WEBVTT 00:14.029 --> 00:16.829 I'm Commander Tim White , US Navy 00:16.829 --> 00:20.309 retired . I was the , the CEO of , it 00:20.309 --> 00:22.420 was NOSC Chattanooga Navy Operational 00:22.420 --> 00:24.642 Sports Center Chattanooga at the time . 00:24.642 --> 00:26.753 So I took command at the , the end of 00:26.753 --> 00:29.750 April 2015 , and so I'd only been in 00:29.750 --> 00:31.972 command for a couple of months when the 00:31.972 --> 00:35.009 attack happened . And uh it was just me . 00:35.189 --> 00:37.245 Petty Officer Smith was my CDO and I 00:37.245 --> 00:39.549 had a chief that was still here . As 00:39.549 --> 00:41.660 staff , the rest of my staff had gone 00:41.660 --> 00:43.716 up to Knoxville . Couldn't have been 00:43.716 --> 00:45.382 sat down and speaking with my 00:45.382 --> 00:49.330 counterpart . 5 minutes and I get up , 00:49.599 --> 00:51.919 my phone rings shortly after that , 00:52.040 --> 00:54.200 then I get another call and they're 00:54.200 --> 00:56.200 like , hey , what's going on at the 00:56.200 --> 00:58.311 center ? And I said , I , I , I don't 00:58.311 --> 01:00.533 know what's going on . I said , I got a 01:00.533 --> 01:00.360 call from ADT and they said , Well , it 01:00.360 --> 01:02.582 says on the news there's a shooting . I 01:02.582 --> 01:06.400 immediately call Smitty , no answer . I 01:06.400 --> 01:08.511 called the duty phone , no answer . I 01:08.511 --> 01:10.400 called onto the marine side , the 01:10.400 --> 01:12.622 people that I know on the marine side . 01:12.622 --> 01:14.789 And was not getting any answers . As I 01:14.789 --> 01:16.900 was sitting at my desk , I heard some 01:16.900 --> 01:19.589 squealing tires and a crash , and as I 01:19.589 --> 01:21.700 walked around my desk , Petty Officer 01:21.700 --> 01:24.033 Smith ran into my office and said , Sir , 01:24.033 --> 01:23.819 someone just crashed through the gate . 01:23.870 --> 01:26.059 What do we do ? I told him to go call 01:26.059 --> 01:28.099 the police . Uh , he ran out of my 01:28.099 --> 01:30.099 office towards where his office was 01:30.099 --> 01:32.155 with a couple of cell reps that were 01:32.155 --> 01:34.488 with him . My name is Ian Thomas Newman . 01:34.488 --> 01:37.260 I'm a machinist mate , 2nd class . Uh , 01:37.419 --> 01:39.252 from right here in Chattanooga , 01:39.252 --> 01:41.363 Tennessee . I remember it all . Not a 01:41.363 --> 01:43.530 day goes by that I don't . Some of the 01:43.530 --> 01:45.641 of the Marines sheltered in the motor 01:45.641 --> 01:48.059 pool , and that's where Gunny Sullivan , 01:48.379 --> 01:50.157 Staff Sergeant Wyatt , Sergeant 01:50.157 --> 01:52.212 Holmquist , and Lance Corporal Wells 01:52.212 --> 01:54.490 were , were killed . Some of those 1st , 01:54.490 --> 01:56.546 1st bullets into the admin space hit 01:56.546 --> 01:59.319 Pet Officer Smith , and he , uh , sadly 01:59.620 --> 02:01.676 perished from his wounds about a day 02:01.676 --> 02:04.300 and a half later . And left behind a 02:04.300 --> 02:06.680 wife and 3 little girls that he was 02:06.680 --> 02:08.736 crazy about . I mean , I didn't know 02:08.736 --> 02:11.300 him , but for a couple of months , but 02:11.309 --> 02:13.589 he was , he was a great guy . He was 02:14.220 --> 02:16.331 very supportive . He's , he's willing 02:16.331 --> 02:18.164 to help you out . I think he was 02:18.164 --> 02:20.276 probably one of the biggest reasons I 02:20.276 --> 02:22.220 stayed . Uh , a little bit about . 02:22.710 --> 02:24.250 Smitty , um , 02:27.550 --> 02:31.080 Stand-up guy . Loved his daughters , 02:31.419 --> 02:35.169 loved his family . Just somebody that 02:35.169 --> 02:37.479 you could count on , and that's who he 02:37.479 --> 02:41.440 was . He just loved life and was a 02:41.440 --> 02:43.520 really special young man . He could 02:43.520 --> 02:45.798 have been all about himself . You know , 02:45.809 --> 02:47.920 all about himself , but he wasn't . I 02:47.920 --> 02:50.330 can double that . I , I can double it 02:50.330 --> 02:52.274 with these , with the , with the 4 02:52.274 --> 02:54.289 Marines . Staff Sergeant Wyatt was 02:54.289 --> 02:56.490 involved with his family . His son was 02:56.490 --> 02:58.529 in the Boy Scouts . The funeral 02:58.529 --> 03:01.050 procession for Staff Sergeant Wyatt was 03:01.050 --> 03:03.839 so long , was so long . There was 500 03:03.839 --> 03:07.220 motorcycles . The community response 03:07.220 --> 03:09.331 after the attack was really amazing . 03:09.660 --> 03:11.771 It's something that I'm very thankful 03:11.771 --> 03:15.699 for today that we , the military , was 03:15.699 --> 03:18.179 the one that was attacked , but the 03:18.179 --> 03:20.460 community rallied around us so much so 03:20.460 --> 03:22.460 that we understood that we were not 03:22.460 --> 03:25.589 alone . It felt good to be . In a place 03:25.589 --> 03:27.789 like that where you could feel that 03:27.789 --> 03:29.789 love and support for the military . 03:29.869 --> 03:31.980 It's all around here in Chattanooga . 03:31.980 --> 03:35.419 It's Very great community , loving and 03:35.419 --> 03:38.899 supportive of us . Yes , this is a dark 03:38.899 --> 03:41.066 time that you're going to be feeling a 03:41.066 --> 03:43.759 lot of emotions , but . There's still 03:43.759 --> 03:45.870 some good that can come out of this , 03:45.870 --> 03:48.037 and you can still feel a little bit of 03:48.037 --> 03:50.037 happiness even though what you just 03:50.037 --> 03:52.149 went through . I'm obviously very 03:52.149 --> 03:54.190 passionate about the anti-terrorism 03:54.190 --> 03:56.023 program and and passionate about 03:56.229 --> 03:59.070 helping unit commanders understand the 03:59.070 --> 04:01.181 threats that they may be exposed to , 04:01.389 --> 04:03.389 how to mitigate the risk associated 04:03.389 --> 04:06.029 with those threats , and ultimately to 04:06.029 --> 04:08.029 keep their people safe , to protect 04:08.029 --> 04:10.140 lives , to protect their facilities , 04:10.140 --> 04:12.251 and to protect their ability to carry 04:12.251 --> 04:14.362 out their missions . Being commanding 04:14.362 --> 04:16.251 officer of Navy Reserve Center in 04:16.251 --> 04:18.959 Chattanooga comes with some unique 04:18.959 --> 04:22.359 weight based on what happened here 10 04:22.359 --> 04:25.880 years ago . Prior to 2015 , if you ask 04:25.880 --> 04:27.824 somebody if they thought that They 04:27.824 --> 04:29.824 would get attacked in Chattanooga , 04:29.824 --> 04:31.769 Tennessee , they would say no . My 04:31.769 --> 04:33.824 battery gunnery sergeant , he is the 04:33.824 --> 04:36.047 lead on all things anti-terrorism , and 04:36.047 --> 04:38.213 he takes his job very seriously . He's 04:38.213 --> 04:37.429 the one that's implementing all the 04:37.429 --> 04:39.651 things that I say we should do , and he 04:39.651 --> 04:41.873 does it oftentimes without me ever even 04:41.873 --> 04:41.750 asking him . My name is Gunnery 04:41.750 --> 04:44.790 Sergeant Gutierrez , Benjamin . I am . 04:44.859 --> 04:46.915 The battery Gunner sergeant for Mike 04:46.915 --> 04:49.140 Battery 314 , but I'm also designated 04:49.140 --> 04:51.251 as the anti-terrorism officer for the 04:51.251 --> 04:53.251 unit . I make sure that Marines are 04:53.251 --> 04:55.307 trained and armed to repel or defend 04:55.307 --> 04:57.418 any potential threat , and I maintain 04:57.418 --> 04:59.640 awareness of the area of any threats or 04:59.640 --> 05:01.807 potential hazards that could fall onto 05:01.807 --> 05:04.730 the NRC . I acknowledge that 05:04.730 --> 05:08.329 anti-terrorism is a priority . I 05:08.329 --> 05:12.329 also recognize that many of the current 05:12.329 --> 05:14.329 anti-terrorism measures that are in 05:14.329 --> 05:16.209 practice across the Navy Reserve 05:16.209 --> 05:18.390 Enterprise are a direct result of what 05:18.390 --> 05:21.170 happened here at this reserve center 10 05:21.170 --> 05:23.279 years ago . For me personally as a 05:23.279 --> 05:26.269 commanding . Officer , it is , um , 05:26.369 --> 05:29.220 always my first priority for the 05:29.220 --> 05:32.329 personal , uh , security of my staff , 05:32.440 --> 05:34.809 my cell res , the marine tenants and 05:34.809 --> 05:36.809 the recruiters here at this reserve 05:36.809 --> 05:38.698 center , and that would always be 05:38.698 --> 05:41.010 paramount . It's not hard to get my 05:41.010 --> 05:43.177 Marines in this facility to understand 05:43.177 --> 05:45.799 the importance because . It happened 05:45.799 --> 05:48.040 here . Other places need to take it 05:48.040 --> 05:50.207 seriously . When they see that there's 05:50.207 --> 05:51.873 like a fence that has erosion 05:51.873 --> 05:53.818 underneath it , or when they see a 05:53.818 --> 05:55.984 weird person that keeps driving around 05:55.984 --> 05:57.929 and they think that's weird , that 05:57.929 --> 06:00.151 needs to be reported to your local PD . 06:00.151 --> 06:02.207 This uh event . Was something that I 06:02.207 --> 06:04.207 think made us even stronger than we 06:04.207 --> 06:06.440 were before and uh showed us how we can 06:06.440 --> 06:08.720 come together in unity even though we 06:08.720 --> 06:10.859 have some sometimes some significant 06:10.859 --> 06:13.600 differences . The city has , has been 06:13.600 --> 06:15.711 awesome and , and the , the community 06:15.711 --> 06:17.822 has been just amazing in the way that 06:17.822 --> 06:19.933 they rally around the service members 06:19.933 --> 06:22.269 and honor the . of our fallen 5 and the 06:22.269 --> 06:24.325 sacrifice , ongoing sacrifice of the 06:24.325 --> 06:25.936 family members . I think the 06:25.936 --> 06:28.158 community's done a wonderful job , um , 06:28.158 --> 06:30.325 continuing to honor with dignity those 06:30.325 --> 06:32.510 members that lost their lives 10 years 06:32.510 --> 06:35.070 ago . I'm very happy and appreciative 06:35.070 --> 06:37.940 to be included in this ceremony , um , 06:38.230 --> 06:40.341 and I take that responsibility , um , 06:40.630 --> 06:43.190 very seriously . I always thought of 06:44.029 --> 06:46.190 Ellis 2 Smith , if he was here , he'd 06:46.190 --> 06:48.357 be motivating me to stay , like , keep 06:48.357 --> 06:50.690 doing what you're doing . Don't give up . 06:50.690 --> 06:52.912 And I still , I still believe in that . 06:52.912 --> 06:55.023 I still believe he's , Always over my 06:55.023 --> 06:57.134 shoulder at some point and during the 06:57.134 --> 06:59.246 day or something just whispering when 06:59.246 --> 07:01.412 I'm feel like giving up on something , 07:01.412 --> 07:03.634 he's right there like , don't do it . I 07:03.634 --> 07:05.746 try to just keep showing the strength 07:05.746 --> 07:08.329 to keep going forward and live each day 07:08.790 --> 07:11.950 in honor of those guys because I know 07:11.950 --> 07:14.529 if they were . They were still here , 07:14.570 --> 07:16.459 they'd still be pushing everybody 07:16.459 --> 07:16.730 around .