Brian Shul (02/08/1948 – ), served in Vietnam working in an allied fashion for Air America, wherein his AT-28 aircraft was shot down by ground forces close to the Cambodian border. He was forced to crash into the jungle because the 1940s-era propeller-driven AT-28 had no ejection system. He somehow managed to survive the crash, though he was badly burned on the ground. He was finally found and rescued by a Special Forces team.

Following two months in ICU, fifteen major operations to repair burn damage, more months of intensive physical therapy, Brian came back. Two months after leaving his hospital he was flying A7-D aircraft. A short time later he was specifically chosen to be a member of the first A-10 Warthog demo team. He subsequently became an A-10 instructor pilot, then went on to instruct at the Air Force’s Fighter Lead-In School as the Chief of Air-to-Ground Academics.

The final assignment in his career resulted when he volunteered for and was selected to fly the SR-71. This assignment required an “astronaut-type” physical just to initially qualify. Despite his medical history and operations, he managed to pass with no waivers. He served 20+ years with the USAF.

His book, Sled Driver, documents his incredible accomplishments with the SR-71 Habu.

Following the events of 9/11/2001, Brian Shul made an amazing and inspiring speech in Chico, California — not far from Beale AFB, the home of his Habu.

These are merely excerpts from his speech on 10-03-01. For his complete speech please click here.

In this current atmosphere portions clearly bear repeating:

Like you, I was horrified at the events of September 11th. But I was not totally surprised that such a thing could happen, or that there were people in the world who would perpetrate such deeds, willingly, against us. Having sat through many classified briefings while in the Air Force, I was all too aware of the threat, and I can assure you, it has always been there in one form or another. And those of you who have served in the defense of this nation, know all too well the response that is needed. In every fighter squadron I was in, there was a saying that we knew to be true, that said, when there was a true enemy, you negotiate with that enemy with your knee in his chest and your knife at his throat.

Many people are unfamiliar with this way of thinking, and shrink from its ramifications. War is such a messy business, and there are many who want no part of it, but rush to bask in the security blanket of its victory.

We shouldn’t really be too surprised that this could happen. Did we really think that we could keep electing officials who put self above nation and this would make us stronger? Did we really think that a strong economy adequately replaced a strong intelligence community? Did we imagine that a President who practically gave away the store on his watch, was insuring national security?

While our country was mired in the wasted excess of a White House sex scandal, the drums of war beat loudly in foreign lands, and we were deaf. Our response was to give the man two terms in office, and even then barely half the American public exercised their right to vote. We have only ourselves to blame. Our elected officials are merely a reflection of our own values and what we deem important. Did we not realize that America had become a laughing stock around the world? We had lost credibility, even amongst our allies.

To our enemies we had no resolve. We made a lot of money, watched a lot of TV, and understood little about what was happening beyond our shores. We were, simply, an easy target.

If I were the regents or alumni of certain large universities in this county, I would be embarrassed to be producing students of such ignorance and naive notions. Like mindless sheep, they march with painted faces and trite sayings on signs, blissfully ignorant of the world they live in, and the system that protects them, hoping maybe to make the evening news. Perhaps if they had spent more time in class they would have learned that those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it. They might have learned that all it takes for evil to succeed in the world, is for good people to stand by and do nothing.

If they had simply gone back in history as recently as the Viet Nam War, they would have learned that an enemy that knows it can never defeat us militarily, will persist as long as there is dissention and disruption in our land. Their ignorance can be understood, as their young empty minds have been filled with the re-written history tripe that tenured leftist professors can spew out with no fear of removal. But the unwitting aid they provide the enemy, in disrupting the national resolve, is unforgivable.

I heard a student on TV the other day say that this war just wasn’t in his plans and he would simply head to Canada if a draft occurred. Just wasn’t in his plans. I wonder what plans the young men at the beaches of Normandy had that they never got to live. I wonder if it was in the plans of 19-year-old boys in Viet Nam to lie dying in a jungle far from home. I guess the men and women at Pearl Harbor one morning had their plans slightly rearranged too. Gee, I hope we haven’t inconvenienced this student. Those people in the World Trade Center have no more plans.

It is up to us to have a plan now. And it isn’t going to be easy. Who ever said it would? Just what part of our history spoke of how easy it was to form a free nation? It has never been easy and has always required vigilance and sacrifice, and sometimes war, to preserved this union. If it were easy, everyone would have done it. But no one else has, and we stand alone as the most unique country on earth.

And isn’t it amazing that we have spent a generation stamping God out of our schools and government, and now as a nation, have collectively turned to God in memorial services, prayer vigils and churches around this country.

I am also very disturbed to hear that there are people in this country, at this particular time, who feel it inappropriate to wear the flag on their lapel because they are on the news or in a public job, and school officials who want to remove pro-American stickers so as not to offend foreign students. Well, I am offended that these people call themselves Americans.

I am offended that innocent people were killed in a mass attack of unthinkable proportions. And I am offended at listening to TV broadcasters speak to me condescendingly, with a bias that screams of their drowning in a cesspool of political correctness. I pity the person who thinks they are going to remove this flag from my lapel.

History will judge us. How we confront this chapter of American history will be important for the future of this great nation. This will be a war like none other we have endured. The combatants will not just be the soldier on the battlefront, but will be fought by us the citizens. We are on the battlefield now; the war has been brought to us.

We will determine the outcome of this war by how well we remain vigilant, how patient we are with tightened security, how well we support the economy, and most importantly, in the resolve we show the enemy. There are some things worth fighting for, and this country is one of them.

I pray for our leaders at this time. In the Pacific, during WW II, Admiral Bull Halsey said, “There are no great men, just great circumstances, and how they handle those circumstances will determine the outcome of history.”

Our future and the future of coming generations are in our hands. Wars are not won just on military fronts, but by the resolve of the people. We must remain tenaciously strong in the pursuit of this enemy that threatens free people everywhere.

Demorats?

Barack Hussein Obama?

Are you Realists? Or do you embrace Historical Alzheimers?

Are you listening?