Escape

Lt. Col. (Ret.) Brian Birdwell, U.S. Army and Mel Birdwell

Every nerve in Brian’s body screamed in pain. His arms, back, legs, face, and hair were all on fire. As he gasped for air, he swallowed thick black smoke and inhaled aerosolized jet fuel and heat so intense his lungs began to blister.

Disoriented and with damaged equilibrium from the concussion, his attempts to stand and escape failed repeatedly. Finally, he collapsed and waited for his soul to depart from his body.

But somehow, he had landed under one of the only working sprinklers in the corridor, and the cold water extinguished him. Suddenly, he was reoriented and began stumbling forward. But with the point of impact behind him and a fire door closed in front of him, he was trapped.

Then, out of nowhere, a locked door to the B-ring opened, and Col. Roy Wallace entered, followed by Lt. Col. Bill McKinnon, whom Brian recognized immediately.

“Call Mel! Tell her I’m alive!” he yelled. But McKinnon had no idea who the skinless, charred body in front of him was, even as the two officers carried Brian to safety with the help of two other men: Chuck Knoblauch and John Davies.

Most of Brian’s skin was gone. What was left was charred black. Sixty percent of his body had been burned, 40 percent of which was third-degree. He was going into shock.

A fellow officer from the Pentagon commandeered Capt. Calvin Wineland’s SUV in the parking lot to carry Brian, who was strapped to a body board, to Georgetown Hospital. Finally, someone got through to Mel and told her Brian was alive and on his way to Georgetown.

Mel’s relief was overshadowed when a nurse from Georgetown called and said, “You’ve got to get here now. He is very, very serious.”

Mel was completely unprepared for what she saw when she finally saw her husband in the ICU. He was so swollen that his head was almost as wide as his shoulders. The medical team had already scrubbed some skin off his face and put salve on him, so he looked white, almost transparent. Every place else was covered in bandages. It would be a long, agonizing road ahead.

Prayer: Lord, when the world falls apart, be my sure foundation, my source of stability.