As many of you know or have heard I'm retired from the U.S. Air Force. I was not a flyer nor was I an administrative specialist who sat at a desk all day. I was what many used to call a GLCM 'Electro-Mechanical' Technician, but that's not the gist of this post. This post is about Coins of the World and True Love. What is your story?
The year was 1984 and I was in the military stationed in Germany. Several fellows and I decided to take some leave (military vacation time) and go over to Paris for a few (10) days... fast forward thru a few (7) days of debauchery, you know wine, women, song. About this time the coin of the realm was beginning to flow less freely, etc. So a buddy, (Tom Tribandes) jumps up on the deckhouse of this vintage touring ship in the middle of the Seine River in which we were imbibing some "hair of the dog" so-to-speak and shockingly sings acappella the La Marseillaise flawlessly.
Allons enfants de la Patrie
Le jour de gloire est arrivÈ.
Contre nous, de la tyrannie,
L'Ètandard sanglant est levÈ,
l'Ètandard sanglant est levÈ,
Entendez-vous, dans la compagnes.
Mugir ces farouches soldats
Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras
Egorger vos fils,
vos compagnes.
Aux armes citoyens!
Formez vos bataillons,
Marchons, marchons!
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons.
Amour sacrÈ de la Patrie,
Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs,
LibertÈ, libertÈ cherie,
Combats avec tes defÈnseurs;
Combats avec tes dÈfenseurs.
Sous drapeaux, que la victoire
Acoure ‡ tes m‚les accents;
Que tes ennemis expirants
Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire!
Aux armes citoyens!
Formez vos bataillons,
Marchons, marchons!
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons.
The rest of us just stood there in shock as we never knew Tom could utter a word of French much less sing their national song. However, the locals thought it was WONDERFUL and broke out in a ROARING cheer. Free booze to all of us for as long as we could stand it. And that's how I met my wife, LOL. She too was in the service and spending a few days in Paris with some friends as well
...
Bone
P.S. Oh, the coins, well the coins are partly her Far Eastern souvenirs and my European selections, we both had that much in common. She had even spent some leave time at Fremantle/Perth when she was stationed at Clark in the Philippines. Before the volcano blew it's top of course.
Posted 04/04/2006 06:32 am
Look within yourself and you'll remember some of your best times and they will turn into stories...
Here's a pic of us getting an oldtime WildWest photo. This was about 9 yrs ago, but my favorite family picture still by far.
