WATCH: 'Burned but not broken,' a Texas state senator’s 9/11 story of survival

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(The Center Square) – Twenty-four years ago, now retiring state Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, survived the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

On Sept. 11, 2001, then Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell was in the bathroom located down the hall from his Pentagon office when an explosion occurred.

He didn’t know that a terrorist attack had occurred – that 19 terrorists hijacked four planes killing nearly 3,000 Americans. One of them, Flight 77, a 757 passenger plane, crashed into the Pentagon. Birdwell was one of only a few survivors from his office sector to survive.

Birdwell said he survived being 15 to 20 yards from an 80-ton jet hitting the Pentagon at 530 miles an hour with more than 3,000 gallons of jet fuel.

“You live to tell about it not because the United States Army made me the toughest guy in that building, but because the toughest man who ever walked this earth 2,000 years ago sits at the right hand of the Father had something else in mind,” he said, referring to Jesus Christ.

Sixty percent of his body was burned; more than half with third-degree burns. He’d undergo 39 operations, months of hospitalization and numerous skin grafts.

He describes his survival story and gives his testimony in a documentary published by the Ft. Worth-based ministry, I Am Second. Despite physical limitations and suffering from severe burns, he testifies to his physical and spiritual healing, “the ultimate miracle of grace through Christ.”

Birdwell was awarded the Purple Heart for the wounds he received on 9/11. When he retired from the Army, he was awarded the Legion of Merit. For his service overseas in Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, he was awarded the Bronze Star for Exceptional Meritorious Achievement.

Birdwell and his wife founded Face the Fire Ministries to support critical-burn survivors and wounded service-members and their families. He and his wife also authored, “Refined by Fire: A Family's Triumph of Love and Faith,” chronicling his survival and recovery.

After serving 20 years in the U.S. Army, Birdwell was elected to the Texas Senate in 2010. He was reelected every two years and announced he was retiring this year.

Throughout his tenure, he has received top rankings and recognitions from numerous pro-life, pro-business and conservative organizations, including National Federation of Independent Business, Texas State Rifle Association/National Rifle Association, Texas Right to Life, Texas Heritage Alliance and Texas Conservative Coalition, among others.

His legislative accomplishments include authoring and passing bills recently signed into law, including laws to protect Texans and Texas land from foreign adversaries, expanded prolife laws, camp oversight and flood management reform in the aftermath of the catastrophic July 4 flood, property tax reform, election reform, and the state’s first pro-school choice program, among many others.

His legislative priorities have included protecting homeowners from eminent domain, expanding self-defense rights for law-abiding gun owners, advancing resources for veterans and their family members, increasing government transparency, implementing penalties and bans related to ESG and DEI policies, and many others. Birdwell also authored Texas’ comprehensive border security legislation during the greatest border crisis in U.S. history, the Stronger Border, Safer Texas Act.

During his tenure, he held multiple committee chairmanships; since 2013, he chaired U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz's 22-member U.S. Service Academy Nominations Board. Last year, he was inducted into the U.S. Field Artillery Association Hall of Fame. This year, he was inducted into the U.S. Martial Arts Hall of Fame.

In commemoration of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, he said, “24 years ago our nation awoke to a harsh reality in terrorism on our homeland taking nearly 3,000 Americans. We remember them and those who would respond domestically and overseas in uniform. Most of all we remember that the Lord still sits on His throne governing in the affairs of Earth and that the Birdwells and our country are very blessed. We pray the Lords continued blessings on you and our country.”