|
Home
Feedback
Contents
Contact Info
| |
This is a page reserved for the personal
views/opinions of artist, Annie San Martin. You are welcome to comment in
either agreement or disagreement via email link below. You are warned that
some views may not be politically correct and Annie takes no shame in that.
"Supposing I came along in August 2001 & said...that there was an
al-Qaeda terrorist network; no one would have heard of it. Suppose I said
that we would have to invade Afghanistan in order to deal with it; no one would
have believed that was necessary. Yet, my goodness, a few weeks later,
thousands of people were killed in the streets of New York...
The threat (from Iraq) is real and if we do not deal with it, the
consequences of our weakness will haunt future generations."
~British Prime Minister Tony Blair~
"We go forward with confidence, because we trust in the power of
human freedom to change lives & nations. By the resolve & purpose
of America, & by our friends & allies, we will make this an age of progress
& liberty. Free people will set the course of history, & free
people will keep the peace of the world."
George W. Bush 02-26-03
"This contribution is taken from a speech made by Brian Shul and
reflects many of my feelings as an American who is proud to be so." AS2M
Chico Rally Address .... October 3, 2001
Thank you for the opportunity to address this rally today. It is not often
that a fighter pilot is asked to be the keynote speaker. There is a rumor
that they are unable to put two sentences together coherently. I'd like to
dispel that rumor today by saying that I can do that, and in fact that I
have written several books. I always wanted to be an author, and I ARE one
now.
I'm a pretty lucky person really. I'm like the little boy who tells his
father that when he grows up he wants to be a jet pilot, and his father
replies, "Sorry son, you can't do both". I made that choice a
long time
ago and flew the jets. I was fortunate to live my dream, and then some.
I
survived something I shouldn't have, and today, tell people that I am 28
years old, as it has been that long since I was released from the hospital.
It was like I received a second life, and in the past 28 years, I have
seen and done much, so much that I would not have thought possible.
Returning to fly jets in the Air Force, flying the SR-71 on spy missions,
spending a year with the Blue Angels, running my own photo studio.. and so much
more. And now, seeing our country attacked in such a heinous way.
Some of you here today have heard me speak before, and know that I enjoy sharing
my aviation slide show. I have brought no slides to show you, as I feel
compelled today, to address different issues concerning this very difficult time
in our nation's history.
I stand before you today, not as some famous person, or war hero. I am far
from that. You know, they say a good landing is one you can walk away
from, and a really great one is when you can use the airplane again. Well,
I did neither...and I speak to you to today as simply a fellow American citizen.
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.
I spent an entire military career fighting Communism, and was very proud to do
so. We won that war, we beat one of the worst scourges to humankind the
world has known. But it took a great effort, over many years of sustained
vigilance and much sacrifice by so many whose names you will never know. And
perhaps our nation, so weary from so long a cold war, relaxed too much and felt
the world was a safer place with the demise of the Soviet Union. We
indulged ourselves in our own lives, and gave little thought to the threats to
our national security.
You know, normally my talks are laced with numerous jokes as I share my
stories, but I have very few jokes to tell this afternoon. These murdering
fanatics came into our land, lived amongst our people, flew on our planes,
crashed them into our buildings, and killed thousands of our citizens. And
nowhere along their gruesome path were they questioned or stopped. The
joke is on us. We allowed this country to become soft.
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 ensuring
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.
But we are a country awakened now. We have been attacked in our homeland.
We have now felt the reality of what an unstable and dangerous world it truly
is. And still, in the face of this unprecedented carnage in our most
prominent city, there are those who choose to take this opportunity to protest,
and even burn the flag.
If I were the regents or alumni of certain large universities in this
country, 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 distention
and disruption in our land. Their ignorance can be understood, as their
young empty minds have been filled with the rewritten 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 think this is wonderful country, though, that gives everyone their voice
of dissention. I am all for people expressing their views publicly because
it makes it much easier for us to identify the truly foolish, and to know
who cannot be counted on in times of crisis. These are the weak and
cowardly who, when the enemy is crashing through the front door, will cower in
the back room, counting on better men than themselves to make and keep them
free. Well, the enemy is at our front door, and isn't it interesting those
who cry loudest and most often for their rights, are usually those least willing
to defend it.
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 preserve 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.
This flag of ours is the symbol of all that is good about this country.
America is an idea. It is an idea lived, and fought for, by a people. We
are America, and this is our symbol. We are imperfect in many ways, but we
continue to strive toward the ideal our forefathers laid down for us over
225 years ago. I could never imagine desecrating that symbol.
Perhaps
there are many people in this nation who have never been abroad, or in
harms way, and seen the flag upon their return. Those poor souls can never
know the deep pride and honor one feels to see it wave, to know that there is
still a good ol' USA. With all our warts we are still the greatest nation
on earth, and the flag is the most powerful symbol of that
greatness. When I was in grade school, we used to say the Pledge of
Allegiance every morning. It is something I never forgot. I wonder how
many children even know that pledge today.
This flag is our history, our dreams, our accomplishments, indelibly
expressed in bright red, white, and blue. This flag was carried in our
Revolutionary War, although it had many less stars. But it persevered and
evolved throughout a war we had no right to believe we could win. But we
did, and built a country around it. This flag, tattered and battle worn,
waved proudly from the mast, as John Paul Jones showed the enemy was true
resolve was. This banner was raised by the hands of brave men on a
godforsaken island called Iwo Jima, and became a part of the most famous photo
of the 20th Century. Those men are all dead now, but their legacy lives on
in the Marine Memorial in Washington, DC. Those of you who have seen it
will recall that inscribed within the stone monument are the words-When Uncommon
Valor, Was A Common Virtue- I don't believe you'll see the words, "it was
easy", anywhere on it. This flag has even been to the moon, planted
there for all time by men with a vision, and the courage to see it through.
I personally know what it is to see the flag, and feel something deep
inside that makes you feel you are a part of something much bigger than
yourself. Laying in a hospital bed, I can vividly recall looking out the
only window in the room and on Sundays, seeing that big garrison flag
flying proudly in the breeze. It filled the entire window, and filled my
heart with a motivation that helped me leave that bed, and enabled me to be
standing here today. And many years later, while fighting another
terrorist over Libya, my backseater and I outraced Khaddafi's missiles in
our SR-71 as we headed for the Mediterranean, and I can still clearly see
that American flag patch on the shoulder of my space suit, staring at me in the
rear view mirror as we headed west, and it was a good feeling. Now don't
ask me why we had rear view mirrors in the world's fastest jet, I can assure
you, no one was gaining on us that day.
I am so happy to see so many flags out here today. Long may it wave.
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.
I am encouraged that we will win this war. Even before the first shot was
finished being fired, there were brave Americans on Flight 93, fighting
back. These people were the first true heroes of this conflict, and gave
their lives to save their fellow countrymen.
This nation, this melting pot of humanity, this free republic, must be
preserved. This idea that is America is important enough to be defended.
Fought for. Even die for. The enemy fears what you have, for if
their people ever become liberated into a free society, tyrannical dictatorships
will cease and he will lose power.
How can they ever understand this country of ours, so self-indulgent and
diverse, yet when attacked, so united in the defense of its principals?
This is the greatest country in the world because brave people sacrificed
to make it that way. We are a collective mix of greatness and greed,
hi-tech and heartland. We are the country of Mickey Mouse and Mickey
Mantle; from John Smith and Pocahontas to John Glen and an Atlas booster;
from Charles Lindbergh to Charley Brown; from Moby Dick to Microsoft; we are a
nation that went from Kitty Hawk to Tranquility Base in less than 70 years; we
are rock and roll, and the Bill of Rights; we are where everyone else wants to
be, the greatest nation in the world.
The enemy does not understand the dichotomy of our society, but they should
understand this; we will bandage our wounds, we will bury our dead; and then we
will come for you...and we will destroy you and all you stand for.
I read this quote recently and would like to share it with you:
We are pressed on every side, but not crushed,
Perplexed, but not in despair,
Persecuted, but not abandoned,
Struck down, but not destroyed.
That is from II Corinthians. Not too long ago it would have been
politically incorrect to quote from the Bible. I am so happy to be
politically INCORRECT. And I am so proud to be an American.
Thank you all for coming out today and showing your support for your
government, and your nation. You are the true patriots, you are the
soldiers of this war, you are the strength of America.
Brian Shul
Chico, CA
October 3, 2001
"And I thank you for reading this today. If you would like to
share your comments with me, please send me an email by clicking
here."
AS2M
For More Information Contact:
Annie San Martín
6185 Apache Blvd., Loxahatchee, Florida 33470
Tel: 561.333.2455
FAX: 561.753.6317
Internet: Annie San Martín
|
