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Marines Slain in Chattanooga Attacks Honored With Purple Hearts

Four Marines and a sailor were killed in the Chattanooga attacks last July
Memorial near the Armed Forces Career Center in Chattanooga / AP
April 20, 2016

Four families of Marines who were killed by a terrorist in Chattanooga, Tennessee, last July were awarded the Purple Heart medal on Wednesday.

The Marine Corps Times reported that family members of Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Sullivan, Staff Sgt. David Wyatt, Sgt. Carson Holmquist, and Lance Cpl. Squire "Skip" Wells were awarded the medals.

Lt. Gen. Rex McMillian, who heads the Marine Corps Forces Reserve, delivered the medals in honor of the slain Marines during a ceremony in Chattanooga.

"Our brothers were taken from us; your sons, your husbands, your fathers, your brothers were taken from us," McMillian stated from the Hunter Museum of American Art. "But what cannot, and will not ever be taken from us is the incredible impressions they made on each and every one of us."

The four Marines and Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith, a sailor, were killed when Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez opened fire at two military facilities on July 16. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced in December that the Purple Heart would be awarded to the four Marines and the sailor who were killed in the attacks, as well as to Sgt. DeMonte Cheeley, a Marine who was injured in the shootings.

Smith’s family members and Cheeley were awarded the medals earlier this year.

"Although the Purple Heart can never possibly replace this brave sailor and these brave Marines, it is my hope that as their families and the entire Department of the Navy team continue to mourn their loss, these awards provide some small measure of solace," Mabus said in a statement in December. "Their heroism and service to our nation will be remembered always."

The Marines belonged to Mike Battery, 3rd Battalion, 14th Marines, the unit based at the Marine Corps Reserve Center, which was the target of the second shooting.

The FBI investigated the shootings as an act of terrorism and determined that Abdulazeez was motivated by foreign terrorist propaganda.

"We’ve investigated Chattanooga from the beginning, and we’ve concluded the Chattanooga killer was inspired (and motivated) by a foreign terrorist organization’s propaganda," FBI Director James Comey said in December.

Published under: Marines , Terrorism