People gather to mourn Marine Lance "Skip" Wells, at Sprayberry High School in Marietta, Georgia July 21, 2015. (Reuters)
Marietta:
Thousands of mourners gathered in Georgia on Tuesday night at a memorial service for US Marine Lance Corporal Squire K. "Skip" Wells, the youngest of five US servicemen killed when a gunman opened fire on military offices in Tennessee.
Wells, a 21-year-old reservist who graduated from Sprayberry High School in Marietta in 2012, was recalled as a marching band nerd who had recently returned from a trip to Disney World in Florida with his mother, Cathy Wells.
"Skip is our hero," high school teacher and band director Andy Esserwein told the throng assembled in the Sprayberry High School football stadium.
Wells and three other Marines were slain on Thursday when authorities say Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez, 24, opened fire at a recruiting office and Naval Reserve Center in Chattanooga.
Three other people were injured in the attacks, including a US Navy sailor who later died. Wells is the first to be honored individually at a memorial service.
Investigators were still trying to determine a motive for shooter a Kuwaiti-born naturalized US citizen who died in firefight with police.
Mourners cried and hugged in the football stadium as two World War II-era planes flew overhead in honor of Wells, who had dreamed of becoming a drill sergeant.
He studied history at Georgia Southern University and was active in the ROTC before leaving school last year to join the military, following his grandfather who served in the US Air Force.
Esserwein described Wells as, "Dedicated, intelligent and very funny," calling him a youth who looked out for other kids in the band and defended them from bullies.
Wells, a 21-year-old reservist who graduated from Sprayberry High School in Marietta in 2012, was recalled as a marching band nerd who had recently returned from a trip to Disney World in Florida with his mother, Cathy Wells.
"Skip is our hero," high school teacher and band director Andy Esserwein told the throng assembled in the Sprayberry High School football stadium.
Wells and three other Marines were slain on Thursday when authorities say Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez, 24, opened fire at a recruiting office and Naval Reserve Center in Chattanooga.
Three other people were injured in the attacks, including a US Navy sailor who later died. Wells is the first to be honored individually at a memorial service.
Investigators were still trying to determine a motive for shooter a Kuwaiti-born naturalized US citizen who died in firefight with police.
Mourners cried and hugged in the football stadium as two World War II-era planes flew overhead in honor of Wells, who had dreamed of becoming a drill sergeant.
He studied history at Georgia Southern University and was active in the ROTC before leaving school last year to join the military, following his grandfather who served in the US Air Force.
Esserwein described Wells as, "Dedicated, intelligent and very funny," calling him a youth who looked out for other kids in the band and defended them from bullies.
© Thomson Reuters 2015
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