U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --
Brittany Bird spoke elegantly and affectionately of her husband, retired Capt. Carson Bird, at a Dec. 9 memorial service here in his honor.
Carson, a 2008 Academy graduate, former Falcons football all-star cornerback, and special operations officer, died Nov. 26 at his grandmother’s home in Michigan after battling Chondrosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. He was 31 years old.
“Carson believed that you beat cancer not by how you live, but by how you die,” Brittany said.
Brittany was joined at the Cadet Chapel by hundreds of family members, friends and Academy staff members. Cancer may have taken her husband’s life, she said, but Carson conquered the disease with grace, humor and love.
Brittany said the couple’s love never wavered.
“Carson and I often argued about who loved each other more,” she said.
Brittany ended her time at the chapel dais with an emotional and candid photo montage of the couple’s romance, their wedding, and Carson on crutches, or sleeping and smiling from his hospice bed.
Former Falcons football star Chad Hall described his tight bond with Carson, Carson’s competitive spirit, and their numerous fishing trips, which Hall said were nothing more than an excuse for the former cadets to spend time together.
“He always made sure my [fishing] pole was set up before his,” Hall said.
The pair instantly bonded as cadets, but Hall said they became “brothers in every sense of the word” after Carson was diagnosed with cancer in September 2015.
“We became closer and closer,” Hall said.
Hall said Carson’s Christian faith overpowered his fear of dying.
“He knew where he was going to go,” Hall said. “He never gave up, even when he knew there was nothing else the doctors could do.”
Carson was from Newnan, Georgia. He graduated with a bachelor’s of science in social sciences and later earned a master’s of science in sports management from Troy University, Alabama.
On active duty, Carson was a special operations forward communications officer assigned to the Army’s 7th Special Forces Group. He deployed to Afghanistan and Qatar and earned several decorations, including the Bronze Star, awarded for meritorious service in a combat zone.
After his diagnosis with cancer, Carson endured 25 radiation treatment and several surgeries, including the amputation of his left leg, due to a tumor so large it fractured his hip bone.
Still, on and off the field, Falcons football head coach Troy Calhoun said Carson was an indomitable spirit.
“More than anything, there was no more a determined person,” he said. “Never, ever did you see a flinch in his eyes.”
Calhoun said Carson would have approved of the memorial.
“Everything that is in this room is loved by Carson: friends, family, and the stars and stripes,” he said.
Hall said Carson summed up his state of mind in the hours before his death.
“He said, ‘I am at peace.”