Feds: Some servicemen killed in Chattanooga attack died while helping others escape from gunman

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As the investigation continues, we are learning a lot about what happened. Nobody should be surprised that some of the men sworn to protect their country should put themselves in harm's way to protect others.


Some of the five servicemen who were fatally wounded effectively sacrificed themselves during the assault on Thursday, diverting the gunman away from a larger group of potential victims, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation into the killings…


Maj. Gen. Paul W. Brier of the Marines said: “Our Marines reacted the way you would expect, rapidly going room to room, getting people to safety. After they had gotten to safety, some willingly ran back into the fight. All of us can be extremely proud of what our Marines did that day.”


And the piece also speaks about two of the service members having their own personal weapons which they used to fire back at the Muslim terrorist.


Read the full story @ Feds Some servicemen killed in Chattanooga attack died while helping others escape from gunman Hot Air

 

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Chattanooga Shooting Victims to Receive Purple Heart...

Chattanooga Shooting Victims to Receive Purple Heart, Mabus Says
Dec 16, 2015 | The four Marines and a sailor killed by a gunman during a July mass shooting in Chattanooga, Tennessee, will receive the Purple Heart medal, as will a Marine sergeant who was wounded.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced Wednesday that Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Sullivan, Staff Sgt. David Wyatt, Sgt. Carson A. Holmquist, Lance Cpl. Squire D. "Skip" Wells, Sgt. DeMonte Cheeley and Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith would all receive the award. The announcement comes the same day the FBI announced that the Chattanooga shooter, Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, was "inspired by a foreign terror organization." It's not clear what organization Abdulazeez, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Kuwait, might have been emulating. "Following an extensive investigation, the FBI and NCIS have determined that this attack was inspired by a foreign terrorist group, the final criteria required for the awarding of the Purple Heart to this sailor and these Marines," Mabus said in a statement, referring to Naval Criminal Investigative Service. "This determination allows the Department of the Navy to move forward immediately with the award of the Purple Heart to the families of the five heroes who were victims of this terrorist attack, as well as to the surviving hero, Sgt. Cheeley," he added.

Bullet holes in the entrance to the Chattanooga military recruiting center​

On July 16, Abdulazeez first attacked a military recruiting office in a drive-by shooting, then traveled to a nearby Navy Reserve center, where he shot five Marines, a sailor and a police officer before he was killed by police. Cheeley, the Marine recruiter who survived a gunshot to the back of the leg, returned to work the same month, Marine Corps Times reported.

The shocking and tragic attacks inspired a wave of concern over the security of military recruiting facilities and prompted Defense Secretary Ashton Carter to call for better training and "physical security enhancements" to protect the military personnel working at such facilities. "Although the Purple Heart can never possibly replace this brave Sailor and these brave Marines, it is my hope that as their families and the entire Department of the Navy team continue to mourn their loss, these awards provide some small measure of solace," Mabus said. "Their heroism and service to our nation will be remembered always."

Chattanooga Shooting Victims to Receive Purple Heart, Mabus Says | Military.com

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Chattanooga Shooting a 'Terror Attack,' FBI Director James Comey Says
Dec 16, 2015 - The semantic dance of whether or not to call the July mass shooting in Chattanooga a "terrorist" attack appears to be winding down.

FBI Director James Comey twice called the deadly Chattanooga shooting that killed four Marines and one sailor a "terror attack" during a press conference with NYPD commissioner Bill Bratton on Wednesday. Bratton and Comey spoke after addressing the NYPD Shield Conference in New York City. "We've investigated Chattanooga as a terror attack from the beginning," Comey said. "The Chattanooga killer was inspired by a foreign terror organization. It's hard to entangle which particular source…there are lots of competing poisons out there." That response came as Comey was asked to clarify an earlier statement in which he linked the root cause of the July 16 rampage by Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Kuwait, to the recent Islamic terrorist attack in San Bernardino. "San Bernardino, as with Chattanooga, another terror attack we've dealt with in recent times ..." Comey began the answer to a question about the Dec. 2 terror attack in California.

Members of the FBI Evidence Response Team continue to investigate the shooting at the Armed Forces Career Center/National Guard Recruitment Office on July 18, 2015.​

Abdulazeez, 24, was fatally shot by police after opening fire at a military recruiting center and then driving to a reserve center, where he killed five. Officially classifying the Chattanooga attack as terror would make Abdulazeez's victims eligible for Purple Hearts. During the five months since the Chattanooga attacks, law enforcement officials and the Obama administration have seemingly had some reluctance to label that act a terrorist deed. Then-U.S. Attorney Bill Killian said Chattanooga was being investigated as an act of "domestic terrorism" during a news conference on the day of the shooting -- but he walked back that terminology moments later, saying the investigation would ultimately determine if the rampage was terrorism. Killian resigned in November to join a national law firm. His last day was Dec. 5.

The following evening, during an address to the nation, President Obama took another step toward defining Chattanooga more clearly. "As we've become better at preventing complex, multifaceted attacks like 9/11, terrorists turned to less complicated acts of violence like the mass shootings that are all too common in our society," Obama said. "It is this type of attack that we saw at Fort Hood in 2009. In Chattanooga earlier this year. And now in San Bernardino." Further clarification could come soon as an updated statement on the attack was expected to come this week, an FBI spokeswoman for the Knoxville office told FoxNews.com on Wednesday.

Chattanooga Shooting a 'Terror Attack,' FBI Director James Comey Says | Military.com