Air Force officer wondered if man he helped on 9/11 lived; now he knows

It’s been nearly 15 years since their lives were thrust together for a few chaotic moments outside the Pentagon on 9/11.

Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell never got to thank the man who held his leaky IV line and tried to keep him conscious as he lay on a gurney, parts of his body and half his face burned beyond recognition. Col. Rob Maness never knew if the severely wounded man he’d helped had survived.

That is, until last week, when their paths crossed again.

In 2001, Birdwell worked for the Army and, on the morning of Sept. 11, was with two colleagues watching the live footage of the Twin Towers burning. At 9:35 a.m. he stepped out to go to the bathroom, telling his co-workers he’d be right back. It was the last time he ever spoke to them.

Less than 10 minutes later, as Birdwell left the bathroom, American Airlines Flight 77 barreled into the side of the building, the nose of the aircraft less than 20 yards from where Birdwell stood. He was engulfed in flames, parts of his polyester Army pants melted to his skin, his arms were skinned, and he collapsed. He lay there thinking of his wife and his teenage son and their goodbyes that morning. He tried to accept that he was dying.

Yet, minutes later, he was being carried out of the building and a medic on site quickly hooked him up to an IV. That’s when Maness, who worked for the Air Force, showed up and was instructed to hold Birdwell’s IV line, which was leaking, and to try to keep the fading man awake. Maness asked his first name. They prayed together.

Maness told him he’d be OK, though for years he did not know whether Birdwell had survived.

Both men are in politics now, Birdwell as a state senator in Texas and Maness as a candidate for the open U.S. Senate seat in Louisiana. They were both in Cleveland last week for the Republican National Convention.

Maness requested a meeting with former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to ask advice about running in a statewide election. Perry wanted to introduce him to another veteran turned public official who had also been in the Pentagon on 9/11. He had his aides track down Birdwell.

Within minutes of trading stories from that terrible day, the men realized one another. They were describing the same location, the same injuries, the same broken IV line.

“We figured it out in a couple minutes of talking to each other,” Maness said. “I started crying. It was a very positive emotional release for me.”

THE WASHINGTON POST Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell shows his cast to Marion Jordan and physical therapist Kristen Dammen at Washington Hospital Center burn unit.