Letter From A Marine

[AuroEdge]

This is an older letter, but all the same it doesn't really matter.

Dear Dad,
A funny thing happened to me yesterday at Camp Bondsteel (Bosnia): A
French army officer walked up to me in the PX, and told me he
thought we (Americans)were a bunch of cowboys and were going to
provoke a war in Iraq. He said if such a thing happens, we wouldn't
be able to count on the support of France.

I told him that it didn't surprise me. Since we had come to
France's rescue in World War I, World War II, Vietnam, and the Cold
War, their ingratitude and jealousy was due to surface [again] at
some point in the near future anyway. I also told him that is why
France is a
third-rate military power with a socialist economy and a bunch of
pansies for soldiers.

I additionally told him that America, being a nation of deeds and
action, not words, would do whatever it had to do, and France's
support, if it ever came, was only for show anyway. Just like in ALL
NATO exercises, the US would shoulder 85% of the burden, and provide
85% of the support, as evidenced by the fact that this French
officer was shopping in the American PX, and not the other way
around.

He began to get belligerent at that point, and I told him if he
would
like to, I would meet him outside in front of the Burger King and
whip his BUTT in front of the entire Multi-National Brigade East,
thus
demonstrating that even the smallest American had more fight than
the average Frenchman. He called me a barbarian cowboy and walked
away in a huff. With friends like these, who needs enemies?

Dad, tell Mom I love her, . .Your loving daughter,
Mary Beth Johnson
Lt Col., USMC

[toastman]

I much prefer this letter from Snopes.

http://www.snopes.com/military/marine.htm

[Roofus]

I much prefer this letter from Snopes.

http://www.snopes.com/military/marine.htm

lol

[farrell2k]

By golly! If snopes says it is false, then it must be. They're reasoning is flawed. They should have marked that one unknown, instead of false.

[vicviper74]

lol, it was a girl that told that french guy that, lmao TOO FUNNY

[Nyarlathotep]

YAY FOR NATIONALIST PROPAGANDA

[Lartrak]

By golly! If snopes says it is false, then it must be. They're reasoning is flawed. They should have marked that one unknown, instead of false.

It certainly sounds false to me. You're right though, there is the possibility that it was originally a real letter, and this is a copy that was modified later, or some other scenario. Snopes sometimes figures the odds are like 95% that it is false, so they label it false.

"A real soldier -- especially one serving in the Balkans -- would know Camp Bondsteel is in Kosovo, not Bosnia. "

That's pretty funny.

Also, how exactly did we "save" France in WWI and Vietnam? The American precence in WWI was (relatively) small and very late in the war. I don't think the ending of the war would have been a lot different without American involvement, just perhaps have taken longer.

As far as Vietnam... Well, that was basically a colony they lost. Did we assist French citizens in escaping or something along those lines? In any case, I don't think that counts as "saving" France. If we're going to credit ourselves for "saving" them in a 90 year old war, let's also go back to the beginning and credit France for "saving" America around 220 years ago.

[toastman]

By golly! If snopes says it is false, then it must be. They're reasoning is flawed. They should have marked that one unknown, instead of false.

Attack the source, good job. Snopes does its research into the matters.
But since you like this bit of urban legend, you will of course defend it to death.

[ETR]

By golly! If snopes says it is false, then it must be. They're reasoning is flawed. They should have marked that one unknown, instead of false.

Attack the source, good job. Snopes does its research into the matters.
But since you like this bit of urban legend, you will of course defend it to death.

Next he'll tell us someone died on the set of "The Wizard Of Oz".