Two Marines killed in the July 2015 Chattanooga, Tenn., attacks will posthumously receive the Corps' highest non-combat decoration for heroism for saving the lives of fellow Marines and civilians.
The families of Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Sullivan and Staff Sgt. David Wyatt will be presented with the Navy and Marine Corps Medal on May 7.
They were among the four Marines and one sailor killed when terrorist Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez attacked the Naval Operational Support Center in Chattanooga after firing at a nearby recruiting center.
Wyatt, 37, was first to call the police, and then both he and Sullivan, 40, took charge of moving personnel to safety, a Marine Corps Forces Reserve spokesman said.
Wyatt also told his junior troops to shepherd children at a nearby neighborhood park to a building, where they stayed sheltered until the shooting was over, a Marine Corps investigation later found.
After most of the Marines had been safely evacuated from the support center, it became clear that some were not accounted for, the MARFORRES spokesman told Marine Corps Times.
"So Gunnery Sgt. Sullivan and Staff Sgt. Wyatt purposefully returned to the scene of the incident where it was readily apparent that they would be in grave danger, and ultimately sacrificed themselves to ensure the safety of their fellow Marines," the spokesman said.
Sgt. Carson Holmquist, Lance Cpl. Squire K. Wells and Logistics Navy Specialist 2nd Class Randall Smith were also killed in the attack. All five service members have posthumously received the Purple Heart.
A Marine who was wounded in the attack on the Chattanooga recruiting center also received the Purple Heart. Sgt. DeMonte Cheeley, who was shot in the leg, returned to the recruiting station only two days after the attack.
"My whole thought process behind it was: I still have a job; I’m still a Marine Corps recruiter, and who knows, maybe one day I might recruit the next Gunnery Sgt. Sullivan or Staff Sgt. Wyatt or the other three fallen," Cheeley told Marine Corps Times in January 2016.
