It was a day like any other at the Pentagon. I stepped out of the men’s room on the second floor and started down Corridor 4 toward the outermost ring of the building, the E-ring. The hall of the newly renovated wedge was lit with bright fluorescents in the ceiling panels. Everything else was a stark white, sterile and quiet. No one else was around as I headed back to my office. I took seven or eight steps and was in front of the first set of elevators when bang! There was a deafening explosion.
Immediately everything around me went pitch black, as if I was thrown into a deep, dark cave. A loud whoosh blasted toward me. Fire exploded at and around me, slamming me across the hall, ripping my glasses from my face, and then tossing me limply onto the floor. I heard debris flying around me. The ceiling panels and light fixtures crashed down; the walls shook as if hit by an earthquake. But I couldn’t see anything, except for a ring of yellow surrounding me. Then I realized…I was on fire!
Brian and his wife Mel recount their days and much more in the beautifully written Refined by Fire. They open their hearts and share the power on how they can endure the trials they have been given and emerge even stronger and more confident than before the tragedy.
Share with others: