“Finally, finally, finally! They had come!”
When American forces liberated Paris from Nazi occupation seventy years ago today, one Parisian schoolgirl described what happened.
An idea took hold – we needed flags; a collective idea, as if everyone had the same thought at the same time. We would make the flags and hang them at the windows. But how were we going to do it? Quick, tea towels, old sheets cut in strips. A piece of luck, there was a shop that sold dyes in the courtyard. We ran down and started boiling water in the tubs. Some red dye. Some blue dye. The red didn’t work very well, the material came out pinkish red, not the flamboyant red we had hoped for. Too bad. How many stars are there on the American flag? But never mind, we’ll have to just put some on, and that will be good enough.
Read it all. It is important to note that this has been the kind of reaction of practically every oppressed nation when American troops have arrived.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
When American forces liberated Paris from Nazi occupation seventy years ago today, one Parisian schoolgirl described what happened.
An idea took hold – we needed flags; a collective idea, as if everyone had the same thought at the same time. We would make the flags and hang them at the windows. But how were we going to do it? Quick, tea towels, old sheets cut in strips. A piece of luck, there was a shop that sold dyes in the courtyard. We ran down and started boiling water in the tubs. Some red dye. Some blue dye. The red didn’t work very well, the material came out pinkish red, not the flamboyant red we had hoped for. Too bad. How many stars are there on the American flag? But never mind, we’ll have to just put some on, and that will be good enough.
Read it all. It is important to note that this has been the kind of reaction of practically every oppressed nation when American troops have arrived.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
I always wondered where they got so many American flags. Thanks.
This has been true of many other places in more recent times too including Kuwait during Desert Storm and Iraq – despite a lot of left-wing revisionist history to the contrary – during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The overt demonstativeness died down in Iraq as Al Quaeda-affiliated groups and the Sadrist militia replaced the disbanded Iraqi army as principal opponents there. But I was struck by much of the video I saw of fighting there even quite late in our involvement. When an American military foot patrol would be passing through and rebel bombs went off or rebel gunfire was heard, it was interesting to note that the reaction of any Iraqi children present was always to run to the nearest American soldier and shelter behind him. Small children have no politics, but they know who the good guys are.
I love to see links to some of these videos. Can you find them again?
Thanks for your insite, Dick, and how beautiful it truly is, and how proud it makes me to know that the United States soldier has consistently fought the good fight as evidenced by innocent children, who innately know who is the “good guy”.
I think the reaction of Iraqis varied by region.