THE LEGEND OF LANCE SIJAN

The photo to the left is a picture of "me" way back in 1979, age 32, taken in Bermuda at the Georgia CPA Convention where I had just been honored as the "Most Distinguished CPA" by the President of the Georgia Society of CPA's, Philip Dohn of Atlanta...Whoopty Do!!! Professionally, a fine honor...but nobody cares, nor should they.
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Here is what we should care about and here are the people we should honor...Do we know them?

Our kids know Brittany Spears and druggie Whitney Houston and NBA Basketball jerks like Kobe Bryant...and baseball racist steroid freaks like Barry Bonds...

Here are the true American Hero's...so humble that we hardly know they exist:

"The Medal of Honor epitomizes the very best of what America stands for and honors the gallant individuals who have received it. Of the more than 3,400 recipients, fewer than 140 remain with us today. The Medal of Honor pays homage to comrades who have given their lives for this great country. These gallant souls, in their heroism and their humility, epitomize the nobility of service to country and of service above self." President George H. Bush said this and more in his forward to the book Medal of Honor by Peter Collier (Photographs by Nick Del Calzo).

One hundred and sixteen of the "LIVING" recipients are profiled in this book which was published in 2003...Some of them have died since it's publication. Their stories are all inspirational and I feel certain I will profile more of them in the future.

However, I think today I would like you to hear the story of Captain Lance Sijan as told in the forward of this book by former prisoner of war, Senator John McCain. Lance Sijan was a recipient of the Medal of Honor but would not have been included in the pages of the book if Senator McCain had not included him in the forward...
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"Air Force Captain Lance Sijan was shot down near Vinh on November 9, 1967. For a day and a half, he lay semiconscious on the ground, grievously injured, with a compound fracture of his left leg, a brain concussion, and a fractured skull. He made radio contact with a rescue aircraft, but they were unable to locate him in the dense jungle. On November 11, they abandoned the search.

Crawling on the jungle floor at night, Lance fell into a sinkhole, further injuring himself. For six weeks he evaded capture. On Christmas Day, starved, racked with pain, he passed out on a dirt road, where a few hours later the NVA found him. Thus began the most inspiring POW story of the war, a story of one man's fearless fidelity to our Code of Conduct. To Lance Sijan, the Code was not an abstract ideal, but the supreme purpose of his life.

The Code is a straightforward document. Its simply worded assertions might strike cynics as posturing, a simplistic and chauvanistic relic of a time when Americans carried with them to war a conceit that they were stronger, better, and more virtuous than any enemy they would face. In truth, few prisoners could claim that they never came close to violating one or more of its principles. Many of us were terrorized into failure at one time or another.

But Captain Sijan wasn't. He obeyed the Code to the letter.

A short time after he was captured, he overpowered an armed guard and managed to escape, taking the guard's rifle with him. Recaptured several hours later, he was tortured as punishment for his escape attempt and for military information. He refused to provide his captors anything beyond what the Code allowed. By the time he reached Hanoi, he was close to death.

Over six feet tall, he weighed less than a hundred pounds when he was placed in a cell with Bob Craner and Guy Gruters. He lived there barely a month. In and out of consciousness, often delirious, he would push on the walls of his cell and scratch on the floor, searching vainly for a way out. When he was lucid and not consumed with pain, he would quiz his cellmates about the camp's security and talk with them about escaping again.

Interrogated several times, he refused to say anthing. He was savagely beaten for his silence, kicked repeatedly and struck with a bamboo club. Bob and Guy heard him scream profanities at his tormentors, and then, after he had endured hours of torture, they heard him say in a weak voice: "Don't you understand? I'm not going to tell you anything. I can't talk to you. It's against the Code."

Bob and Guy tried to comfort him during his last hours. Working in shifts timed to tolling of a nearby church bell, they cradled his head in their laps, talked quietly to him of his courage and faith, told him to hang on. Occasionally he shook off his delirium to joke with his cellmates about his circumstances.

Near the end, the guards came for him. Lance knew they were taking him away to die. As they placed him on a stretcher, he said to his friends, "It's over...it's over." He called to his father for help as the guards carried him away.

A few days later, a prison guard told Bob Craner what he already knew, that his friend was dead. And Bob, a good and wise man, resolved to share with any prisoner he could reach, the legend of Lance Sijan so that all of us could draw strength from the example of a man who would not yield no matter how terrible the consequences.

A few weeks later, when I was moved into the cell next to Bob's, he told me the story of Lance Sijan: a free man from a free country, who kept his dignity to the last moment of his life."

God Bless America!!!

VICTORY OR DEATH

Dateline February 24th, 1836 (11 years later my great, great grandfather Christian Wahl Sr. would flee Germany with his five grown children and his impending political assassination because he supported FREEDOM)....


William Barret Travis, age 26, wrote a very short letter that had about as many words as the number of hero's that died in San Antonio during the 13 day siege of the Alamo back in 1836. His men were outnumbered 10 to 1 by Mexican dictator Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna for almost two weeks. Soon he expected to face as many as 4,000 troops and Lt. Col. Travis' small garrison was only manned by approximately 155 men.

The stakes were high...Beyond Texas was the entire southwest... all the way to California. Santa Anna could have taken it all.

Santa Anna demanded surrender and he promised that all would be spared. No surrender meant "no quarters"...Everyone would be killed! Lt. Col. Travis answered with a cannon shot from the largest cannon he could muster. In other words...we shall never surrender nor retreat!

This letter, written by someone so young, is often referenced as the prime example of the virtues of American unyielding courage, heroism and self-sacrifice. William Travis sent out many riders, each with their own copy. HELP! Davy Crockett was in Texas at the time and came running to help the Texians with 32 men...

On March 6, 1836...13 days after the battle had begun...189 hero's died defending the Alamo and it is estimated that 1,600 of Santa Anna's men died.

Soon thereafter, on March 27, 1836, Santa Anna ordered the massacre of 342 troops who had surrendered at Goliad.

Ironically, the war ended when General Houston defeated Santa Anna's army in a brief 18 minute battle at San Jacinta while "rumor has it" that Santa Anna was high on opium (his drug of choice) and he was dallying with Emily Morgan, a high yellow slave, "The Yellow Rose of Texas", and his troops were resting at 4:00 P.M. in the afternoon. Santa Anna, running around in his underwear, surrendered and returned to Mexico and ordered all of his troops that were stationed in large numbers all over the State of Texas to return to Mexico with him.

Of course, this all began with the unwavering spirit of a dedicated 26 year old South Carolinian, Lt. Col. William Barret Travis.

Shannon Burke, a successful author and screenwriter, who is married to my niece, has researched the Alamo while working there a few years ago during a Hollywood remake. He reports that the majority of the men fighting at the Alamo were ne'er do wells, who suddenly found themselves with their backs to the wall and unbelievably, with no personal stake in Texas and heretofore not much chivalry, joined together to put up a heroic defense.

History, Disney and Hollywood have immortalized the names of Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett, and others.

The state of Texas has immortalized them all. The Alamo is considered a shrine and is the #1 visitor attraction in the State of Texas.

The sacrifices these men made is legendary. Facing certain death, and given one last chance to flee by William Travis...when it is said that Lt. Col. Travis drew a line in the sand with his sword...all but one stepped over the line and chose to stay and fight and die...COURAGE, HEROISM and SACRIFICE..."Victory or Death".

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Dated February 24, 1836


"To the People of Texas & all Americans in the world
Fellow Citizens & Compatriots

I am beseiged by a thousand or more of the Mexicans
Under Santa Anna. I have sustained a continual
bombardment & cannonade for 24 hours & have not
lost a man. The enemy has demanded a surrender at
discretion, otherwise the garrison are to be put to the sword
if the fort is taken. I have ansered the demand with a cannon
shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the walls.
I shall never surrender nor retreat.

Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism, & of
everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid
with all dispatch. The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily &
will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days.
If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as
possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own
honor and that of his country."

Victory or Death
William Barret Travis
Lt. Col. Comdt.

P.S. The Lord is on our side.
When the enemy appeared in sight
we had not three bushels of corn.
We have since found in deserted houses
80 or 90 bushels & got into the walls 20
or 30 head of Beeves.

Travis