Community comes together for Chattanooga Strong Concert

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) –  Two years after the terrorist attacks in Chattanooga on July 16th that killed the fallen five, resident Carol Covert has not forgotten.

“It was just so sad to think that it happened here,” Covert said.

At the Tennessee RiverPark near the site where four marines and one sailor were gunned down, Covert and her husband were one of several that came together on Sunday for a Chattanooga Strong Community Concert.

“These are the reasons that we have the freedoms that we have as a result of these people who are willing to lay down their lives for our country,” Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger said.

There was a moment of silence and a flyover that honored the fallen, Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Sullivan, Staff Sgt. David Wyatt, Lance Cpl. “Skip” Wells, Sgt. Carson Holmquist, and Navy Petty Officer Randall Smith, during what was not a memorial, but rather a celebration with music and activities.

“We have a quilt that is being put together with different patches by different people.  They can say what they want to the families and to the heroes and then we’ll be able to display this around the city,” Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke said.

“We really heard from the family who said that they had been through their grieving process and it was two years later and they really wanted us to really spend some time acknowledging the incredible lives theses five patriots had,” Mayor Berke said.

Two years later, the U.S. still battles with attacks in the country and around the world.

Congressman Chuck Fleischmann was at the concert and said Americans must always remain vigilant.

“We must always be on our guard.  It’s a shame that we’re gonna have to live in a country where there are people who would do us the kind of harm that these gunmen would, but the American people are good people, we’re better than that,” Congressman Fleischmann said.

The Chattanooga Strong Community Concert was one of several events through the weekend remembering the ones who lost their lives in the attacks.