At a NATO meeting a French general once asked why NATO conducted meetings in English when NATO is made of countries speaking a wide array of languages. An American general replied that it was because the Americans, British, Canadians, and Aussies had arranged the language to be English instead of German.
An old GI arriving in France for the 50th anniversary of D-day was going through customs at the airport when he was asked for his passport. As he fumbled for it, the impatient customs officer asked him if he had ever been to France before. The old man acknowledged that indeed he had been to France before. At this, the customs officer became even more impatient and said:
"Then you should know to have your passport ready".
The old man replied casually "Last time I was here, I didn't have a passport", as he continued to fumble for the document.
The indignant customs agent spluttered "Impossible! Everyone must show their passport upon arrival in France!".
The old vet stopped fumbling and turned to face the red faced customs agent and said "Well when I waded ashore at Omaha beach with machine gun bullets flying around like bees and my friends were being killed beside me, I couldn't find a single Frenchman to show a passport to."
