The unloaded Marine fired after he released a now viral video that was targeting the U.S. military for causing him to leave Kabul and issued a clear threat to his senior seniors on Saturday.
“The baby boomer shift is over,” Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller told The Post. “I demand accountability at all levels. If we don’t get it, I’ll take it. “
He also quoted Thomas Jefferson, saying that “every generation needs a revolution.”
Scheller’s family and former troops say it’s no wonder the officer sacrificed his career to tell the truth.
“It takes real courage to do what he did and that was Stu all the way,” Juan Chavez, 33, of Valparaiso, Ind., Who held Scheller’s position in 2011, told The Post Saturday in 2014. “He was a magnificent leader, a breath of fresh air, who was always going to do what was right, even if it went against the flow.”
Scheller’s father, Stuart Sr., told The Post that his son was “the real business, a Marine’s Marine. People will follow him to the ends of the earth. He has put his life in the line of his fellow sailors, so not surprising us to put his career in that line. “
Scheller, 41, a 17-year-old Navy veteran three years from qualifying for a full pension, went viral Thursday after posting a four-minute, 45-second video on Facebook in which he appeared in uniform and became the military leader after a devastating suicide bombing at Kabul airport, which killed 13 members of the US service and at least 169 Afghans.
He specifically called the commander of the Marine Corps, General David H. Berger, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and the chairman of the chiefs of staff, General Mark Milley.
“People are upset because their high leaders disappoint them, and none of them raise their hands and accept accountability or say,‘ We’ve wrapped this up, ’” he said.
Stuart Scheller, Sr., said his son idolized his grandfather, a World War II veterinarian who landed on Normandy Beach and always wanted to be in the military.
“He’s still on the battlefield protecting his men and women,” Scheller said. “It is interesting that no one (in the army) has responded to his call for accountability. His response was to fire him, I guess. It’s a sad day for America. “
His son has said he will not talk to reporters until his “formal” departure from the Marines is over.
A married father of three boys living in Jacksonville, North Carolina, Scheller appeared to have had a brilliant military career before doing the unthinkable and broke the rank with the Marine Corps. He received a V Combat for Courage and a Bronze Star.
But now he is a hero to many military men because, as one person commented, “he came out with what everyone thought but was afraid to say.”
But now he is a hero to many military and civilian people because, as one person commented, “he came out with what everyone thought but was afraid to say.”
In his video, Scheller said the United States should never have abandoned its most strategic air base, Bagram, earlier this summer. Milley said on June 23 that Bagram “was not tactically or operationally necessary” for the final exit of the U.S. Army from Afghanistan.
Scheller said some of his fellow officers, while supporting him, urged him to withdraw the video.
“Viously I obviously didn’t rule it out,” Scheller wrote in a later Facebook post. “I’ll offer this … we can’t all be wrong. If you all agree … step up. They only have the power because we allow it. What if we all demanded accountability?”
More than 30,000 people, some of whom served under Scheller’s direction, liked and commented on his video.
“Proud to have served under your orders, sir, we will follow you to the pits of hell and return,” wrote Zach Olbrys of Worcester, Mass.
Ryan Holland of Lexington, Ky, wrote: “I see a seat in Washington in your near future !! It was always an honor to serve with you sir! Always Fi!
“It took big brass balls to do what you did … [knowing] it was a huge risk to your personal career, ”wrote Paul Zedalis. “An officer with integrity … hard to find at higher levels right now. My hat is for you, sir!