The shell-shocked family of Thomas J. Sullivan, 40, one of the Marines killed during Thursday’s Chattanooga, Tennessee terror attack, is trying to process his killing.
The Springfield, Massachusetts family was informed yesterday of Sgt. Sullivan’s killing. He died with three other Marines when Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, 24, went on a rampage at a recruiting station and then a Naval Reserve Center.
Three others were wounded during the attack, which ultimately ended with Mr. Abdulazeez dying in a firefight with police.
Sgt. Sullivan earned a Purple Heart during two tours of duty during the Iraq War.
His brother, Joe, — also a war veteran — told a local Massachusetts paper that he was still trying to process his brother’s killing.
“Tommy’s mother, Betty, and father, Jerry, were equally shell-shocked,” the newspaper reported. “His sister, Dianne, and her family were among those who gathered at the family home in Hampden to make sense of the tragedy – the latest apparent terrorist attack on domestic soil that has unnerved everyday citizens in post-9/11 America, lending credence to the notion that we aren’t as secure as we ought to be.”
The family told the newspaper it would be a kind gesture if nearby residents would lower their American flags to half mast in honor of the fallen Marines.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.