The sixth Convocation of the fall semester was held Sept. 11, 2026, marking the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Lt. Gen. Richard E. “Tex” Brown III spoke, sharing his personal account of the day.
Brown was in the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. He reflected on his experiences from that morning.
“9:36 (a.m.), I feel an explosion,” Brown said. “It turns out, I feel two explosions: a big blast followed by — a second or two later — a huge blast. The first one was the plane entering the building. The second was the fuel exploding.”
Brown said the Pentagon was 6 million square feet with 23,000 people working inside, and his office was just 75 yards away from the entry point of the plane collision on the west side of the building.
The speaker said the west side of the Pentagon was undergoing renovation at the time of the collision, causing most of the office spaces in that area to be empty.
Brown shared a story from his executive, Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell.
“Brian says he finds himself face down on the floor. Fire goes all the way across the top of him, and he’s a strong believer … almost immediately, the suppression system lights up and starts dumping water, and he happened to be right under that sprinkler,” Brown said.
Freshman Gabe Laclair said that hearing from Brown was meaningful.
“The message was really heartfelt, really emotional hearing his story, how close he was to everything that happened,” Laclair said. “It really puts it into perspective how we shouldn’t take our lives for granted and we’re not promised tomorrow.”
Brown closed with a message of encouragement and hope, giving students a way to respond to hardship and tragedy.
“What we can do is … put on the armor of God,” Brown said.
Cylde is a news reporter for The Liberty Champion.
Senes is a news editor for The Liberty Champion.