By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer
ARLINGTON, Va. – Sept. 11, 2001 started like many other days for Rob Maness.
A major working in the Pentagon at the time, Maness was at his desk watching footage of an airplane crashing into two World Trade Center towers in New York City when he heard a noise. That’s when he realized this would be a moment that would forever change his life and others around the U.S.
Terrorists already had flown a plane into the Twin Towers and another into a field off Interstate 395 south of the Pentagon. Now, confirmation came they had done the same with American Airlines Flight 77 into the nation’s military headquarters.
According to the 9-11 Memorial, the attacks killed nearly 3,000 people from 93 nations. The most fatalities occurred at the Twin Towers, as 2,753 people died. Another 184 perished at the Pentagon and 40 were killed in a crash south of there.
Like so many others, Maness was dumfounded and wondered what would happen next.
After calling his wife to tell her he was okay and to leave the city with their children, Maness joined others at the Pentagon to do what they could to help those injured as well as those trying to flee the facility.
After assisting in the rescue of an injured Navy petty officer, Maness was called on by a chaplain to help severely wounded U.S. Army Officer (now Texas state Sen.) Brian Birdwell, who was badly burned on his right side from the attack and would need 39 surgeries to repair the injury.
Maness traveled with Birdwell to a makeshift triage unit and remained by his side, holding a broken IV tube that was pumping in life-saving medication. He prayed with Birdwell, who at the time was unidentifiable because his clothes and name tag were burned.
Maness said his faith was vital to helping him cope with the situation.
“It keeps you able to be stable and make sound decisions, even at the point of crisis,” said Maness, who is a member of First Baptist Church in Covington. “When there is utter chaos going on, the Lord is in control and everything will work out. Between that and falling back on your military training, that is what keeps folks going. And saying a prayer with someone like Brian, who we didn’t know would live or die, really makes all the difference in the world.”
The years passed and Maness continued a career in the military, eventually becoming a colonel in the Air Force and running for U.S. Senate in Louisiana. But a day didn’t go by that Birdwell wasn’t in Maness’ thoughts and prayers, wondering what kind of live he had or if he even was alive.
Maness got those answers during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.
Former Gov. Rick Perry invited several veterans that included Maness for a meeting. As Perry shook Maness’ hand, he introduced him to someone else who had also was in the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.
When the man told his story of survival, Maness realized this was the man he helped save that day.
“I think the Lord enabled him to bring Brian and me back together so I could have that relief,” Maness said. “It was a great weight lifted on my shoulders.”
