“A date which will live in infamy.” That phrase is often associated with Dec. 7, 1941....the day that Pearl Harbor was attacked and many lives were lost, and life forever changed for the generation known as the Greatest Generation. It was a game changer for our military as well as our way of life.
Another game changer came at us in the form of Sept. 11, 2001...in which thousands of lives were lost, the face of war itself changed, our military changed, our way of life changed, and even the world changed.
And then it happened again last year, on July 16, 2015, in the last place anyone expected...in a town known as the “Scenic City”, a town which has always been known as “that little town between Nashville and Atlanta” - first at a recruiting station, and then at a small reserve center that hardly anyone even knew existed, but will now never be forgotten.
As seems to be the pattern with attacks on our great country, July 16, 2015 was a gorgeous day. Bright blue skies, lots of sun, and, of course, lots of humidity. I was at Red Bank High School that day, running concessions. Every July Red Bank High hosts a volleyball camp for high school teams from all over the Southeast. We were extremely busy trying to feed around 300 teenage girls and their coaches and their parents, so I didn’t really notice at first the worried looks that began to cross the faces of parents as more and more of them began paying more attention to their cell phones than normal, and less attention to the volleyball court. My husband texted me with a simple message...”the news just reported a police officer was shot near the reserve center, hope it’s not Wood.” One of our sailor friends is also a Chattanooga cop, and as I glanced at my phone, I made a mental note to call him and his wife to check as soon as the lunch rush at concessions passed.
Little did I know that what was happening at our beloved NOSC Chattanooga was so much more than just a shooting. Terrorism had come to Chattanooga, the last place anyone expected. And when it was said and done, four Marines lay dead at NOSC Chattanooga, and a Sailor would succumb to his wounds sustained in the attack a couple of days later.
The lunch crowd slowed, and I thought okay, I better make some calls before I get busy again. But before I could do that, slowly but surely, my phone began blowing up. One sailor after another was calling me or texting me, asking what I knew. And with a sinking feeling, a broken heart, and a shattered soul, I began to realize what exactly was happening at NOSC Chattanooga.
The moment of truth for me came when a Navy wife sent me a text that said “are you watching the news right now? Get to a TV RIGHT NOW.” I found the principal, and we rushed into his office and turned on a TV. We turned it on just in time to hear a reporter say the words “active shooter at the Naval Reserve Center in Chattanooga.” I don’t remember what happened after that, but, according to the principal, I collapsed to the floor, screaming, sobbing and hysterical. Because in my broken heart I knew the place that had been our home away from home for 15 years, the place where my daughter had taken her first steps as a baby, the place my husband, my daughter, and I had just been a few days prior to the attack, had been violated in the worst way possible, and more than likely, several of our service members weren’t going home after work that day. I had no idea until later that day how horrific the damage was, how many of our service members were gone, and how terrorism had found our home. But I did know I would never be quite the same.
I was raised in Chattanooga, and I’m proud to say my city came together in a way I had never seen before after the terrorist attack. Support was in full swing for our police, fire, EMS, our troops, the families of the fallen. Everyone wanted to do anything and everything they could. We set an international example of how to respond when life throws one horrific curveball your way. My daughter's high school volleyball team even got in on the support action, having a huge banner made that said “We love NOSC Chattanooga and Marine Corps Reserve Center Chattanooga.” That banner hung in the gym during the 2015 volleyball and basketball seasons. And I hope that outpouring of love and support can continue.
Because, while most Chattanoogans have moved on, there are those who aren’t able to move anywhere. We still have Marines and Sailors who work and drill at NOSC Chattanooga. They have to go in there every day, or every drill weekend, and carry on, while pushing away the memories of the horror that took place there. We still have Marines working at the recruiting station who have their own horrible memories of their workplace being attacked. Our police, fire, and EMS are still fighting the good fight, putting their lives on the line for the rest of us, knowing that another radicalized lone wolf terrorist attack can actually happen here, because it did. We are not immune to that. And terrorism still lurks in our city.
So what do we do now? We do whatever it takes to change things so our troops never have to face this type of situation again. The first step is to make it legal for any service member, active or reserve, to carry a weapon, be it their personal weapon, or service weapon, on their person at all times while on their military installations or any type of federal property .When our Sailors and Marines were faced with an armed terrorist on July 16, 2015, the only legal option they had at that point was to hide, and hope and pray luck was on their side. They never should have had to be in that situation in the first place, let alone unarmed. The commanding officer of the reserve center who was breaking policy by being armed is just lucky the Navy chose not to discipline him. He saved lives that day, because he made a choice...and it's a choice he never should have been forced to make.
The second step is to provide more weapons training to all service members. This might surprise the public to know, but not every service member is an expert with all weapons. There are many service members who receive very little weapons training, especially if their rate in the military (job) doesn't require it, and not all rates or jobs in the military require weapons training. Some service members received weapons training during basic training or boot camp and that's it.
The third step is to step up and speak up, and report anything or anyone you feel is suspicious. The FBI made public the fact that several friends and family members knew that the terrorist had recently become radicalized, and had even talked about attacking our troops. For whatever reason, they stayed silent, and never notified anyone in law enforcement.
As we approach the first anniversary of the terrorist attack that took the lives of five of our service members and changed lives forever, let us show our support in a different way this time. Contact your politicians, every single one of them, for as long as it takes, until the policy is changed. Our service members deserve to have the right to be able to defend themselves, and to be armed, while on their military installations or federal property. Hiding from an armed terrorist is not an option...July 16, 2015 proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Mariah Smith