Next Wednesday marks the 10th anniversary of the death of Skip Wells and four other military personnel who were shot and killed during a terrorist attack in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Wells was a Sprayberry High School graduate who was a Marine lance corporal at the time of his death.
Wednesday’s ceremony takes place at 10:30 a.m. at the Committal Service Shelter 1, Georgia National Cemetery, 1080 Scott Hudgens Drive, Canton.
That’s where Wells, who was 21, was laid to rest. He had served in the Marines for a year, and was on a temporary assignment in Chattanooga.
“The public, fellow Marines, veterans, and community members are welcome to reflect on the sacrifices of LCpl Wells and his comrades,” Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell noted in her weekly e-mail newsletter Thursday.
A gunman, Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, 24, went to three military recruiting offices in the Chattanooga area in a 30-minute span on the morning of July 16, 2015 and opened fire.
Wells and the four others who died were shot at the Navy Operational Support Center/Marine Corps Reserve Center, the second location on the rampage, which ended a short time later at a third location at which Abdulazeez was shot and killed by law enforcement.
As the attack reached his location, Wells texted his girlfriend “ACTIVE SHOOTER,” the final message he would send. He and Caroline Dove met as students at Georgia Southern University before he followed a long family tradition of serving in the military.
Wells’ mother was watching television coverage of the shootings with Marines visited the family home to deliver the tragic news.
Wells, Marine Gunnery Sgt. Thomas J. Sullivan, Marine Staff Sgt. David A. Wyatt, Marine Sgt. Carson L. Holmquist and Navy Logistics Specialist 2nd Class Randall Smith were posthumously awarded the Purple Heart in 2016.
The FBI declared the attacks an instance of domestic terrorism. Authorities found multiple weapons in the home and vehicle of Abdulazeez, who grew up in the Chattanooga area and was from a Muslim family hailing from Kuwait.
At Sprayberry, Wells was a member of the Band of Gold marching band, playing for four years, and also played in the symphonic band.
Wells served in the 3rd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve. He had received the National Defense Service Medal and an Certificate of Appreciation.
Cobb County honored Wells’ memory by renaming what had been Bells Ferry Park the Skip Wells Park.
In 2017, the U.S. Postal Service office on Sandy Plains Road was named in Wells’ honor.
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