STANDING WITH US

Sen. Brian Birdwell is a native Texan, decorated military veteran, survivor of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon, husband, father, grandfather and lifelong conservative Republican representing Senate District 22.

The Fort Worth-native is a graduate of Lamar University, the U.S. Army Command & General Staff College, and has a master’s degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Retired Lt. Col. Birdwell served 20 years in the U.S. Army, with numerous training deployments and two operational deployments.

He was awarded the Bronze Star for action during Desert Storm in 1991.

On Sept. 11, 2001, when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed yards away from his second-floor Pentagon office, Birdwell was critically wounded and severely burned. Today, following 39 operations, months of hospitalization and numerous skin grafts, he has made a miraculous recovery.

He was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received that day. Upon retirement in July 2004, he was awarded the Legion of Merit.

Birdwell and his wife, Mel, reside in Granbury. From 2004 to 2017 they operated Face the Fire Ministries, a non-profit organization they jointly founded to support critical-burn survivors, wounded servicemembers and their families.

Since being elected to the Texas Senate in a June 2010 special election, Birdwell has been a strong supporter of landowner rights and the state’s agriculture industry.

During the recent 88th Texas Legislative Session, he was a champion for Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association in both committees he chaired — protecting and advocating for ranchers and landowners in the Senate Natural Resources and Economic Development Committee and the Senate Border Security Committee.

Birdwell also is a co-sponsor on H.B. 73, one of the association’s top legislative priorities that passed this session. It protects ranchers and landowners from liability for damages arising from certain accidents or incidents involving their livestock. T C