NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam plans to honor four Marines and a sailor killed in last year's shootings in Chattanooga as part of a Memorial Day ceremony on Friday.
Those killed were Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith, and Marines Staff Sgt. David Wyatt, Sgt. Carson Holmquist, Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Sullivan and Lance Cpt. Squire "Skip" Wells.
Federal officials have determined that the shootings by Muhammad Abdulazeez, a naturalized U.S. citizen, were a terrorist-inspired event. That made the servicemen eligible to receive the Purple Heart.
The governor will also memorialize Sgt. Gary Reese, who was killed in Iraq in 2005, and 1st Lt. Alexander Bonnyman, a Medal of Honor recipient who was killed during the Battle of Tarawa during World War II, but whose remains weren't identified until last year.