these soldiers had been trained for combat, the higher ups in the US Army felt they couldn't be trusted in the line. The French even had to give these American soldiers French rifles and French helmets.
At the end of the war the French awarded the French awarded the entire regiment the Croix de Guerre for their service to France. When it was time to return they had a tough time finding an American ship that would carry them and, when they got here, they weren't allowed to march in the official 1919 Victory Parade.
Sometime between the wars, the black American dancer, Josephine Baker moved to France and established her life and career there. At the outbreak of WW2 she was recruited by French intelligence to spy on the Germans. When France fell, she began working for the Free French. After the war she was awarded the Croix de Guerre, the Rosette de la Resistance (Resistance Medal) and the Legion d'Honneur.
Many American Jazz musicians, like Lester Young and Dexter Gordon, moved to France after WW2 to escape Jim Crow and white racism. Some returned but many stayed.
John
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PBS had a very complete documentary series on theat rigimennt and other blacks who fought in WW II. I recall one sailor who was assigned as a cook's helper. When the gunner handling one of the AA guns was killed this sailor took over and got himself a Japanese aircraft.
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Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Last edited by merrylander; 03-17-2014 at 11:28 AM.
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03-16-2014, 12:04 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Sonoma County, CA
Posts: 20,496
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Quote:
Originally Posted by merrylander
PBS had a very complete documentary series on theat rigimennt and other blacks who fought in WW II. I recall one sailor who was assigned as a cool's helper. When yj gunner handling one of the AA guns was kille this sailor took over and got himself a Japanese aircraft.
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Yes, he was a mess attendant, basically a bus boy. That was at Pearl Harbor. I think there may be a famous photo of that, probably restaged like the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima.
Yes, here it is.
__________________
Smoke me a kipper. I'll be back for breakfast.
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03-16-2014, 12:08 PM
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Persona non grata
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Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 12,654
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03-16-2014, 12:02 PM
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Reformed Know-Nothing
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Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: MoCo, MD
Posts: 25,917
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dondilion
Dave I believe the reason you hate the French is Charles De Gaul...he was
a pompous bastard.
He felt everyone and everything were inferior to the "French".
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Kinda like the type of Americans who profess to hate the French (i.e., the ones who harp on American exceptionalism) without having set foot in France.
__________________
As long as the roots are not severed, all will be well in the garden.
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03-16-2014, 12:02 PM
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Area Man
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Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: The Swamp
Posts: 27,407
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dondilion
I guess we wanted to see them fail so we could take over the show.
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Then proudly claim glorious defeat ourselves. "Mission Accomplished" anyone?
Dave
__________________
"When the lie is so big and the fog so thick, the Republican trick can play out again....."-------Frank Zappa
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