Texas State Senator Brian Birdwell was U.S. Army Lt. Col. Birdwell on September 11, 2001. He was standing just 20 yards from where American Airlines Flight #77 struck the west front of the Pentagon. What does he remember about those moments? What was happening in the immediate aftermath of the attacks? How well did he understand the severity of his wounds? We discuss all those questions in the first part of our conversation with Brian Birdwell, co-author of “Refined By Fire”.