A Man From Paris...A Man from Austria
Yesterday, in the Museum of the B-17, I had another "one of those days." A man about 45 years of age walked in and we spoke for about an hour. He said he was honored to be in the Museum, see the famous war plane of the Americans and told me he lives just east of Caen, and visits the American Cemetery there about four times a year, and Omaha Beach.
I told him how luck"y he was, I had never been there. " I am humbled by your country's sacrifice. So many young men dead - for us." I took him through the B-17, explaining everything, he insisting on every last detail.
My grandfather was in the Machii, he said to me, he didn't do much, he told me, he always made light of it, but I thought tre must have been more of it, he went on. A lot of my grandfather's friends were killed, and they disappeared during that time, he said. And then, he cried.
The man from Austria brought his twin sons who were each 20. He took great pains to explain that they were not German, but across the border - " AUSTRIANS" he proclaimed in a loud voice...not Germans. ,
Got it, I responded.
" Like Kurt Waldheim?" I responded. He grew silent, as we all remember Herr Waldheim in a Nazi uniform which got him canned from his position at the UN some decades ago. Ah, well.
Then I proceeded to tour the aircraft using his two 20 year old sons as examples of "oldest crew members" on the bomber, probably pilots. That scared both of them. I pondered, " can you imagine YOU flying this huge bomber, being responsible for nine other teenagers, this bomb load, 8 hours in the air suffering through air attacks of 200 Nazi fighters and getting everyone back alive.
The twin brothers' eyes got as big as pizza pie plates. Nope. No answer.
" Tell me, Roger, did not run out of pilots at zee end," the dad asked me. " Well, sir, I asked, there are no pictures around of our president kissing 13 year old boys good bye in uniform as they march off to the front, crying their eyes out.
" Do you think those 13 year old boys were scared to death or just over joyed at serving the fatherland?" No answer.
I get a chance to ask every European about their homeland and their economy. France is so far, so good, but shaky. The recent ouster of Sarkozy troubles many, the new Premiere is a socialist and as the Frenchman told me, he spend a lot more than they take in, " much like our president."
The Austrian says that their economy is tied into Angela Merkel, interestingly, he does not say Germany, I pry that out of him, and he refuses it. It is ANGELA, and nothing else. Their economies are inexorably linked, and so far, the best in Europe, according to all news reports he AND I can read.
Both are well informed, get all the news reports we get, and both agree the world economies are headed for a cliff, and we - collectively - can do NOTHING about it. I asked them about Europe's and their own country's view on President Obama, and generally, they said, you gotta do what's best for you.
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I told him how luck"y he was, I had never been there. " I am humbled by your country's sacrifice. So many young men dead - for us." I took him through the B-17, explaining everything, he insisting on every last detail.
My grandfather was in the Machii, he said to me, he didn't do much, he told me, he always made light of it, but I thought tre must have been more of it, he went on. A lot of my grandfather's friends were killed, and they disappeared during that time, he said. And then, he cried.
The man from Austria brought his twin sons who were each 20. He took great pains to explain that they were not German, but across the border - " AUSTRIANS" he proclaimed in a loud voice...not Germans. ,
Got it, I responded.
" Like Kurt Waldheim?" I responded. He grew silent, as we all remember Herr Waldheim in a Nazi uniform which got him canned from his position at the UN some decades ago. Ah, well.
Then I proceeded to tour the aircraft using his two 20 year old sons as examples of "oldest crew members" on the bomber, probably pilots. That scared both of them. I pondered, " can you imagine YOU flying this huge bomber, being responsible for nine other teenagers, this bomb load, 8 hours in the air suffering through air attacks of 200 Nazi fighters and getting everyone back alive.
The twin brothers' eyes got as big as pizza pie plates. Nope. No answer.
" Tell me, Roger, did not run out of pilots at zee end," the dad asked me. " Well, sir, I asked, there are no pictures around of our president kissing 13 year old boys good bye in uniform as they march off to the front, crying their eyes out.
" Do you think those 13 year old boys were scared to death or just over joyed at serving the fatherland?" No answer.
I get a chance to ask every European about their homeland and their economy. France is so far, so good, but shaky. The recent ouster of Sarkozy troubles many, the new Premiere is a socialist and as the Frenchman told me, he spend a lot more than they take in, " much like our president."
The Austrian says that their economy is tied into Angela Merkel, interestingly, he does not say Germany, I pry that out of him, and he refuses it. It is ANGELA, and nothing else. Their economies are inexorably linked, and so far, the best in Europe, according to all news reports he AND I can read.
Both are well informed, get all the news reports we get, and both agree the world economies are headed for a cliff, and we - collectively - can do NOTHING about it. I asked them about Europe's and their own country's view on President Obama, and generally, they said, you gotta do what's best for you.
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