Chattanooga July 16 shooting victims to receive Purple Heart awards

FILE - In this Saturday, Aug. 15, 2015 file photo, U.S. Navy officers pay their respects at the battlefield crosses for the fallen servicemen at a memorial for the five military servicemen killed in the July 16 attacks on two military facilities held at McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tenn. Nearly five months after the killing of five military personnel, authorities have studiously avoided calling the attack by a Kuwaiti-born gunman an act of terror. Labeling Chattanooga a terror attack would make its victims eligible for the Purple Heart, which if awarded would entitle their survivors to additional payments and benefits. (Doug Strickland/Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP, File)

By Shelly Bradbury December 16, 2015 4 min read

FILE – In this Saturday, Aug. 15, 2015 file photo, U.S. Navy officers pay their respects at the battlefield crosses for the fallen servicemen at a memorial for the five military servicemen killed in the July 16 attacks on two military facilities held at McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tenn. Nearly five months after the killing of five military personnel, authorities have studiously avoided calling the attack by a Kuwaiti-born gunman an act of terror. Labeling Chattanooga a terror attack would make its victims eligible for the Purple Heart, which if awarded would entitle their survivors to additional payments and benefits. (Doug Strickland/Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP, File)

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Terror in Chattanooga

Special forces veteran Mike Thrasher salutes as vehicles travel down Highway 153 in Hixson, Tenn., Friday, July 24, 2015 after the funeral service for U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. David Wyatt. Wyatt was one of five servicemen whose death was the result of the second of two shootings carried out by Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez within a 30-minute span in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on July 16, 2015.

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July 16 shooting: Five months later

Five quarters are seen atop the memorial to the five service members killed in a terror incident on July 16, 2015, is photographed on Monday, Dec. 14, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The memorial is located in front of the Armed Forces Career Center on Lee Highway next to Highway 153, the scene of the first shots fired in the July attack.

A wooden cross has been erected at the memorial to the five service members killed in a terror incident on July 16, 2015, seen Monday, Dec. 14, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The memorial is located in front of the Armed Forces Career Center on Lee Highway next to Highway 153, the scene of the first shots fired in the July attack.

The memorial to the five service members killed in a terror incident on July 16, 2015, is photographed on Monday, Dec. 14, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The memorial is located in front of the Armed Forces Career Center on Lee Highway next to Highway 153, the scene of the first shots fired in the July attack.

Marine SSgt David A. Wyatt is buried beside U.S. Navy LS2 Randall Scott Smith at the Chattanooga National Cemetery.

The head stone of U.S. Navy LS2 Randall Scott Smith is situated beside Marine SSgt David A. Wyatt, right, at the Chattanooga National Cemetery.

A creek stone, a quarter-dollar and a penny rests atop the head stones of U.S. Navy LS2 Randall Scott Smith, and Marine SSgt David A. Wyatt at the Chattanooga National Cemetery.

The 24-year-old gunman who carried out the July 16 attacks in Chattanooga was inspired by a foreign terrorist organization, according to the FBI.

FBI Director James Comey’s carefully worded statement Wednesday cleared the way for the men wounded and killed in the attack to be awarded Purple Hearts, and within hours of his comments the U.S. Navy announced the five men who died and the Marine who was injured will be given the honor.

“To my mind, there is no doubt the Chattanooga shooter was inspired and motivated by foreign terrorist organization propaganda,” Comey said during a morning news conference in New York City.

The Purple Heart is a combat award, but it can be given to members of the armed forces who are killed or wounded in domestic attacks – if the attacks were inspired by foreign terrorist organizations.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said in a statement the FBI’s determination allowed the Navy to immediately move forward with awarding the Purple Hearts.