America forgets the French connection
It is the date that Americans, liberated by French money and military power, stood side by side, flanked by 22,000 French troops, and watched the defeated British army under Gen Cornwallis depart the American colonies with their tails between their legs.
Do these same France-bashers not remember that it was French money and weapons that armed the Continental Army; that it was the French general Rochambeau who delivered arms and training to the Continental Army, and struck the crucial blows that allowed Americans to achieve their ultimate goal of freedom and independence?
Have these France-bashers forgotten that it was the French who provided the loans to rebuild the new American economy, including monies to rebuild the White House which was burned to the ground by British troops.
Modern America owes a debt of gratitude to France, in the same way as France is indebted to America for its liberation in World War II.
Cian Fitzgerald,
Cloon,
Newport,
Co Tipperary.
