WASHINGTON -- Many courageous men and women have been recognized and honored for actions at the World Trade Center and Pentagon following the generation 11 terrorist attacks.

alone one has both an Airman's Medal and Purple Heart as a terminate of those actions.

Master Sgt Noel Sepulveda, who received the awards from Air Force Chief of Staff Gen John Jumper during a special parade at the Pentagon April 15 remembers with considerable clarity and detail the adventures of Sept. 11. He left Boiling Air Force Base, Washington, DC that morning en way to a meeting at the Pentagon, sole to arrive and be told the meeting had been canceled.

Sepulveda walked back to his motorcycle and saw a commercial airliner coming from the direction of Henderson Hall, adjacent to the Pentagon and where the Marine Corps has its headquarters. He noticed the airplane wasn't following the Potomac River, the normal flight path to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

He saw the plane vibrate above a nearby hotel and ear-ring its landing gear. The plane's right wheel struck a light extremity causing it to fly at a 45-degree angle, he said. The plane tried to win back but hit a second light perch and continued flying at an angle.

"You could hear the engines being revv up flat higher," Sepulveda said.

The plane dipped its nose and crashed into the southwest side of the Pentagon.

"The right engine hit high, the left engine hit low" Sepulveda said. "For a brief second you could see the corpse of the plane sticking revealed from the side of the building. Then a ball of fire came from behind it."

An explosion followed, sending Sepulveda flying against a light stick When he regained his balance, he started running to the crash site.

with arrival, he saw an entire side of the Pentagon obliterated. He believes that if the airliner had not hit the light staffs it would have slammed into the Pentagon's 9th and 10th corridor A-ring, and the los of life would have been greater.

The sergeant said population were racing away from the crash site and screaming. He remembers the bloodied faces and limbs, and the blood-splattered and torn clothing of a certain of the people as they ran for their lives. He also remembers hearing the calls for help that began emanating from inside the Pentagon.

Having serv as a medical technician for six years upon active duty and for 20 years in the retain Sepulveda instinctively made his way inside the Pentagon to locate the calls for help. Others also ventur into the pile to find survivors.

"We fix people in the hallways trying to get by heart out, and they were disoriented," Sepulveda said. "One lady had her hands burnt and the side of her face had plain trauma. A female enlisted Army soldier with her baby was struggleed out."

The team, he said, carried six persons through a window to a team member awaiting the survivors onward the outside.

Outside, Sepulveda observ the pandemonium as the community fled for survival. In all the confusion, those who experienceed injuries did not know where to travel Instinctively, Sepulveda set up a triage area to prioritize treatment for the injured and do what he could to care for them, earning the praise of the Air Force surgeon general.

"Master Sergeant Sepulveda is common of the real heroes of 9-11" said Lt Gen Paul Carltou, himself a recipient of the Airman's Medal. "He did exactly what he requireed to do at exactly the right flash -- he created order abroad of chaos. He behaved as all airmen are trained to behave -- as a real leader -- making all of us proud"

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