The 'Other' Tragedy
The attack on the Pentagon left heroes, victims, survivors, Here's their story
Mike Kurtz, 50, didn't recognize his wife of nearly 31 years, Louise, when she was wheeled past him in the hospital. She's the Army accountant who had been on the job only two days at the Pentagon. He thought it was a mummy when she went by. He has since been at her side every day. Louise, burned over nearly 70 percent of her body, spent more than two months in intensive care. Three weeks after Louise arrived, the doctors amputated all her fingers, which were burned badly when she tried to cover her face. Her husband agonized for the words to tell her. He was struggling through it, when he noticed she was trying to say something. "I know," she mouthed. "It's OK." Mike Kurtz broke down sobbing, because she had known for two days. "She is a pillar of strength," he says. He had bought Louise her first real ring, a 2-carat diamond, for their 30th anniversary. Now, he intends to put the stone in a necklace.
The burn patients are rebuilding their lives. John Yates's daily therapy begins when a therapist pours hot wax on his purplish hands to soften the scar. Then, he massages cream into them. And then, he bends his fingers down, holding them for a 10-count. It's excruciating, yet it's the standard therapy; it keeps burn patients' fingers flexible.
"I'm still here." Simple things are confounding. Turning doorknobs. Opening soda cans. Holding a pen. In the big picture, though, those are small things. "At least I'm still here," says Yates, grateful to have been spared. Birdwell recently went outside for the first time since September 11. He looked up at the sky in the hospital courtyard and simply said, "Thank you, God, I'm still here." He has a renewed sense of purpose: "Christ got me out of the fire. In him not taking me, that means I have a mission to complete. He'll tell me what it is in due time."
Craig Sincock lost Cheryle, the general's secretary who worked with Birdwell. He recently wrote a letter to his wife: "Thank you, Cheryle, for a quarter century of happiness, joy, friendship, and love. . . . Thank you for your patience when my ego became too big. . . . Thank you for being my best friend. . . ." The day after the attack, he went to the Family Assistance Center set up in a nearby hotel and counseled other families every day for about three weeks. "The more I worked with them, the less fear I had about what happened," he said. And then, he returned to the church he had left years ago. Now, Sincock is back at work doing long-range planning at the Pentagon. He started a Web site for the families (www.pentagonangels.net), on his own time, with his own money. Sincock says he has seen many miracles since September 11--the biggest is watching families move from grief to acceptance. "When you see where they were to where they are now, that's a true miracle," he says.
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