Sully sets a good example of service

Published Saturday, January 24, 2009

Humility is a rare trait among many of our public figures.

So when someone is forced into the national spotlight and he manages to retain his humbleness, we gravitate toward

him and his story.

So it is this week with Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the US Airways pilot who guided his plane to a crash landing in the Hudson

River, saving the lives of all 155 people on board.

The reluctant honoree at a celebration in his hometown of Danville, Calif., on Saturday.

Sullenberger said this: “We were simply doing the job we were trained to do.”

What lessons his words could hold for so many others, from students to politicians on the national stage.

If more of our national and state leaders would simply do the job they were trained, or elected, to do, we would hope that our government could move past grandstanding and political

battles to effective leadership.

President Obama says that’s what he seeks, even as he breaks from the Bush administration’s policies while refusing to join the public fray of criticism and condemnation.

Sully would do no less.

A man trained as a pilot, focused on the task of delivering his passengers and crew safely while under his watch, Sully became a national

hero by simply doing the job he was trained to do.

Let’s hope that our newest president, his administration, and government leaders can do the same.

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