Several years ago, I learned that during World War II in England, children would ask the American soldiers for chewing gum by asking, “Any gum, chum?” 

Bubble gum and other candies were not otherwise available to them.

I remember my parents taking us to Niagara Falls for the day when I was very young. 

Besides the roller coaster ride at the Canadian National Exhibition, it was the most spectacular sight my little eyes had ever seen.

However, we didn’t get to ride the Maid of the Mist boat.  

For those readers not acquainted with this boat – it is fantastic!  

The boat ride begins about a kilometer down the river. 

You get a raincoat and a sou’wester to wear while on the boat. 

And then a neat thing happens – the boat goes right into the cascading, torrential waterfall – entirely out of sight from the onlookers on both shores.

My dad took us to the caverns – although I don’t remember much about it.

Another day’s highlight was when Dad drove us across the Rainbow Bridge, which connects Canada with the USA. 

I’d admired the bridge from where we stood to view the horseshoe falls. 

And there’s usually a rainbow on sunny days at the falls – it’s probably how the bridge got its name.

I don’t remember getting out of the car – so we probably didn’t see anything while in the States.

But I was thrilled to be there.  It was the first time I’d ever been to a foreign country.

And from what I could see, it was impossible to tell the difference between Canada and the USA.

And we Canadians look just like our American neighbors, too.

However, I learned one troubling thing about my dad – he didn’t appear to like Americans. 

Dad kept his prejudices hidden from view and never spoke about hating anything or anyone because of their race, religion, or gender. 

He forbid anyone in our household to speak badly of anyone, and I know he wasn’t a racist – but why did he not like the United States?

However, I never asked him why until many years later. 

I was surprised by his answer.

Dad explained they didn’t have much to eat while stationed in England during World War Two. He also said they often shot rabbits and critters to supplement their meager war rations.   

That was true for most Allied troops, except the Americans, during the war.

‘The Yanks had the best of everything,” Dad complained. 

“Their pockets were always full of cash, and they had the best equipment, too.”  

He wouldn’t admit it, but it’s safe to assume that Dad suffered from envy. 

He didn’t hate Americans; he was just a ‘poor’ teenager who was jealous of what others had. 

And the ‘others’ were Americans.

I know that my dad didn’t hate Americans because he and my mom traveled extensively worldwide after he retired. 

And many of their trips were part of tour and charter packages – with people worldwide. 

My parents made many friends – most of them American. 

Mom and Dad had many ‘best friends forever’ in the States.

I’ll bet my last dollar that my dad loved Americans. 

But knowing him, he’d probably deny that he ever was envious of them. 

Either way, I’m proud he outgrew his silly opinion of our neighbors from ‘across the line.’

*******

Several years ago, while volunteering at the cancer center, I chatted about the war with Margaret Forester, a fellow volunteer.

As a young girl living in London during the war, Margaret said having candy or sweets was rare. 

When she and her friends spotted a member of the American armed forces, she/they would always excitedly ask, “Got any gum, chum?”

By the way, you may remember a love story I wrote about Margaret several years ago.

Here is a link to that story:  A Love Story

However, Margaret didn’t hate or dislike the American soldiers and sailors – she probably envied them like my dad. 

It’s also interesting that other people from the UK who lived in the UK during the war – remember the same phrase, “Got any gum, chum?”

Regrettably, I’ve somehow lost contact with Margaret – not sure why, but that happens sometimes. 

Someone gives you the ‘cold shoulder,’ and they never tell you why.

And I’d rather give up all my material things – than lose a good friend. 

Money will never buy you friends – it only attracts ‘hangers-on.’

*******

I have never hated the USA or Americans in general.

How could I?

The only ones I’ve ever known are a few hundred whom I worked with at General Motors Limited – mostly business relationships.

I’ve always enjoyed going to the States – and have seen much of it over the past fifty years.

Most of my trips to the USA were business-related, and I didn’t get to meet or spend time with any locals.

However, shortly after the 9/11 terror attack, I was going to a business function in Charlotte, North Carolina.

As the western regional sales manager, I hosted two couples from Alberta.

They met me in Toronto, and we’d travel together to Charlotte, North Carolina.

The airports in the States had recently been re-opened after the 2001 several-day shutdown, and security was very tight.

One of my customers approached me while boarding the plane.

He explained that he and the others belong to a particular religion, which forbids them from standing for any national anthem.

He asked if that would be a problem.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

I searched for a hint of a smile, hoping my customer was joking.

But he wasn’t smiling – he was serious.

Later that day, after checking in to the hotel, I met my customers at the meet-and-greet party in the lobby. 

They gathered around a table with drinks in their hands, and they all seemed to be having a lot of fun.

When I reached their table, I raised my glass to make a toast – but nobody followed suit.

One man told me they don’t make ‘toasts’!

So, I apologized and walked away to another corner of the lobby.

The banquet hall opened an hour later, and we all sat at pre-assigned tables. 

Probably several hundred people were seated in the room – and they were mostly American. 

I was getting nervous waiting for what was sure to come next – the playing of the national anthem.

And then there was an announcement:  “Please stand for our national anthem.”

Everyone in the room was soon standing – except my customers. 

I don’t think that I have ever been as embarrassed in my life!

And as I stood there surveying the room, I noticed that everyone was staring at my table! 

I spent the rest of the evening going to each table and apologizing for any hurt caused by the people at my table not standing during the national anthem. 

All I could offer as an excuse was, “It’s against their religion.”

However, I don’t think that my apologies were accepted that night. I lived with the humiliation until two years later, at the next ‘Tech of the Millenium’ competition in Las Vegas, Nevada.

That night was very special for two reasons:

1.  My distributor’s customer in Saskatoon won the North American championship – and the technician won a brand-new truck!
2. My director of sales – Scott Mackie, told me he wanted me to read an article by the late Gordon Sinclair, a well-known Canadian journalist. 
3. Before that evening – I had never read the article. 
4. But as I read it to the broad audience, my eyes filled with tears, and my voice broke up with an emotion I had no hope of suppressing.

Here is a copy of Mr. Sinclair’s 1973 article that I read to the audience that night:

The Americans by Gordon Sinclair (CFRB-Radio in Toronto on June 5, 1973)

The United States dollar took another pounding on German, French, and British exchanges this morning, hitting the lowest point ever known in West Germany. It has declined there by 41% since 1971, and this Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least-appreciated people in all the earth.

As long as sixty years ago, when I first started to read newspapers, I read of floods on the Yellow River and the Yangtze. Who rushed in with men and money to help? The Americans did.

They have helped control floods on the Nile, the Amazon, the Ganges, and the Niger. Today, the rich bottomland of the Mississippi is underwater, and no foreign land has sent a dollar to help. Germany, Japan, and, to a lesser extent, Britain, and Italy, were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of those countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.

When the franc was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.

When distant cities are hit by earthquakes, it is the United States that hurries in to help…Managua Nicaragua is one of the most recent examples. So far this spring, 59 American communities have been flattened by tornadoes. Nobody has helped.

The Marshall Plan…the Truman Policy…all pumped billions upon billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now, newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent war-mongering Americans.

I’d like to see one of those countries that are gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplanes.

Come on…let’s hear it! Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tristar or the Douglas 10? If so, why don’t they fly them? Why do all international lines except Russia fly American planes? Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or women on the moon?

You talk about Japanese technocracy and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy and you find men on the moon, not once, but several times…and safely home again. You talk about scandals and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everyone to look at. Even the draft dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, most of them…unless they are breaking Canadian laws…are getting American dollars from Ma and Pa at home to spend here.

When the Americans get out of this bind…as they will…who could blame them if they said “the hell with the rest of the world.” Let someone else buy the Israel bonds. Let someone else build or repair foreign dams or design foreign buildings that won’t shake apart in earthquakes.

When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke. I can name to you 5,000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble.

Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don’t think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake.

Our neighbors have faced it alone and I am one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles.

I hope Canada is not one of these. But there are many smug, self-righteous Canadians. And finally, the American Red Cross was told at its 48th Annual meeting in New Orleans this morning that it was broke.

This year’s disasters…with the year less than half-over…has taken it all and nobody…but nobody…has helped.

(end)

~ Gordon Sinclair

When I finished giving the speech – I got a standing ovation – even though the words were not mine.

But I enjoyed getting the hugs from many people in the room.

I still get emotional reading Mr. Sinclair’s powerful words – it’s a message that we need to remind ourselves of every day in the future.

*******

So, today, as we remember 9/11 – let’s not forget that America is still the same country we grew up admiring from afar. 

And I know that I speak for 99% of Canadians. 

Although I can’t speak for everyone – most of us in the world believe the USA will again rise to meet its challenges and win.

And if you’re a kind soul – you’ll give thanks to the United States of America in your nightly prayers.

Dedicated to the USA

I hope my stories are a gift to your head and heart.

Hugs,

Danny

Today’s tune from Danny’s library (purchased):

These mist-covered mountains
Are a home now for me
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be
Some day, you’ll return to
Your valleys and your farms
And you’ll no longer burn
To be brothers in arms

Through these fields of destruction
Baptisms of fire
I’ve witnessed your suffering
As the battle raged higher
And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers-in-arms

There’s so many different worlds.
So many different suns
And we have just one world
But we live in different ones

[Guitar Solo]

Now the sun’s gone to hell
And the moon’s riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But it’s written in the starlight
And every line in your palm
We’re fools to make war
On our brothers-in-arms

[Instrumental]

Songwriters: Mark Knopfler

Here are other songs I’m listening to: These Songs Will Make You Smile Today.