At the Chattanooga Naval Reserve Center, courage amid the carnage
By Thomas Gibbons-Neff
The Washington Post
Published: July 23, 2015
Tim Barber, Chattanooga Times Free Press/TNS
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Marine Sgt. Jeff Cantu fought in the Battle of Fallujah, so he knew by the second bang that Marines weren't breaking boxes in the reserve center's warehouse.
It was gunfire.
"Once I heard two or three shots back to back, I knew what it was," Cantu said. "That's when we made the dash."
It was 11 a.m. July 16, and Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez had just driven his car through the gates of a Naval Reserve Center in Chattanooga, Tenn. The 24-year-old gunman exited his vehicle — the green gate he drove through still wrapped around the hood — and proceeded on foot. Abdulazeez carried a Kalashnikov and a pistol. He left a semi-automatic shotgun in the car. Fifteen minutes earlier, he had pumped more than 50 rounds into a recruiting center across town, wounding one Marine in the leg.
Mike Battery of 3rd Battalion, 14th Marines, a reserve artillery unit, wasn't in Iraq or Afghanistan. They had just gotten back from two weeks of yearly training in the Mojave Desert. Now they were under attack.
"They acted quickly," Cantu said of his comrades. "Marines were where they needed to be."
Cantu and two other Marines on Thursday described what happened at the center in their first interview since the shooting. There were some details — such as the exact location of military personnel and the actions of the shooter — they were not allowed to discuss because of the ongoing investigation.
Immediately upon exiting his rented silver Mustang, Abdulazeez came under fire from a servicemember with his own pistol. The FBI is unsure whether any of the bullets hit him. Seemingly undeterred, he moved through the reserve center, firing at anyone who crossed his path.
No more than five minutes later, four Marines and the gunman were dead. A fifth victim, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith, was mortally wounded. He would die in surgery July 18. One of the dead Marines was found with a Glock 9mm. The FBI is still trying to determine whether it was used to wound Abdulazeez, who was ultimately killed by responding Chattanooga police officers.
In the hours prior to the attack, it had been a quiet morning. The sun was out, and the occasional tugboat made its way down the Tennessee River. Pfc. Aaron Noyes, a new Marine, had been working with Lance Cpl. Squire "Skip" Wells. They were in the warehouse, just two young Marines counting serial numbers and making sure the unit's gear was in order.
"He was better at telling jokes then he was at counting gear," said Noyes of Wells.
Minutes later Wells, a 21-year-old from Marietta, Ga., was dead, shot by Abdulazeez. Noyes had escaped.
When the shooting started, Cantu was with Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Sullivan in the reserve center. Immediately, they gathered other Marines and started moving toward the warehouse, where they feared some of their comrades were trapped.
"Gunny Sullivan was adamant amount getting those Marines out," Cantu said.
After they had found the Marines at the warehouse, Sullivan, of Springfield Mass., and Cantu helped a group escape over the back of the facility's fence.
"Once I landed and turned around, he was gone," Cantu said. "He knew that more Marines were in trouble, and he wanted to help us get out ... before he went back to get the others."
That was the last time Cantu would see Sullivan alive. Two other Marines, Staff Sgt. David Wyatt and Sgt. Carson Holmquist, were also killed in the facility.
http://www.stripes.com/news/us/at-the-chattanooga-naval-reserve-center-courage-amid-the-carnage-1.359519
