I don't think it is a good idea to punish our Olympic atheletes by boycotting the games. Or to boycott the French people. We have thousands and thousands on men in France. Once, the French ambassador threw a hissy fit and demanded that we remove all of our servicemen from France. He was told that we would, but bringing home our soldiers will take some time.
* Located near the village of Belleau in France is the 42-acre American Battle Monument Cemetery St. Mihiel. Nearly all of the 2,289 American dead buried there were killed in the battles of Chateau-Thierry and Belleau Wood in 1918. A Wall of the Missing in the cemetery contains the names of 1,060 Americans missing in action.
* The largest American Battle Monument Cemetery of World War I is located near Romaqne-sous-Montfaucon in France. The 130-acre cemetery contains the remains of 14,246 American war dead. Engraved on the Wall of the Missing in the cemetery are the names of 954 unidentified or missing American soldiers.
* The American Battle Monument Cemetery Oise-Aisne is fourteen miles from Chateau-Thierry where the majority of the 6,012 Americans buried at this 36-acre site were killed in action. A Wall of the Missing in the Oise-Aisne cemetery contains the names of 241 Americans.
* Near the village of Bony in France, the 14-acre American Battle Monument Cemetery Somme is the final resting place for 1,844 American soldiers. The Wall of the Missing in the Somme cemetery lists the names of 333 American soldiers whose bodies were not recovered.
* Most of the 4,152 American soldiers buried at the 40-acre American Battle Monument Cemetery near Thiaucort, France, died in the September 1918 offensive that defeated the German forces that were threatening Paris. The Wall of the Missing in the cemetery lists the names of 284 Americans.
* At Mont Valerin on the outskirts of Paris, the 7.5-acre American Battle Monument Cemetery Suresnes contains the World War I and World War II graves of 1,541 Americans. The Wall of the Missing in the Suresnes cemetery memorializes 974 American soldiers from both World Wars.
* On the northwest coast of France, overlooking Omaha Beach where American forces came ashore on D-Day, a wall in American Battle Monument Cemetery Normandy is inscribed with the names of 3,724 Americans, missing in action. The 172-acre Normandy cemetery contains the remains of 9,386 American war dead.
* Near the village of St. James, 220 miles from Paris, 4,410 American soldiers are buried in the Brittany American Cemetery. The names of 498 missing Americans are inscribed on the Wall of the Missing.
* A wall in the cemetery near Epinal, France, lists the names of 424 American soldiers, missing in action. The cemetery is the repository for the fatalities from the fighting at the Heasbourg Gap during the winter of 1944-45. It contains the grave sites of 5,255 Americans.
* The American Battle Monument Cemetery Rhone contains the remains of 861 Americans. The Wall of the Missing in the Rhone cemetery lists the names of 294 Americans.
* Near St. Avold, 10,489 U.S. soldiers are buried at American Battle Monument Cemetery Lorraine. The names of another 444 Americans are listed on the cemetery's Wall of the Missing. Most died while driving the Germans from the city of Metz in northeast France. In one of the graves, three American soldiers are buried together, as they died. There are also 28 sets of brothers, buried side by side.
No, a boycott is not a good idea. Let's send our young men and women to compete.
