[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 11795-11796]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           THE CHATTANOOGA 5

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, a gunman with a heart fatally bent on 
mischief and with malice aforethought unleashed hell in Chattanooga 
last Thursday. The killer shot up an Armed Forces recruiting center and 
then drove to a Navy Reserve center and continued his shooting spree. 
Five warriors were caught in the gunman's furious rampage and were 
killed. The killer, who once followed an al Qaeda cleric online, 
wounded three others.
  To kill the very people who devote their lives to keeping our country 
safe is ironically and tragically sad. They were fathers, boyfriends, 
sons, brothers, and friends whose lives were robbed.
  The fallen were:
  Gunnery Sergeant Thomas J. Sullivan, United States Marine Corps. He 
was from Massachusetts. Tommy, as

[[Page 11796]]

his buddies and family called him, was deployed twice during the Iraq 
war and received two Purple Hearts. He had been enlisted for almost 18 
years. The Sullivan family owns a local bar and restaurant in 
Springfield, Massachusetts, and pictures of red, white, and blue 
ribbons memorialize the veteran on the restaurants's Facebook page. He 
was an avid Boston sports fan who loved Boston-based bands and 
musicians. A friend said: ``He was a short guy, but his personality was 
a lot bigger than his height. You couldn't just not like Tom.'' He was 
41.
  Lance Corporal Squire ``Skip'' Wells, United States Marine Corps. He 
was from Cobb County, Georgia, and the service was in his blood. He was 
a student attending Georgia Southern University when he decided to 
follow in the footsteps of his family and enlist. God and country 
flowed deep in his veins. On Thursday, Skip had been texting with his 
girlfriend of 2\1/2\ years about her upcoming visit to Chattanooga. The 
last text he sent her was two words in capitalized letters that read, 
``active shooter.'' She tried desperately to reach him, but she did not 
learn about the murders until the next day. He was in his early 
twenties.
  Sergeant Carson A. Holmquist, United States Marine Corps. A patriotic 
outdoorsman from a small town in Grantsburg, Wisconsin, he joined the 
Marines right out of high school and was taken to the battlefields in a 
foreign land. He was deployed to Afghanistan twice as part of Operation 
Enduring Freedom. It was reported that he was so proud of being a 
marine that, when he finished boot camp, he went right back to the 
small town of Grantsburg to visit his high school, dressed in his 
Marine uniform. He and his wife had a young son and were expecting 
another. He was 25.
  Staff Sergeant David A. Wyatt, United States Marine Corps. He was a 
native of Russellville, Arkansas. He was a husband and a father. He 
served one tour of duty in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. He was 
described as a leader, a mentor, quick to help, and was easy to 
approach. Wyatt was a father who was overjoyed about the upcoming birth 
of his second child. He also planned to serve at least 20 years in the 
military. He was 35.
  Petty Officer Second Class Randall Smith, United States Navy. He was 
a former high school baseball star from Paulding, Ohio, joined the Navy 
in 2010. He was a pitcher for the Paulding High School Panthers, and he 
accepted a scholarship to play baseball at Defiance College in Ohio. 
After a shoulder injury, Smith decided to forego sports and serve his 
Nation. He was a father and a husband. He had three little girls. 
According to his Facebook page, he was a passionate sports fan. He was 
passionate about the United States Women's Soccer team and their World 
Cup win. He had even a love for the Houston Astros. He was 26.
  Good men, good warriors, good Americans--all died before their time. 
This was a senseless and callous act of hate.
  Even though these military facilities in Chattanooga are riddled with 
bullet holes, they are still a steadfast symbol of the patriotism of 
our military.
  There are not enough tears or words to convey the sorrow that has 
engulfed this Nation. These volunteers that serve our country are the 
best that this Nation has, and we continue to mourn their loss and pray 
for their families and friends.
  Ronald Reagan said it best: ``We will always remember. We will always 
be proud. We will always be prepared, so we may always be free.''
  The Chattanooga 5.
  And that is just the way it is.

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