Twenty-five years after the September 11th terrorist attacks, the Honorable Brian Birdwell has returned to the Pentagon with a story of survival that can only be described as miraculous.
On September 11, 2001, Birdwell was working in the Pentagon’s outer E-Ring between Corridors 4 and 5—directly in the path of American Airlines Flight 77. He was the sole survivor from that section.
In a special episode of CBN’s Heaven Meets Earth podcast, Birdwell recounts the terrifying impact, deafening noise, and agonizing aftermath when the plane struck the Pentagon. He recalls that, at that moment, he was “15 to 20 yards from an 80-ton jet hitting the building at 530 miles an hour with 3,000 gallons of jet fuel still left in it.”
“I screamed out in a very loud voice, ‘Jesus, I’m coming to see you.’ It was not a ‘Lord, save me from this calamity.’ It was the recognition that, okay, Lord, I got it… that decision I had made in 1971 to accept him as my Lord and Savior was culminating in that moment,” he recalls.
But somehow he survived. Against all odds, amidst the truly horrendous circumstances, God spared his life.
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The road to recovery would be long and painful, though, after he suffered severe lung damage and burns over 60 percent of his body, including third-degree burns over 40 percent. What followed were years of surgeries, rehabilitation, and unimaginable pain. Through four grueling years of recovery, Birdwell and his family clung to their faith, trusting God through circumstances they never would have chosen, and witnessing His faithfulness along the way.
“There’s only one Great Physician, and He’s the reason I’m alive,” Birdwell tells CBN.
Now, 25 years later, Birdwell’s story has come full circle. After more than a decade of service in the Texas Senate, he is once again working inside the Pentagon, this time as Assistant Secretary of War for Sustainment.
“It’s just that reminder that the Lord’s still in charge. I mean, even though we live in a physical world, he’s still in command of both the physical and the spiritual,” Birdwell says.
He points to his remarkable story of survival and faith as proof that God can bring redemption even from our darkest moments. As Birdwell says, you couldn’t hallucinate this miraculous story.
WATCH the Full Interview HERE:
