May they all rest in peace.
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Why is France in Afganistan??? Quick, ship them some weapons to throw down and a ticket home. No mention by the French of our brave Marines dying. Go figure.
De Oppresso Liber
The marines we're killed in a helicopter accident/crash. The French lost theirs in an unrelated attack same time frame. So now the French are wanting to withdraw, pending some sort of guarantee that they won't lose people. Something they have a good track record of doing. Dropping weapons and running i mean.
I seem to remember a little Corsican that got a lot out of French troops. As I recall, it took an alliance of all the major powers in europe to defeat France.......
In WW I, the French had over 150,000 troops killed at Verdun and killed almost as many Germans. The siege/battle lasted almost all of 1916. The French held without any significant participation of allied troops. The Germans never took Verdun.
Fast forward to WW II and try to remember that the British had an army pushed into the sea along with the French at Dunkirk.
Also remember that the US and Britain could not hold much ground in Asia early in the war. Remember that Phillipines thing?
France suffered greatly during the occupation, but many resisted bravely. The partisans did what they could to harm the Germans, aid the allies, and were instrumental in repatriating many downed allied airmen to fight again. Many French units fought throughout the war under De Gaulle and others.
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I was actually impressed by the French during my last deployment. They acted like real soldiers and despite some serious blood spilling, they stayed the course. No Franco-phile, just saying...
Mike
Thanks for stating that.
I do not have a problem with disliking the policies and positions taken by the french government in the preceding decades. However, one must realize that most countries will always do what they deem best for
them.
I DO have a problem with general french bashing.
Labelling them all as incompetent cowards is an insult to any French man-at-arms who ever did his duty. It is also an insult to any level of historical intelligence.
I would hate for OUR troops to be judged and labelled according to the quality of OUR government and politicians. Government policies and the politicians of a country can be a very different thing from the quality of the troops.
