Claim: During a hospital visit, President George W. Bush saluted an Army officer who had been badly injured during the
Status: True.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2001]
As you may know, the President and Mrs. Bush visited the Washington Burn Center on Friday Mrs. Bush went into Brian's room, spoke to him for about a minute, all the time as if they had been long acquaintances. She then turned to Brian's wife Mel, who at this time had been at the hospital for probably Mrs. Bush hugged Mel for what Mel said seemed like an eternity, just as if Mel were one of her closest family members. Mrs. Bush then told Brian and Mel that there was "someone" there to see him. The President then walked in, stood by Brian's bedside, asked Brian how he was doing, told him that he was very proud of them both and that they were his heroes. The President then saluted Brian. Now, at this point in time, Brian is bandaged up pretty well. His hands are burned very badly as well as the back of him from the head down. His movements were very restricted. Upon seeing the President saluting him, Brian began to slowly return the salute, taking, from the accounts so far, about During all of this, Pray for our leadership. Thank God for what we are, have, and will be. As a note to those of you who might not be familiar with military protocol, the subordinate normally initiates a salute and will hold it until the superior officer returns the salute. In the above incident, President Bush acted in the role of the subordinate to show his respect and high regard for the injured man. |
Origins: Glurge
should always be taken with a grain of salt, and
Lieutenant Colonel Brian Birdwell, an Army officer a few months short of his
He was awake for President Bush's visit, as it turned out The president's eyes filled with tears. Bush held firm until the wounded soldier let go.2 Two days later, Birdwell got a visit from his "The president comes in and he says,
Not long after Sept. 11, Birdwell had met the president.
Birdwell's older brother, Wade, also confirmed the story via
I cannot tell you how grateful and truly proud I am that when Brian started to return that salute, despite his wounds, the president held his salute firmly and thereby permitted my brother the honor of demonstrating his and the true character of so very many others of our fighting men and women. Indeed, you should know that it was this very character that likely saved Brian's life in the first place. As Brian crawled through the fire, certain brave men and women pulled him from the carnage, carried him out to the parking lot, then into the adjoining street."
After months of treatment and therapy,
Last updated: 22 February 2007
Sources: