There was no question the kind of speech Dr. Ben Carson was going to deliver Wednesday night at Penn's Peak in Jim Thorpe.

The man who many Republicans are urging to run for president in 2016 told a crowd of around 1,300 people that he "was not going to be politically correct," claiming he doesn't believe straining every word as to not offend someone is the American way.A retired neurosurgeon best known for being the first surgeon to separate conjoined twins at the head, the 63-year-old Carson didn't come right out and say he would seek the commander-in-chief post, but he hinted at it."All the political pundits said it's impossible and it can't be done," said Carson, the former head of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital."I heard that a lot during my medical career. I always say it can't be done until it is done. Then it's on to the next thing."Carson took the stage following a performance by the event's emcee, the Rev. Dave Reinwald of Kissinger's Lutheran Church in Wyomissing. Reinwald penned a song for the evening titled "It's Time To Run," featuring the slogan "Run Ben Run."During his approximately 45-minute speech, followed by a question-and-answer session, Carson talked about overcoming a childhood in poverty, his views on what is destroying the nation, and plans for energy independence and health care reform.Growing up in inner city Detroit and raised by only his mother, Carson wasn't the best student in school. His mother, Sonya, who had a third-grade education, cleaned the houses of wealthy people and began to notice trends in their lifestyle."They weren't watching television, but they were reading books," Carson said."So my mom came home and said you can watch two television programs a week and the rest of the time you're going to read books."In a year-and-a-half, Carson went from the bottom of his class to the top."I had the same brain as when I was doing poorly," he said.Change in attitude"It's a change of attitude that turned things around for me and it's a change of attitude that can change things around for this country. We need to decide, will we capitulate to the secular progressives who want to change fundamentally our society or will we stand for the principles that made this the greatest nation the world has ever known?"On Tuesday, the national debt eclipsed the $18 trillion mark. Doing quick math, Carson said it would take 5,000 years to pay that back at $10 million per day."It's immoral to steal the livelihood of the people coming behind us," he said. "The way to destroy America is to saddle it with unsustainable debt and I'm beginning to wonder if there are those who are intentionally trying to destroy our nation."Carson called for the overhaul of the country's tax structure and elimination of the Internal Revenue Service.He's also a proponent of changing the mission of the Environmental Protection Agency."The EPA should be working the business industry and academia to find the safest ways to develop energy," he added. "We have enough natural gas to last 1,000 years and now we know how to liquify it and export it. We need to get rid of archaic energy exploitation rules that don't allow us to do that."Taking responsibilityOn the issue of health care, Carson advocated bringing personal responsibility into the mix."I proposed using a health savings account which gives people control over their own health care," he said. "It's just like when you check into a hotel and they tell you all your expenses are taken care of. Then you're going to order the filet mignon and the best champagne. If you're paying for it, you're going to ask if there's a McDonald's in there. You control costs by putting some personal responsibility in there."Touching on other topics, Carson said he supports the Second Amendment, feels recent issues with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs shows what happens "when you put layers of bureaucracy between people who need health care and health care providers," and believes that the Ferguson tragedy provides an opportunity for police and citizens to learn from each other."It's a chance for police to explain exactly what goes into their tactics and a chance for the community to explain why they feel the way they do, but riots and fighting are not the answer," he said.Answering a question from the audience, Carson blasted President Barack Obama's executive order actions on immigration."It flies in the face of Congress when you don't understand this is a Republic-type government," he said.The Lehighton 9/12 Project presented Wednesday's event."We were thinking maybe 200 or 300 people and we ended up with 1,300," said Sandy Dellicker, president of the Lehighton 9/12 Project."We are really truly humbled by everyone showing up and for all of our sponsors. We're calling this a night of hope because I think we're all hoping for something."Angie Curtis of Brodheadsville said she attended with a group of friends who had been looking forward to the event since it was announced."I've watched his speech at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast multiple times and I've seen him on television and I continue to be impressed," she said. "I just think he tells it like it is and that's hard to find these days."Tea party groups from as far away as West Virginia made the trip to Jim Thorpe.Following the event, Carson and his wife, Candy signed copies of books they co-authored including, "America The Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great," and "One Nation: What We Can All Do To Save America."