Featured Iron Butterflies: The Birdwells’ 9-11 reflection

Most people say there are only a handful of days they remember with great detail. Usually they are disasters or tragedies like December 7, 1941, The Day Pearl Harbor was attacked; November 22, 1963, the Day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated; April 4, 1969, the day Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated; June 6, 1968, the day Senator Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated and January 28, 1986, the day of the Challenger Disaster.

Some people vividly remember special days in their lives like wedding dates, birthdays, holidays and/or family traditions and funerals.

But, in most cases, anyone over the age of 25, all over the world, remembers every moment of September 11, 2001, when terrorists hijacked four commercial airlines in an attack on the United States of America. The planes hit both towers of the World Trade Center, the U.S. Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania, killing close to 3,000 people and injuring over 25,000. One of those severely injured was Col. Brian Birdwell.

Colonel Birdwell, now a Texas State Senator, survived the attack but was critically injured. His wife, Mel, was his biggest advocate. Mel shares her reflections of the past 20 years. Her story, as told to her dear friends Verlie Edwards and Leanne Ivey, explores how she and her husband have survived together.

Take a few minutes to read this powerful story.