The Fallen Five
Marine Sgt. Carson Holmquist, 25Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith, 26Marine Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Sullivan, 40Marine Lance Cpl. Squire “Skip” Wells, 21Marine Corps Staff Sgt. David Wyatt, 35
Hamilton County Parks and Recreation officials knew that, at some point, they would need to clear the grassy strip between Amnicola Highway and the Naval Operations Support Center of the flags, flowers and crosses left there by a tragedy-stricken community.
So they placed five flags on the Tennessee Riverwalk guardrail, just across the street from the center, and began cleaning up the thousands of tribute items that had been left in the month that had passed since the July 16, 2015, fatal shootings of five servicemen - Sgt. Carson A. Holmquist, Gunnery Sgt. Thomas J. Sullivan, Staff Sgt. David A. Wyatt and Lance Cpl. Squire K. "Skip" Wells, all Marines, and Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall J. Smith.
The flags were meant as a placeholder memorial, Parks and Recreation Director Tom Lamb explained Wednesday.
"We just wanted to make sure everyone understood that, even though all the sentiment and emotion they had placed there was gone, it was not forgotten and that something would be done," Lamb said.
The city of Chattanooga last week issued a call to artists across the country, kicking off a process that will lead to the installation of a memorial near the naval center. Project leaders hope the tribute will permanently encapsulate the emotions conveyed by the temporary memorials and offer a reminder of one thing above all else.
"One thing that service members want to see is that we don't forget the sacrifice of the Fallen Five," said Lt. Cmdr. Tim White, who was involved in the exchange of gunfire at the naval center that day. "Also, we don't want to forget the sacrifice of the families. Then, we want to remember how Chattanooga came together as a community."
White is a member of the July 16 memorial steering committee launched by Mayor Andy Berke, which aims to raise $750,000 for the project through grants and donations.
Organizers expect more than a hundred artists to apply for the opportunity to design it. Three will be chosen as finalists and supplied with $5,000 of seed funding to develop a site-specific proposal. A selection committee that will include military input and a liaison to the families of the five is expected to choose one of the proposals in October.
Leaders have narrowed the memorial's location to two spots in the Tennessee Riverpark, both just a few hundred yards north of the naval center. One is a wooded, secluded spot along a walking path that juts out from the park's main pedestrian thoroughfare. The other is an airy site next to the river where picnic tables now sit. The selected design team will make the final decision.
Pegged for a formal dedication date of July 16, 2019, the memorial will come alongside other permanent tributes to the Fallen Five. A marker sits just off Lee Highway, near where the shooter's rampage began. A mural on McCallie Avenue depicts each of the five. Other lasting gestures to the men have been made in their hometowns and around the Chattanooga area.
This memorial will be unique, however, in its proximity to the tragedy.
Visitors will be just a few hundred yards away from where 24-year-old Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez fired his deadly shots.
"It's close to the [naval center], but not too close," said White, the center's top official and father of seven. "We like both the primary locations, because they're close to the river and that's really a naturally peaceful area. It's very accessible to the community, but it's not too close to the busy parts of the park or the [center] to where it would be distracting."