| 00:00:00 | LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PLEASE WELCOME STEVE RUSSELL, AUTHOR OF "WE GOT HIM. |
| 00:00:09 | " [NO AUDIO] |
| 00:00:16 | [APPLAUSE] -- [APPLAUSE] >> I AM STEVE RUSSELL. |
| 00:00:20 | I HAD THE PRIVILEGE TO COMMAND A TASK FORCE OF 1000 SOLDIERS THAT CAPTURED SADDAM HUSSEIN. |
| 00:00:33 | [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] |
| 00:00:49 | THANK YOU. |
| 00:00:51 | THANK YOU. |
| 00:00:55 | [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] |
| 00:00:58 | AMONG [APPLAUSE] |
| 00:01:02 | AMONG THE SOLDIER THAT WERE SERVING WITH US THAT NINE WAS IAN -- THAT NIGHT WAS IAN. |
| 00:01:13 | IAN WAS A PART OF THE RECALL ON GROUP THAT WE WORKED SO CLOSELY WITH. |
| 00:01:22 | MARK COORDINATED INTERVENTION AS A BATTLE CAPTAIN FOR THE FOURTH INFANTRY DIVISION. |
| 00:01:31 | WHEN THEY WERE ROOMMATES AT WEST POINT, THEY WOULD BOTH BE A PART OF THE FORCES THAT MADE HISTORY THAT NIGHT. |
| 00:01:38 | RETURNING TO IRAQ WITH THE SAME BRIGADE ABOUT 15 MONTHS LATER, BUT NOW EACH OF THEM IN COMMAND OF THEIR OWN COMPANIES. |
| 00:01:46 | IAN WAS KILLED IN ACTION LEADING HIS TROOPS IN APRIL 2006. |
| 00:01:53 | BOTH OF US THAT SERVE WITH HIM PAID OUR RESPECTS AS HE WAS LAID TO REST AT ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY. |
| 00:02:00 | SIX MONTHS LATER AFTER SUFFERING A CONCUSSION AND IGNORING THOSE INJURIES, MARK LED HIS TROOPS IN A COMBAT OPERATION IN WHICH HE WAS ALSO KILLED BY ENEMY FIRE IN OCTOBER 2006. |
| 00:02:14 | I MADE ANOTHER TRIP TO THE ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY TO PAY MY RESPECTS TO YET ANOTHER FRIEND. |
| 00:02:22 | AT THE BURIAL, IF YOU HAVE BEEN TO THE CEMETERY, THEY LAY CASUALTIES IN ORDER THAT THEY ARE RECEIVED. |
| 00:02:31 | WE NOTICED THAT WHEN WE BURIED MARK, HE WAS LAID AT THE FEET OF IAN WEIGEL. |
| 00:02:41 | ROOMMATES AT THE ACADEMY, BEST FRIENDS IN BATTLE, AND NOW TOGETHER IN LIFE-AND-DEATH. |
| 00:02:48 | AFTER THE BURIAL, AND I WALKED AROUND OUR NATION'S CAPITAL, TRYING TO MENTALLY PROCESS A GREAT NUMBER OF THINGS. |
| 00:02:56 | POLITICIANS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE FLAUNT THEIR CHEST ABOUT THE HOPELESSNESS OF OUR SERVICE AND OUR MISSION IN IRAQ. |
| 00:03:05 | EVERYWHERE I TURNED, THE AIR WAS HEAVY WITH MELANCHOLY PROPHECY ABOUT HOW THE WAR IN IRAQ WAS LOST. |
| 00:03:17 | SO I SO I DECIDED TO LET VISIT THE NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM FOR A DISTRACTION I NOTICED THERE WAS THIS. |
| 00:03:28 | AS I WALKED AROUND THE ROTUNDA, I NOTICED THEY WERE THE NAYSAYERS, THE PEOPLE THAT SAID IT COULD NEVER FLY. |
| 00:03:41 | UPON EXAMINATION, IT WAS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT A TANK FULL OF CANVAS AND WHAT WAS ACTUALLY STRUGGLED INTO THE AIR, AND COMING OUT OF THE EXHIBIT I NOTICED A MORE STURDY LOOKING CRAFT, WITH A BRAVE TITLE ON THE SIDE, AND WHAT STRUCK ME WAS THAT IT DID NOT HAVE A FORWARD LOOKING WINDOW, BUT A FORWARD- LOOKING PILOT. |
| 00:04:07 | YOU COULD STILL HEAR THE NAYSAYERS. |
| 00:04:10 | "YOU ARE GOING TO DIE JUST LIKE ALL THE OTHERS, YOU FOOL. |
| 00:04:17 | YOU'LL NEVER STAY AWAKE. |
| 00:04:18 | YOU CANNOT DO IT ALONE TURCO CARE, I WAS STRUCK BY THE APOLLO 18 LUNAR MODULE, AND WONDERED HOW A SUBSTANCE THAT LOOKED LIKE ALUMINUM FOIL COULD SUPPORT LIFE IN OUTER SPACE. |
| 00:04:36 | HOW WAS IT THAT WE FOUND AMERICANS FOOLISH ENOUGH TO BELIEVE THE ISSUE COULD BE STRAPPED TOWNS WHERE ROCKET OF TWO THOUSAND METRIC TONS THAT WOULD BREAK APART BY DESIGN AND PURLIEU INTO SPACE, AND BECAUSE OF SOMEBODY'S MATHEMATICS CALCULATION, YOU WOULD BE LAUNCHED FOR THE MOVE COUNT --. |
| 00:04:59 | THE MOON, AND BECAUSE OF THE THEORY OF GRAVITY -- GRAVITY, YOU'D BE DRAWN THERE. |
| 00:05:08 | THEN, THEY WOULD LAND ON THE MOON, PLANT A FLAG, FIND THIS OF AIRCRAFT, CRAWL BACK IN, AND SLING SHOT BACK TO EARTH THEN, AS THEY CAME AT THOUSANDS OF MILES PER HOUR, BUT SLOW DOWN WHEN THEY HAD THE FIERY, PARACHUTES WILL DEPLOY IN YOU WILL LAND IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN AND THE HELICOPTER WILL COME AND FIND YOU. |
| 00:05:45 | [APPLAUSE] [LAUGHTER] >> YET, THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT WE AMERICANS ACHIEVED IN THIS COUNTRY. |
| 00:05:53 | [APPLAUSE] [CAPTIONS COPYRIGHT NATIONAL CABLE SATELLITE CORP. |
| 00:05:55 | 2011] [CAPTIONING PERFORMED BY NATIONAL CAPTIONING INSTITUTE] |
| 00:05:57 | >> BUT TO READ THE HEADLINES OF THE DAY, YOU WOULD HEAR THIS -- WHAT ABOUT THE POOR, THOUGH WAR ON POVERTY, THE THINGS THAT REALLY MATTER IN THIS COUNTRY? |
| 00:06:10 | I WONDER HOW DIFFERENT OUR WORLD WOULD BE TODAY WITHOUT CHARLES LINDBERGH AND NEIL ARMSTRONG? |
| 00:06:19 | AS I RE-ENTERED THE GLOOMY MOOD HOUSE SIDE OF THE NATION'S CAPITAL, I LEFT INSPIRED BECAUSE IT DAWNED ON ME THAT AMERICA HAS NEVER BEEN BUILT ON A LABOR AND HARD WORK OF THE SENATE AND THE CRITIC. |
| 00:06:42 | [APPLAUSE] >> CYNICS AND CRITICS, SOLDIERS OF THIS GENERATION HAVE HAD A BELLYFUL OF THEM. |
| 00:06:51 | EVERY MONUMENTAL MISSION OUR NATION HAS ASKED OUR MEN AND WOMEN IN UNIFORM SINCE 9/11 HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED. |
| 00:07:01 | OVERTHROW THE TALIBAN GOVERNMENT, DON, PHIL OSAMA BIN LADEN, KILL OR CAPTURE SADDAM HUSSEIN, DONE. |
| 00:07:17 | [APPLAUSE] >> AND WE, THE SOLDIERS, HAVE DONE IT WITH THE OBSTRUCTIONS OF LIBERALS, CYNICS, AND CRITICS, TELLING US IT WAS ALL SOME BIG MISTAKE. |
| 00:07:35 | NONSENSE. [APPLAUSE] >> WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM AMERICA'S CURRENT WAR VETERANS? |
| 00:07:41 | PERHAPS THIS -- THERE ARE STILL THINGS WORTH FIGHTING FOR. |
| 00:07:49 | [APPLAUSE] >>, AMERICA HAS NOT BEEN BUILT ON THE LABOR AND HARD WORK OF THE SENATE AND THE -- SICK AND THE CRITIC. |
| 00:07:59 | THERE ARE STILL AMERICANS TO KNOW HOW TO SACRIFICE, AND KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHAT IS GOOD AND WHAT IS EVIL, WHO WAS A THREAT, AND WAS HARMLESS. |
| 00:08:09 | WHETHER TO LIVE FREE, OR QUIT ON THIS COUNTRY AND DIE. |
| 00:08:19 | AMERICANS NEED TO SACRIFICE ALONG WITH OUR SOLDIERS, LIKE WHAT? |
| 00:08:27 | SACRIFICED DOUBT. |
| 00:08:29 | SACRIFICE ANXIETY. |
| 00:08:31 | SACRIFICE CYNICISM. |
| 00:08:34 | AS VISIONARY AS WE AS REPUBLICANS CLAIM TO BE, WE WILL MAKE LITTLE HEADWAY IF ALL OR ONLY ANSWERS ARE MERE SIDELINE SNIPES AT WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS COUNTRY. |
| 00:08:48 | OUR TASK IS TO SHOW THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WHAT IS RIGHT WITH THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. |
| 00:09:07 | [APPLAUSE] >> IT IS TIME TO IGNORE THE CYNIC, AND GETS TO WORK. |
| 00:09:13 | ANY SOLDIER KNOWS YOU MAKE USE OF THE TIME THAT YOU HAVE, NOT THE TIME THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO HAVE, AND YOU NEVER QUIT, AND YOU STAY ON A MISSION UNTIL IT IS ACCOMPLISHED. |
| 00:09:25 | IF WE WANT TO HONOR THOSE WHO WILL NEVER COME HOME, AND NEVER KNOW THE JOYS OF MARRIAGE AND RAISING CHILDREN, WHO WILL NEVER LIVE IN THE FREEDOMS THAT THEIR SACRIFICE PURCHASED, THEN WE MUST HONOR THEM BY RESTORING THE COUNTRY THAT THEY DIED FOR. |
| 00:09:49 | [APPLAUSE] >> I BELIEVE THE SUM TOTAL OF OUR LIVES IS HOW WE INVEST IN OTHER PEOPLE, AND WE, THE PEOPLE, THE DEFENDERS OF THIS GREAT NATION TO HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO SERVE OUR GOD, OUR COUNTRY, AND ALSO GIVE OF OUR TALENTS AND EFFORTS TO PRESERVE WHAT IS THE DREAM OF THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE. |
| 00:10:13 | MAY YOU BE SUCH LEADERS, AND AS WE FACE TO THE WIND, AND LOOK TO THE FUTURE, WE WILL ALWAYS HAVE THE NAYSAYERS. |
| 00:10:26 | AS WE ENDEAVOR TO TAKE RISKS, LEAD AND ACHIEVE, WE HAVE TO IGNORE THEIR CALLS SAYING IT WILL NEVER FLY. |
| 00:10:32 | KEEP THE FAITH, AND NOT QUITE, GOD BLESS YOU ALL. |
| 00:10:38 | -- DO NOT QUITE. |
| 00:10:39 | GOD BLESS YOU ALL. |
| 00:11:02 | [APPLAUSE] [APPLAUSE] (music) >> LADIES |
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