TRIBUTE TO THE UNITED STATES (Written By A Canadian)

[marc weintraub]

TRIBUTE TO THE UNITED STATES
This, from a Canadian newspaper, is worth sharing.

America: The Good Neighbor.

Widespread but only partial news coverage was given recently to a remarkable editorial broadcast from Toronto by Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian television Commentator. What follows is the full text of his trenchant remarks as printed in the Congressional Record:

"This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth. Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of
the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts.

None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States. When France was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be
insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.

When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes. Nobody helped. The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped
billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those
countries are writing about the decadent, warmongering Americans.

I'd like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplane. Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the
Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas DC10? If so, why don't they fly them?

Why do all the International lines except Russia fly American Planes? Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or woman on the moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy, and you get automobiles. You talk about American
technocracy, and you find men on the moon - not once, but several times - and safely home again.

You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at. Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here.

When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke.

I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake.

Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their
nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those."

*************************************************
Stand proud, America! Wear it proudly!!

[Early_S_Man]

Thanks, Marc! That was written in the early 1970s after the Managua earthquake, and delivered on a Toronto TV station as a commentary speech in 1973, and actually was briefly a 'hit' record. And, I remember hearing it many times on the Dallas McLendon radio network station that was playing and promoting it to help the spirit of Americans during the Watergate impeachment hearings and crisis that dragged on for many, many months!

Surprisingly, I knew what I would find when I read the title of your post! It is one of those timeless speeches that does not seem dated, almost thirty years later. It always gave me a lump in my throat when I heard it then, as now when I read it again! And, the spirit he spoke of is still alive, if a little wounded of late! As I recall, on the record it was entitled 'The Americans!'

If it was reprinted by the Canadians as the result of yesterday's tragedy, I salute and thank the Canadians with all my heart!
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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa
1992 Dodge Dakota 5.2 4X4 parts hauler

[This message has been edited by Early_S_Man (edited 09-12-2001).]

[pbs911]

Thanks Marc.


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Paul
78SC Targa

[marc weintraub]

Warren,

Thank you for telling me that... I had no idea. This was forwarded to me by a close friend.

Thanks Again...

Marc

[911]

Marc, Warren & all,

Here is a link that has the textual context of that speech, as well as the actual audio from Sinclair. I wish every American could listen to this.

Rich

http://www.rcc.ryerson.ca/ccf/news/unique/am_text.html

[Bill Douglas]

Hi Marc.

Here's a fact I don't think many Kiwi's Aussies and Americans know.

During World War 2 the Japanese were making big moves on New Zealand and Australia. They had already printed maps of NZ with the towns and cities renamed with Japanese names.

The "Yankies" that came to NZ were thought of (at the time) as being on easy street, not having to do any fighting in Europe, dating the girls and having lots of money to spend.

But the Japanese DID invade and the Americans fought to the death in the jungles of Papua New Guinea (sp). Just about all of the thousands of US service men who came to NZ were killed.

If the US servicemen hadn't saved us we would have recieved very little mercy from the Japanese going by their track record.

My grandparents host or bileted (the word for providing free accomodation) a Servicemane with whom they became very good friends with, and they made arrangements to catch up after the war but nothing was ever heared from this wonderful gentleman again. He was one more person who gave his life fighting for the freedom of stangers on the other side of the world.

I often joke with friends and say "hey, be nice to these guys (americans), if it wasn't for them we would be planting paddy feilds, and God forbid, driving Toyotas".

[Kurt B]

I like to make fun of Canadians from time to time, but of course, they're obvious good guys on the planet. What always irritates the Canadians in a small and comic way is the fact that we just think of them as another state--so Kids in the Hall and other famous Canadians like to exclaim their identity, but in the end, it's all in fun.
And of course, the people back home in England are our greatest and mightiest allies. England has always been there for us; they are ones who have actually responded to our loyalty to them with total loyalty to us.

[VenezianBlau 87]

Thanks Bill for posting that "little known" fact. Surely most Americans have little knowledge of the sacrifices made by Allied nations in World War II.

It's all about buying that newer, bigger SUV and complaining about gas at $1.34; obsessing about the stock market and the value of their retirement portfolios; and of course this inexplicable fascination with sports.

...at least until now.
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Bob Sauerteig
'87 Carrera Coupe-temporarily at back of obsession list.

[Early_S_Man]

A qualification ...

'Most Americans' ... is not an accurate assessment!

Most 'Young Americans' under the age of 40 do not have accurate knowledge of any major war in the first half of the 20th century, because it is not contained in the course content of their government or history classes in school, and they do/did not ask their grandparents about wars, and those grandparents didn't make a point of discussing details of what caused the wars, their military experiences in various campaigns, or the savage nature of the Pacific War that was strictly second priority for the powers that be in Washington, DC!.

I cannot remember a single classmate or friend growing up that did not have parents, aunts and uncles involved in defense jobs or the military, and every family had losses or injured relatives during WW II! Having seen every documentary that Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow made during the forties and fifties, and having had a father that was wounded on both Guam and Iwo Jima while in the Marine Corps, I asked plenty of questions growing up about the Pacific War that was for the most part, ignored by the media. 'D-Day' was always touted as the bloodiest and most critical battle of the war, yet the Naval and USMC forces involved on Iwo Jima were less than 10% the numbers of Alled forces at Normandy, but the losses at Iwo Jima were 70% of those during the entire 'D-Day' operation!!! The public did not find out until many years later just how ferocious the last two major battles of the Pacific War in 1945 really were, less than 600 miles from the Japanese capital.

One 1950s movie, 'Battle Cry,' starring James Whitmore, Van Heflin, and Aldo Ray, did an excellent job of portraying early campaigns by Marines trained and billeted in Australia between operations.

In spite of the 'gung ho' nature of the portrayals in the movie The Sands of Iwo Jima, very few Marines there were killed or wounded by Japanese bullets ... the vast majority of casualties were cause by high explosives from artillery, mortars and the horrific 320 mm (13"+) rocket-bombs called 'Screamin' Meanies' that left 30' diameter craters where they landed on precisely-registered targets on the Southern half of the island! One of the 13-man squads from my Dad's Combat Signal Company simply vanished one night without a trace ... all that was left was a crater where they had been! On two consecutive nights, the were 'Banzai' raids, by 650-700 the first night, but only 300 or so the second ... on airfields in the middle of the island where dozens of Army Air Corps P-51 Mustangs were operating before the island was secure! None of the attackers accomplished their mission, none survived, either! My dad had to use both grenades and his Thompson those nights to protect the perimeter, but he didn't run out of ammo before he ran out of targets! He was there and saw both flags raised on Mt. Suribachi, but the elation was short-lived, because there were 40 more days of intense fighting before the island was secured.

In spite of experiences that made many veterans bitter, my Dad did not hate Japan or the Japanese people. Perhaps because he spent three months in Japan stringing a telephone cable from Sasebo down to Nagasaki, and he saw the poor farmers along the road, and no hostility whatsoever among the civilians. Just another populace exploited by leaders practicing geopolitical war campaigns and aspirations.

As Tom Brokaw has said, my parent's generation really was 'The Greatest Generation' in American history!

In 1993, I spoke with a 19-year old college sophomore on a full ROTC scholarship ... he had NEVER heard of Edward R. Murrow, OR the London Blitz of 1940 ... or the 'This is London ... ' broadcasts!

------------------
Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa
1992 Dodge Dakota 5.2 4X4 parts hauler

[Jdub]

Dad was a gunner on a destroyer in the Atlantic; he lost most of his hearing. Uncle an officer in the European theatre; London, then France and onward.

Uncle had the best stories about London during The Blitz. Seems the officers slept in the bottom floor quarters so that they'd survive the bombs, and later the Buzz bombs (V-bombs). I guess humor is one way to get through the hard times...

Jw

[cab83_750]

War is a double-edge sword! (i.e., Damn if you do and Damn if you don't!)

I agree that most young Americans (including non-Americans) do not have a clear 'history' of what took place. Is it their fault? Is it the politicians? Historians? Teachers? Parents? Nobody knows.

I, for one, would probably 'rather NOT' discuss the bitterness of prior years. On the other hand, I should discuss it since if I did not.......history will repeat itself! As I said "double edge" sword.


By the way, if all possible please e-mail the write-up to all names in ALL of your address books. I did it today from the office!