Three war vets and a young Marine among Tennessee rampage victims

Aamer Madhani | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption 3 of 4 Marines killed in Chattanooga identified The victims of the shooting rampage that targeted two Tennessee military recruiting centers include an Iraq war veteran and a young Marine who was just starting his career.

The shooting rampage that targeted two Tennessee military facilities took the lives of four Marine reservists who collectively had given 35 years of service to their country and completed seven tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Sullivan, 40, who grew up in Springfield, Mass., had done two tours of duty in Iraq and served more than 17 years. Sgt. Carson Holmquist, a Wisconsin native who was an automotive maintenance technician, had two tours of duty in Afghanistan during his six years. Meanwhile, Staff Sgt. David Wyatt, of Burke, N.C., a field artillery operations man, had twice deployed to Iraq and once to Afghanistan during his 11 years in the military.

Lance Cpl. Squire "Skip" Wells, 21, was the relative newcomer, having joined the military last year, but he had already racked up a long list of commendations, according to his service record. His family said that he quit college to join the Marines so he could follow what he believed was his "calling."

Sullivan had served with the Marines since 1997. He saw fierce fighting during the Battle of Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad, during a 2005 Iraq tour, his friend Josh Parnell told the website Patch. During that tour, Sullivan earned a Combat Action medal and a Purple Heart, Parnell said.

"There's no Marine you would want that was better in combat than him," Parnell recalled.

Marine asks 'why the military' after Chattanooga attack A Marine in Chattanooga, Tennessee is wondering why his fellow service members are dead after the FBI says Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazees went on a 'lone wolf' style shooting rampage. Witnesses to the crime say the incident doesn't 'feel real.'

At Nathan Bill's Bar and Restaurant in Springfield, which is owned by Sullivan's brother Joe, a giant American flag was displayed on Friday near the front entrance in honor of the fallen Marine.

"Here's to our hero," the restaurant wrote on its Facebook page with a photo of the flag.

Sullivan graduated from Cathedral High School in Springfield in 1994. The school announced his death on its Facebook page.

"This morning it is with heavy hearts that we share the news of the passing of our Cathedral brother, Thomas Sullivan '94. Thomas, a Gunnery Sgt., Iraq veteran and Purple Heart recipient was killed yesterday in Chattanooga, Tennessee," the school wrote.

Springfield Mayor Dominic Sarno said Sullivan's death "is a tragic loss not just for the Springfield community but for our entire nation."

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker ordered U.S. and state flags on public buildings in the state to be lowered to half-staff in honor of the four Marines killed Thursday in Tennessee and offered his condolences to Sullivan's family and friends.

"Terror comes home to Massachusetts," Baker wrote on his Facebook page. "God Bless Tom Sullivan and his family and friends."

Wells was swapping text messages with his girlfriend, Caroline Dove, just before the shooting started, Dove told the Associated Press. They were exchanging sweet messages about her upcoming trip to visit him in Chattanooga, when the last message she received from Wells said: ACTIVE SHOOTER.

She said she didn't take it seriously at first and replied: “You are so weird."

After hours of silence, she typed “I love you." Hours more passed, with the news out of Chattanooga becoming clearer. “Hon, I need you to answer me please,” she wrote.

On Friday, she learned his fate.

Wells, of Cobb, Ga., had attended Georgia Southern University from 2012 through the fall of 2013.

"The entire Georgia Southern University community is saddened by the news that former student and Marine Skip Wells was killed yesterday in the Chattanooga tragedy along with three fellow Marines," the school said in a statement.

Family spokesman Andy Kingery said that Wells decided to leave school, because he "felt a calling to serve in the Marines.” Kingery called the the incident "senseless."

"If you had a team, you would want him on it, because he was going to go for you the extra mile in anything he did," Kingery told WSB-TV.

Holmquist grew up in Grantsburg, Wis., where his parents still live, but more recently called Jacksonville, N.C. home

Susan Holmquist, the Marine's mother, said that military personnel arrived at her door at 7 p.m. Thursday and told them of her son's death. She said on Friday that she and her husband are "just trying to make it through the day." The Marine sergeant is also survived by his wife,Jasmine, and their son, Wyatt.

Josh Watt, who was principal of Grantsburg Sr. High School when Carson attended, said that Holmquist graduated in 2008 and played football all four years at Grantsburg, starting the last two at defensive back. Watt, who also served as football coach, says Carson was an avid sportsman who enjoyed fishing and hunting.

Watt recalled when Holmquist paid a return visit to school after boot camp, dressed in his new dress blue uniform. It was clear that Holmquist was proud of becoming a Marine, he said.

The shooter has been identified as Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez, 24, of Hixon, Tenn. The FBI is still trying to determine the motive for the shooting.

Abdulazeez, who was born in Kuwait and previously held Jordanian citizenship, was a naturalized U.S. citizen.

The Marines said that the incident would not change the service's commitment to maintaining a presence in U.S. communities.

"The incident has not changed the Marine Corps' resolve to maintain a presence in our communities," Maj. Paul Greenberg, a Marine spokesman, said in a statement. "Our reserve centers will remain open, and continue with the mission of augmenting and reinforcing the active component Marine Corps with trained units and individual Marines.

Contributing: KARE-TV, AP

