Brian Birdwell

One minute he was visiting the bathroom down the hall from his Pentagon office. The next minute more than 60% of his body was burned from an unknown explosion and resulting fires.

That was the hell unleashed on Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell on Sept. 11, 2001. He didn’t yet know that a 757 passenger jet had been hijacked by terrorists and flown into his side of the building. Nor that he was one of the few survivors from his office sector of the Pentagon. Or the levels of pain and agony associated with his resulting recovery. That was all to come.

What he did find was that God had plans for him to survive that day, and eventually lead him to become a Texas State Senator. The journey he recalls is a chilling reminder of the depth of trauma that only God can heal.