Replies to post #17405 on Deep Blue Marine (DPBE)

[DBrunner]

Lafayette and his troops were pretty handy in the Revolutionary War, as was the French fleet that helped ensure that Cornwallis surrendered.
See, that's why the Lafayette Escadrille was so named in World War I, along with the phrase "Lafayette, we are here".

If you watched any of the "John Adams" shows, you know that we remained neutral during France's revolution, and they didn't much like that.

More recently, De Gaulle--who had no shortage of ego--never forgave Eisenhower for declining to resupply the French forces at Dienbienphu by air in 1954.

And, as pointed out by the late great Sam Kinison, "Our F-111 pilots were tired from flying CLEAR AROUND GIBRALTAR SINCE YOU WOULDN'T GIVE US FLYOVER CLEARANCE. That's why they accidentally dropped a bomb on your embassy. Mistake. Sorry."

Kind of an on-again / off-again relationship over the past 3 centuries.