CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Five battlefield crosses lined the stage at the McKenzie Arena here for representing the five fallen service members killed July 16 in a mass shooting, who were honored at a public memorial service Saturday attended by hundreds of troops service members from around the country.
An audience largely composed of Marines in dress blues and sailors in dress their whites came, most stationed in the area, came to honor the memory of Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Sullivan, Staff Sgt. David Wyatt, Sgt. Carson Holmquist, Lance Cpl. Squire K.kip Wells and Logistics Specialist 2nd Class Randall Smith, killed at the Navy Operational Support Center by a lone gunman.
The commanders present that day asked that the Marines and sailor be remembered for their actions under fire.
Lt. Cmdr. Timothy White, commanding officer of Navy Operational Support Center Chattanooga, said the men upheld the service's core values.
"They died as they lived," White said. "Doing their duty with honor, courage and commitment – bravely protecting others, even at the expense of their own lives."
During the shootings, several of the Marines ran back into the NOSC after helping others escape. Marines who had hopped the fence to escape the gunman rushed to the neighboring park where dozens of children were playing and ushered them to safety. The heroism of the day was the theme of the two-hour afternoon ceremony.
"The Marines and sailors that day acted with courage," said Maj. Mike Abrams, commander of Mike Battery, basedstationed at the NOSC.
"In the chaos of that moment, they were selfless in their efforts to take care of each other, and acted with unquestionable courage," Abrams said. Navy Operational Support Center Chattanooga. "Our brothers that day chose to go back into the fray. They took back the initiative. They had a bias for action. They are not victims. They are Marines. They are sailors."
Abrams closed his remarks with a message for America's enemies.
"To our enemies, whoever and wherever you may be: We will not succumb to fear," Abrams said. "You will never touch what is in our hearts and in our minds. This act has only strengthened our resolve and rallied the will of this great nation."
After the ceremony, Marines and sailors milled about outside the arena, talking to each other and introducing their families. Many of them had connections to the units at the NOSC.
Master-at-Arms 2ndSecond Class Jeffrey Kincaid, stationed at NOSC Chattanooga, recalled his friend LS2 Smith fondly, calling him an outstanding sailor who always got the job done.
"Every drill weekend, I was the mustering petty officer and I would go to him every weekend and he would get me in on orders support, no matter how busy he was or what was going on," he recalled. "He was always, 'Hey, let me get that report for you, let me get it done.' He was always telling jokes, never a bad moment."
The most difficult part of the ceremony for Kincaid was the ceremonial roll call, where a senior enlisted person calls names of those in the unit, and the surviving members respond. For the departed, only silence follows the name.
"It was extremely emotional for me," said Kincaid. "Hearing the roll call, hearing his name and no response. It was very sad, it was extremely emotional."
Col. Rod Andrew, a former commander of Mike Battery, said he felt drawn to the occasion after having served in the unit for six years. When he heard the news of the shooting he was stunned, he said.
"It was a shock, you never expect an attack like that right here on our own soil," he said. "I do hope we can find a way to allow them to better protect themselves."
Master-at-Arms 3rdThird Class Jamie Stavrakis, an active-duty sailor stationed at the Nashville NOSC, said the tragedy was a reminder of the threats troops facefaced by service members across the county.
"We work at a NOSC and we have an armed guard," she said. "But a standalone facility out here in the middle of a park, you just don't think of that as a target. It's a reminder that it can happen and you always have to have your guard up. … You can never become complacent."
Chattanooga Strong
Reminders of the tragedy, which struck in a small facility tucked away in a pristine city park along the banks of the Tennessee River, cover the city.
American flags, posters and billboards reading "Chattanooga Strong" pepper a town determined to show strength and unity after five troops were four Marines and a sailor were gunned down by a man who grew up in the area and graduated high school just across the river in Red Bank.
At the recruiting station on Lee Highway, where Mohammed Abdulazeez began his rampage by pumping dozens of shots into the glass before driving across town to the NOSC, hundreds of flags, mementos and pictures of the slain men compose a makeshift memorial on a grassy strip in front of the shopping center.
Since the shootings, Chattanoogans have come out en masse to the makeshift memorial to place flags, leave notes, or stand vigil.
"The response from the city has been unlike anything I've ever seen in all my years of service," said Cmdr. Charlie Summers, a spokesman for the Navy Reserve who has been on the ground in Chattanooga for nearly a month. since shortly after the shootings.
One citizen drove his truck to the memorial outside the recruiting center and stood watch with an American flag, all day, every day, for nearly three weeks, Summers said.
On Friday, four sailors in blue camouflage working uniforms parked their sedan in the parking lot adjacent to the memorial and walked over.
"I was at work yesterday and someone said, 'Hey, who wants to go to Chattanooga?'" said an electronic warfare special 2ndsecond class stationed in Jacksonville, who asked to remain anonymous. "We just came up to pay our respects."
Jim O'Connor, a bagpiper with the Alhambra Shrine Highlanders and Army veteran from the 1950s Cold War, has been making regular trips to the memorial, and plans to visit all the graves of the fallen — even planning a trip to Wisconsin where Sgt. Holmquist was buried.
"I plan to play my pipes at the cemetery where they laid Sgt. Holmquist to rest," he said.
For O'Connor and the residents of Chattanooga, the outpouring of support comes from deep in the town's roots.
"Chattanooga is a military town," he said. "Everywhere you go is packed with vets: the VFW, American Legion, the Masonic Temple — there are veterans everywhere."
He and his group played during the funeral procession for Staff Sgt. David Wyatt, who was laid to rest July 24 at Chattanooga National Cemetery.
"The streets were lined with people for miles," O'Connor said. "Staff Sgt. Wyatt was an Eagle Scout, you know, and there were at least 400 boy scouts who showed up to line the route."
And the support has helped strengthen the men and women stationed at the NOSC and the families of the fallen Marines, said Lt. Cmdr. James Storie, a chaplain who has been in Chattanooga for the survivors and families since July 17.
"The amazing thing about this event has been the incredible outreach and the outpouring love and support from the City of Chattanooga. It quickly transformed this deep tragedy for the sailors and Marines, it transformed it into something amazing: something I've never witnessed before."
Storie said Wyatt's burial, with miles of supporters, civilians waving flags, saluting or standing with their hands over their hearts, was a special moment for everyone involved.
"After witnessing that event we knew that we were part of something amazing about our country," he said. "It has been inspiring."
David B. Larter was the naval warfare reporter for Defense News.
