Colonel Ruel Keith Branham was born on February 16, 1935, in Cumberland County, Kentucky.
During his 32-year career in the US Air Force (1955 – 1987), he flew in the B-36, B-52, and F-4 aircraft. The highlight of his military career, however, was his time as a navigator in the illustrious SR-71 “Blackbird” while stationed at Beale Air Force Base, California. The SR-71 still holds all of the world’s speed and altitude records, cruising at speeds in excess of Mach 3+.
In 1967, Major Bob Spencer and then-Captain Branham approached the Great Salt Lake on their way from Beale when Spencer began feeling unwell. He began to hyperventilate. He realized that his oxygen supply had been cut off. In a reduced state of consciousness, he was suffering from narrowed vision and hypoxia.
He told Branham that they were in trouble as the aircraft started to descend and began to exceed Mach limits.
Branham took control. He struggled to see the instruments and began shouting instructions to Spencer. For the next 10 minutes, Branham directed his pilot, keeping them from losing control of the aircraft.
When they brought the SR-71 to 15,000 feet, Spencer thought he had snapped out of it, but he was actually experiencing euphoria from the hypoxia that had affected his decision-making.
Despite a flameout of the right engine, Branham again took charge and talked Spencer through an emergency landing.
As a result of this incident, the oxygen system in the SR-71 was redesigned. Branham was honored personally by Kelly Johnson of Lockheed Aircraft for saving the plane.