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As the photographer for the Commandant
of the Marine Corps, Gen. James L. Jones,
Sgt. Paull works on a side of the Pentagon
adjacent to the side that terrorists attacked
with a hijacked Boeing 757. Sergeant Paull
was far enough away from the impact to
be safe, but close enough to feel "as
if somebody fired a Howitzer into the
building." Even 10 days after the attack,
the smell of burnt aviation fuel hangs
in the office air.
Once he had safely evacuated from the
building, he took the initiative and put
himself where he could be useful. In the
immediate aftermath, he helped rescue
workers pull survivors from the burning
portion of the Pentagon. Next, he spent
several days working hand-in-hand with
the FBI as a volunteer crime scene photographer.
"I wanted to help whatever way I could,"
said the native of Maryville, Tenn.
Sergeant Paull recalls watching TV news
that fateful morning after terrorists
crashed a hijacked plane into the first
building of the World Trade Center. "My
first impression was that I thought an
aircraft was off course," he said.
Shortly thereafter, another hijacked
plane crashed into the second building
of the World Trade Center. The images
on TV were unmistakable to Sgt. Paull,
who thought to himself, "This is no accident;
this is a terrorist attack."
Sergeant Paull went back to his office,
and someone said, "At least it didn't
hit the Pentagon." Almost on cue, there
was a thunderous noise and alarms went
off inside the building. "Immediately
I knew what had happened," he said.
In the urgency of the evacuation, Sgt.
Paull left behind his wallet and many
other belongings. Fortuitously, he instinctively
grabbed his camera as he exited the office.
After getting outside the building,
Sgt. Paull headed directly to the crash
site. He helped rescue workers carry out
survivors. Twice during the rescue efforts,
Sgt. Paull and those working with him
were ordered to take cover because of
concerns that another hijacked plane might
attack the Pentagon.
The rescue work continued, but soon
firefighters delivered the grim news that
there was no one left to save.
During his time at Marine Corps Air
Station Yuma, Ariz., Sgt. Paull had the
unfortunate duty of photographing a few
aviation accidents. When he saw FBI agents
arriving at the Pentagon, he told them
of his experience and said he would be
willing to help.
They took him up on his offer, and soon
put him in a helicopter to take overhead
pictures of the damage to the Pentagon.
On the Wednesday and Friday following
the attack, Sgt. Paull assisted FBI agents
by actually entering the devastated segment
of the Pentagon to search for bodies.
It was Sgt. Paull's task to take photographs.
Wearing rubber boots, a protective suit,
a respirator filter, goggles, and a hard
hat, he went into what can only be described
as an apocalyptic scene.
It was hot, some fires were still burning,
and at times the rubble was waist-high.
The sights were grim - "unlike anything
I've ever seen," he said.
"It was bad," he continued, saying it
would be inappropriate to go into detail.
"These guys didn't have a chance."
In addition to being "horrific and overwhelming,"
there was a surreal quality about the
devastation because it was often possible
to see what routine tasks the victims
were doing when their lives ended.
In 90 minutes, Sgt. Paull and his team
members recovered six bodies. "I had seen
enough that day," he said.
Friday was no less chilling, as Sgt.
Paull and his fellow team members recovered
six bodies in an hour. Reflecting on what
the terrorists did, Sgt. Paull said, "I
want to get in battle with these people."
Replays on the news only add to his
desire to administer some justice. "Every
time I see these atrocities it makes me
very angry, and I want to fight."
-End-
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