Event to Honor Fallen Five on Sixth Anniversary of Shootings

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) – A local veteran began honoring the Fallen Five in 2016 when he drove a flag all the way across the country to unfurl at the Golden Gate Bridge. Now, that movement is growing.
Today marks the sixth anniversary of the terrorist attack that killed four marines and a sailor in Chattanooga.
Some local veterans are making certain their lives aren’t forgotten.
They want the community to know why they run today.
“It was really a tragic thing that happened and its just, for their memory. The Fallen Five,” says local Marine Dewayne Sandidge.
“I’m worried that somebody will forget, or that this memorial will be forgotten. And nobody will know why it’s here. So, I can’t thank you guys enough, you know, I can see the love in everybodies faces here. We all know why we serve and why we’re here and we each to it to our own capacity you know?” says Air Force veteran and event founder Joshua Kapellusch.
With flags held high and waving behind trucks that trailed behind them, a handful of supporters began a five mile run – one mile for each service member killed that day – at 10:30 this morning.
The run began just outside the Navy and Marine Corps Reserve Center, the actual location of one of the shootings six years ago.
It ended in Coolidge Park after they ran across the Veteran’s Bridge.
The race founder said this will be a recurring and annual event held on July 16th every year.
“I don’t want this centered around a tragedy. I want this centered around a triumph so we can come together and love and honor these men,” Kapellusch says.

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