Wednesday will be five months since Chattanooga became a dot on the ever-growing map of the spreading terrorism in this country.
Five months. It feels like a week ago and a decade ago at the same time.
Unanswered questions still need answers. It also still leaves some unsettled ripple effects that need to be settled.
Despite the appearance and feel of being a terrorist attack - and the Middle East links of the murderer - the shootings have not been officially classified as anything other than an act of a homegrown extremist.
Why are we still five months into this investigation and no definitive word from the feds on what this attack was? Hundreds of federal agents spent weeks here in the largest criminal investigation in the city's history. What did they learn?
To this point the only hard stance is the government's refusal to call this terrorism. But why?
"Domestic terrorism" as defined on www.fbi.gov are activities that meet the following three characteristics:
* Involve acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law;
* Appear intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping; and
* Occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S.
Check, check and checkmate.
Never mind the fact that the murderer's own writings indicate he thought the crazed Muslims who committed jihad were "the best human beings that ever lived."
In fact, then-U.S. Attorney Bill Killian originally called the shootings an act of terrorism before back-tracking.
The rest of the federal bigwigs used phrases like radicalized and extremist and alternative buzz words, choosing to ignore the walking, living, breathing definition of, "if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's certainly not a platypus."
It also was brought to light earlier this week by an interesting question within an Associated Press story: Why did the federal government move so quickly to downplay any possible links between Chattanooga's killer and radical Islamic extremists, but within 48 hours were quick to rightly call the San Bernardino shooting an act of terrorism?
It's easier now to quickly label everything terrorism - after the world is on guard and the outrage has been renewed - because of the mass killings in Paris earlier this fall.
Jay GreesonWe are a day short of five months since our lives were changed - and it's 10 days from a Christmas morning that will be heartbreaking for the families of the five heroes killed July 16 - and there should be more answers.
Plus, until the events of that day are called terrorist acts, our five fallen Chattanooga heroes - Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith and four Marines: Staff Sgt. David Wyatt, Sgt. Carson Holmquist, Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Sullivan and Lance Cpt. Squire "Skip" Wells - will not be given the Purple Hearts they so rightly deserve.
Yes, U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tennessee, has introduced a non-binding resolution before Congress to have these heroes be awarded Purple Hearts.
"These men proudly served their country, and several made the ultimate sacrifice to save others," Fleischmann told the AP.
Why should they - and their families, who would be in line for better benefits with the distinction - have to wait?
FBI director James Comey said last month in Nashville that all of the facts may never be released because of the ongoing investigation.
OK, this is not about every detail about the event for some Lifetime movie. This is about doing what's right for five heroes who gave their lives for all of us.
Yes, we want to do right for the families, but this also is about getting all of the details we can about this event.
We know more about the terrorism in San Bernardino than we do about whatever they think happened in Chattanooga, for Pete's sake.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com and 423-757-6343. His "Right to the Point" column runs on A2 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.