Hey Gang, Here is all the information that I have on Brian Birdwell over the last few days. I talked to Aggie yesterday, and she said that she had talked to Bob Birdwell of San Antonio, and he gave her the lowdown on Brian's family line. <George>Ben, Sr.>Ben, Jr.>James Worfield>Otha>Oliver Douglas>Brian> Aggie talked to Brian's wife, Melva, and she asked that we all say prayers for her husband. Sharon Hall is going there soon, and will stop by and see Brian. Thank you, Sharon. Please tell him that we are all thinking of him and praying for him. I've copy and pasted, so please forgive all the >'s. Have a great day Rose >From Barbara Mann: Area families try to cope with loss Date September 13, 2001 Source GABRIELLE CRIST;LILA LaHOODStar-Telegram Staff Writers Section NEWS Edition FINAL On Monday, Marty Fangman dropped his brother off at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport after a weekend visit.Less than 24 hours later, Fangman watched his brother die.Fangman stared in horror in his Keller home as the television showed the second airplane crashing into a World Trade Center tower.Hours later, he and his family confirmed what they had suspected - 33-year-old flight attendant Robert Fangman was on board United Airlines Flight 175.Since then, they've been unable to escape the replays that over and over again show their loved one dying."I woke up this morning feeling like I'd been beaten," Marty Fangman said Wednesday. "I have a hard time believing I could feel any worse."Now Fangman and his wife, Kristy, are trying to explain to their 9-year-old daughter why her uncle is dead. In Mansfield, members of another area family are coping with the same tragedy. They are leaving today for Washington to be with Wade Birdwell's brother, who was critically burned when a plane crashed into the Pentagon. They are getting there on new tires provided free by a dealership that was told why the Birdwells needed their car serviced immediately. A third victim of the terrorist attacks also has local ties: She was a graduate of the University of North Texas who was killed in the Pentagon crash. The Fangmans, meanwhile, described Robert Fangman, the youngest of seven children, as a carefree bachelor who enjoyed good food, red wine and dancing. He became a flight attendant at the beginning of the year because he wanted to travel before he settled down, his family said. "I'd never seen him happier," Marty Fangman said. Part of the struggle, Marty Fangman said, is that his family must grieve the loss while also grappling with the tragedy as American citizens. "What these people have done, they've done to every single one of us," Fangman said. He doesn't know who "they" are, but he plans to hold government officials to their promise to catch and punish those responsible. For now, though, the family members have more immediate concerns. They are trying to figure out how to get to Delaware for a celebration on Sunday of Robert Fangman's life. With airports closed, Marty Fangman said he will probably drive to make sure they get there in time. As news accounts describe the violence that apparently took place aboard the planes before they crashed, Fangman said he's not sure he wants to know what happened to his brother. "In some ways, the more I learn about it, the more disheartened I become," he said. Debbie Fangman, Robert's 45-year-old sister in Delaware, said she doesn't need to know either, but she wonders what her brother's last moments were like. "What was he doing? Was he scared?" she asked. Maybe he tried to fight the hijackers; maybe he was killed before the plane took off from Boston, she said. Whatever his fate, Debbie Fangman said, she wishes the TV networks would quit showing replays of the airplane flying into the World Trade Center tower. "Every time you see it, you're watching your brother die again," Debbie Fangman said. "If you haven't seen it by now, you live in a hole." She said she realizes that her brother's remains will never be recovered, and although some of her relatives struggle with that, she doesn't. "He wanted to be cremated and have his ashes spread over a big city," Debbie Fangman said. "He got that." Wade Birdwell and his family should be on the road to Washington today - driving on free new tires - to be Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell, his brother, who survived the Pentagon attack. When he heard the news, Wade, an attorney with Wallach & Moore in Fort Worth, decided to drive to Washington with his wife, Liz, principal at Alexander Elementary in Duncanville; daughter Alexandra; and mother, Loretta Reves. Teachers and parents at Liz Birdwell's school wanted to help and took her car to a Goodyear center. Told why the car needed fast service, Goodyear employees gave them a set of new tires and services. "It's been phenomenal, the outpouring of support," Wade Birdwell said. Brian Birdwell, 39, who has been in the Army 17 years, has a wife, Melva; and son, Matthew, 12. "His office was two windows from the point of impact," Wade Birdwell said. But his brother was not at his desk when the plane hit. "Of all things, he went to the bathroom," Birdwell said. As rescuers pulled people from the area, friends saw Brian Birdwell on a stretcher, put him in a van and raced to Georgetown University Hospital. He was moved to Washington Hospital Center and is in critical but stable condition with burns over 60 percent of his body, Wade Birdwell said. Another from Barbara Mann: Area families feel gamut of emotions Date September 14, 2001 Source LILA LAHOOD;ELLENA FORTNER MORRISON Star-Telegram Staff Writers Section NEWS Edition FINAL It was a solemn salute from the president of the United States to a wounded soldier, an Army veteran lying in a hospital bed with third-degree burns covering his face, arms and hands. Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell, 39, a victim of Tuesday's terrorist attack on the Pentagon, struggled to reciprocate, ever so slowly. "When the president saw Brian starting to salute back, he held his salute until Brian completed his salute... [He] almost got his salute completely up to his head and down," said Birdwell's brother, Wade Birdwell of Mansfield. Wade Birdwell, a Fort Worth attorney, wasn't there to witness the president's visit at Washington Hospital Center. He was still on the road Thursday when his sister-in-law and a nurse recounted the meeting in a telephone call to Wade Birdwell as he drove from Texas to Washington. When Brian Birdwell's wife, Melva, told Bush that her husband was a fellow Texan, Wade Birdwell said, the president "hugged her and kissed her and gave her his and the first lady's love to my nephew Matthew," Brian Birdwell's 12-year-old son. Wade Birdwell, his wife, the couple's daughter and his mother left for Washington Wednesday evening and expected to arrive at the hospital early today. Brian Birdwell's Pentagon office was near the point where the hijacked plane slammed into the building, but he survived because he was not at his desk at the time of impact. As rescuers pulled people from the fringes of the devastated area Tuesday, colleagues recognized Brian Birdwell lying on a stretcher. They put him in a van and raced to Georgetown University Hospital, driving over sidewalks to get there, Wade Birdwell said. He was later moved to Washington Hospital Center. Brian Birdwell has been assigned to the Pentagon for a year. He is a Persian Gulf War veteran and has been in the Army 17 years, his brother said. Like the Birdwells, another area family considered themselves lucky that their relatives survived the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center in New York... ...The Birdwell family, meanwhile, prays that Brian Birdwell continues his recovery. He was listed in critical condition Thursday but is improving and will undergo a third round of surgery today, Wade Birdwell said. When he heard about his brother's injury, Wade Birdwell, an attorney with the Fort Worth firm Wallach, Andrews, Florsheim & Stouffer - which changed its name this summer and had been identified in previous stories as Wallach & Moore - decided to drive to Washington with his wife, Liz, daughter Alexandra, 3, and mother Loretta Reves. The family received an immediate outpouring of help from friends and colleagues. Before they set out on the road, a local Goodyear service center that learned about Brian Birdwell's situation provided a free tune-up and free tires for their car. And the help continues to appear in unexpected places, such as a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Jackson, Tenn., Wade Birdwell said. "Someone must have overheard me on the telephone because they paid for our meal," he said. Staff writer Melody McDonald contributed to this report Lila LaHood, (817) 390-7725 llahood@star-telegram.com Ellena Fortner Morrison, (817) 685-3888 efortner@star-telegram.com PHOTO(S): CP >From Dick Birdwell: > > > When President Bush went to visit the wounded from the Pentagon, he > >walked > > > into a room and was introduced: Mr President, this is LTC Brian > >Birdwell, > > > US Army. The President saluted the badly burned soldier and as he > >realized > > > that the soldier was trying to return the salute, the President held > his > > > salute for the agonizingly long time it took the soldier to raise his > >right > > > arm to the salute position. LTC Birdwell and his wife told a friend of > >mine > > > yesterday that the President's visit was like that of a friend who > >offered > > > comfort and prayers. Burned over 60% of his body, his morale is sky > >high. > > > Pray for him and Mr. Bush. Hello all: Aggie has outdone herself again and tracked down Brian Birdwell, who was injured at the Pentagon on September 11th. For those of you who did not see the article in the Ft. Worth paper, here is an excerpt from the article sent to me by Barbara Mann: Date September 13, 2001 Source GABRIELLE CRIST;LILA LaHOODStar-Telegram Staff Writers Section NEWS Edition FINAL Wade Birdwell and his family should be on the road to Washington today - driving on free new tires - to be Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell, his brother, who survived the Pentagon attack. When he heard the news, Wade, an attorney with Wallach & Moore in Fort Worth, decided to drive to Washington with his wife, Liz, principal at Alexander Elementary in Duncanville; daughter Alexandra; and mother, Loretta Reves. Teachers and parents at Liz Birdwell's school wanted to help and took her car to a Goodyear center. Told why the car needed fast service, Goodyear employees gave them a set of new tires and services. "It's been phenomenal, the outpouring of support," Wade Birdwell said. Brian Birdwell, 39, who has been in the Army 17 years, has a wife, Melva; and son, Matthew, 12. "His office was two windows from the point of impact," Wade Birdwell said. But his brother was not at his desk when the plane hit. "Of all things, he went to the bathroom," Birdwell said. As rescuers pulled people from the area, friends saw Brian Birdwell on a stretcher, put him in a van and raced to Georgetown University Hospital. He was moved to Washington Hospital Center and is in critical but stable condition with burns over 60 percent of his body, Wade Birdwell said. Aggie spoke with Brian's wife Melva today and got the address so we could send cards. Brian is still in intensive care but doing better. The address is: Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell Washington Hospital Center, Room 4H6 110 Irving St., NW Washington, D.C. 20010 When asked what we could do to help, Melva's answer was prayers. That we have in abundance. Aggie is working on their line and want's to send it to them. Melva says Brian's father was Doug and his mother Loretta Reves. Can anyone make a connection and help her out? I am sending this e-mail to the addresses I have from the reunion in Kingsport this summer and Rose will post a note on Birdtracks as soon as possible (her newest grandson is about to, or has arrived). Please share this news with all family members you know and if you have an e-mail address we can add to our master list, please let me know. May God speed Brian Birdwell's recovery and support and comfort his family. God bless us everyone. Sincerely, Andrea Craig >From Sharon Hall: > > > Rose, > > > That is good news on Mr. Birdwell. I am going to be up there, do you > want > > > me to take him something. I can do that. I leave San Antonio 10-9 to > BWI > > > and will return to SA 10-12. I think it would be a good thing for > someone > > > to go in person. > > > Sharon BIRDTRACKS Website: <http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~birdtracks/> To Subscribe or unsubscribe: <BIRDWELL-L-request@rootsweb.com> To send queries or answers: <BIRDWELL-L@rootsweb.com> Problems or opinions: <birdwell@webworkz.com>