Re: Suez crisis
I am an American citizen by choice and proud to be one.* In the almost sixty years I have lived here, I have never heard a disparaging*word said to me, or about the country of my birth. England. On the contrary, I am sick and tired of people saying, "I just love your accent".* I wish I could be like the "Cunard Yanks" and develop a full American accent after spending two evenings ashore off the Cunard Queens, and I still can't do it after almost sixty years. At best I have a mid-Atlantic accent.
The Yanks have an idealist love affair with England, except a minority third and fourth generation Irish American, mostly from Boston, whose ancestors came to the states during the potato famine; though over these three or four generations the Irish blood has disappeared through marriage*with "foreigners"; all that remains in many, in the case of the male line, is*an Irish family name and who have never been to Ireland.
The first thing I remember*about the Americans, was standing on the pavement*with my chum watching tanks go by in a convoy and the soldiers standing up in the turret tossing handfuls*of candies and gum to us kids'
The second thing, my mother used her spare bedrooms as bed and breakfast*rooms. My stepfather, who was one of the few people that treated me with love and kindness, developed terminal lung cancer.* During the last months of his life, their savings were depleted,*and my mother had to pawn the jewelry my stepfather had given her over the years.* He died, my mother*was bereaved and upset because she was going to lose the jewelry. I was a catering boy on a Port ship and away and not much I could do financially making ten pounds a month (before tax).
An American serviceman and his English girlfriend were steady visitors to my mother's B and B, asked what was going on, found out about the jewelry and out of his own pocket, redeemed them and gave them to my mother. Top that for having a huge heart.
Quite frankly like y'all, I visited a number of countries and other than the States, I never found any that really like the English, I remember as a catering boy in Oz, hearing us called Pommy bastards. and 20 odd years later, as an American and spending six months every year, for 13 years, in Oz, not much had changed.* The native-born Ozzie had no love for the English, perhaps in these last 20 years, attitudes have changed. By the tone on this site, nothing much has changed.
I found it quite not so bad, but still resentful, in South*Africa and Canada.* But things were reversed in New Zealand, they didn't care for the yanks or the Ozzie's and favored the Brits.* Surprising what you find out when you have a screwed-up accent.
As for being late coming into WWII:* The population of the US is a mix of many races, as the UK is becoming.* In 1940 the majority ethnic breakdown was slightly more of German descent than British descent.* Those of German descent, knowing nothing of day to day living in Germany, thought Hitler was doing wonderful things for Germany and were proud that Germany was becoming a leading country in Europe after struggling through the post years and depression of WWI.* They did not want anything to do with going to war against Germany.* And neither did a large balance of the other Americans, particularly*those who lost sons in WWI.
It was viewed then as a European war.* The President cannot declare war, that is a function of congress. And any politician, at that time, who voted for war, would lose his seat. Roosevelt*could not declare war.* Roosevelt did what he could within the constitution, and most of that subrosa, until the Japs bombed Pearl Harbour and Hitler signed*a pact with Japan, then he could go to congress and propose declaring*war on Japan, Germany and Italy. And so congress declared*war. And the rest is history.
I, by the way have quite a few German Friends, German Nationals not Nazi Germans, nor American German, most born long after WWII ended, a few the same age as me and kids at that time.
I'm sure this will not change any of the biased members' views, and I do say thank you to the ones that give an historical accuracy to their opinions
Rodney.
Rodney David Richard Mills
R602188 Gravesend