Paul Harrell Unsurprisingly Had a Career in the Military Before His YouTube Fame

YouTuber and gun rights activist Paul Harrell, who sadly passed away on Sept. 3, 2024, gained fame through his firearms expertise and videos providing the public with gun tips and entertainment. The creator had amassed over 1 million subscribers on his channel at the time of his death, and those fans have been in mourning since his passing was announced on X (formerly Twitter).

However, while he was most well known for his YouTube channel, he had a wealth of experience with firearms before ever stepping a digital foot on the internet.

Indeed, Paul Harrell was reportedly a military veteran, having served in multiple branches of the armed forces. Here's what we know.

Paul first joined YouTube in 2012 and kicked off his channel by uploading videos of giant handguns and tomahawk throwing. However, his experience with firearms (and various additional weaponry) reportedly began long before this.

According to several reports, Paul served in the military for around 20 years as a member of both the U.S. Army and the Marine Corps. He also served as a Marine Corps marksmanship instructor. Other sources say that he also served in the National Guard.

While not much else is known about his military service, it's worth noting that many regarded him as an honorable veteran, and in his last months, fellow vets and active service members rallied around him with support.

One post on the USMC Reddit page leading up to his death said, "Paul Harrell is a USMC Veteran. He was a Marine Corps marksmanship instructor and has won multiple civilian and military shooting competitions. For the past 10-plus years, he has been making firearms related content on YouTube. He has for the past few months been battling pancreatic cancer. ... Please help support a fellow Marine by heading over to his channel ... and watching a video and subscribing if you like it."

On the day that his death was announced, a video was posted to Paul's YouTube channel titled "I'm Dead". The video, which was shared by his manager at Paul's instruction, left a message to his fans detailing his last few months and explaining that his pancreatic cancer had spread.

"As I'm recording this today, it is Dec. 20, 2023. ... If you're watching me, I'm dead," he started the video. "A few months ago, I sat right here on this log and told you I had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and that we caught it early and that we were still going to be here for some time. Well, we did catch it early, but not as early as I had thought, and it has spread faster than I thought it would."

Throughout the short video, he continued to share his gratitude toward his fans and his sadness that he couldn't continue educating the public for years to come.

And to close out the message, he left fans with this: "I'm really glad to have had this opportunity to do all of the stuff that we've done. I really hope it has been helpful. I really appreciate you watching, commenting, and participating. I have probably very few regrets in what we've done here, and I think we've been, for the most part, successful. I hope you agree."