9/11 survivor talks faith, forgiveness

• By CHANTE DIONNE WARREN
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Aug 28, 2009 - Page: 1B

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An Army officer badly burned when a hijacked plane slammed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, told about 500 Parkview Baptist High School students Thursday that he could forgive the terrorists involved.

During a question and answer session following retired Army Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell’s speech in the Parkview Baptist Church sanctuary, student Emily Seba, a junior, asked what he might say to the terrorists who crashed American Airline Flight 77 into the Pentagon.

If the terrorists were alive and had repented, Birdwell said, “I know I could forgive them.”

Birdwell, 47, of Granbury, Texas, was invited to speak to students as part of their “Eagle Experience” project. Students and faculty read Birdwell’s book, “Refined by Fire,” this summer. He co-wrote the book with his wife, Mel Birdwell.

Teachers are incorporating lessons from the book in their classes, said Krista Corwin, Parkview public relations and development assistant.

Several students said reading Birdwell’s book, which included lessons on faith and forgiveness, helped move them to expect more of themselves.

“God has a plan and that gives us hope,” said Will Bobe, a junior. “His book taught me that we should repent and be easy to forgive.”

Birdwell, who then served as a military aide to the department assistant chief of staff for installation management, described the scene of the catastrophe in detail to students. He was standing about 20 yards from the spot where the plane crashed into the outer wall of the Pentagon. His body was covered in flames and he was knocked to the floor.

Birdwell, who was 39 years old at the time, said his thoughts changed from struggling to survive to realizing that he might die.

“The Lord’s hands” helped him to survive, he said. A corridor sprinkler helped douse the flames that had burned about 60 percent of his body. Several men rescued him from the building.

“I could see the damage to my arms. The flesh was hanging,” he told students.

Days after the attack, President George W. Bush visited him at Washington Hospital’s burn unit where Birdwell said the president saluted him and called him a “great American.”

Birdwell said he tried to lift his arm to return the salute.