Memorials Are a Permanent Reminder of the Fallen Heros
At first we couldn’t believe it happened so close to home—couldn’t believe the cold-blooded determination of the home-grown terrorist.
Now, as we show a united front, there are permanent reminders of what happened.
The faces of these 5 men, four marines and one sailor, have become part of the city’s fabric.
They’re just as much a part of who we are as the Riverfront, Moon Pies, Lookout mountain and even Volkswagen.
Many of the memorials are there forever.
Along Amnicola where the attacker shot and killed the four marines and mortally wounded the sailor, the flags are a reminder. The makeshift memorial is mostly gone but the site will always hold a special place in the city’s history.
And a trip down McCallie in the heart of the city will reveal a mural.
Its on the Tennessee Wholesale Florist Building and is being done by local artist Kevin Bates.
He started with sketches of the men and consulted with the Marine corps before starting his work.
Bates calls it "The Fallen Five"
At Sculpture Fields on 23rd street, Peter Lundberg and John Henry created a 65-foot memorial they call the "Unearthing". It was raised upright on September 2nd.
Sculpture Fields is a 33 acre outdoor museum that will eventually be filled with 75 monumental works of art.
And Chattanoogans created a memorial in the 6200 block of Lee Highway near the recruiting center where the shooter fired indiscriminately and wounded one person.
The temporary site has now been replaced with a permanent
memorial in granite, one that will be there for future generations.
Will Randall Smith, David Wyatt, Skip Wells, Thomas Sullivan and Carson Holmquist be forgotten?
Never– by the people of the Tennessee Valley who witnessed international terrorism up close.
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