A tranquil and reflective setting was created in Chattanooga, TN, with Texas limestone and local flagstone for the “Wreath of Honor” – a tribute to five souls who lost their lives in a terrorist attack
July 16, 2015 is a day that residents of Chattanooga, TN, will never forget. This date marks a tragic domestic terrorist attack on five military personnel, which devastated the city. First the gunman launched a drive-by shooting at a recruiting center where four Marines died on the spot, followed by a trip to a U.S. Navy Reserve center where he continued firing. At that site, a Navy sailor, a Marine recruiter and a police officer were wounded; the sailor died from his injuries two days later. To honor the five victims, the city of Chattanooga invited artists from around the country to submit design proposals for a memorial. After a review process in 2017, the City chose Houston artists Shane Albritton and Norman Lee of RE:site Studio for their “Wreath of Honor” design. A palette of Texas limestone and Tennessee flagstone were chosen to bring the beautiful and serene stone memorial to life.
“That day will always be remembered here in Chattanooga,” said Patrick Wells, chief executive officer of Majestic Stone in Dayton, TN, the stone supplier for the project. “Chattanooga is a growing city, but still feels very small relative to the larger cities within a two-hour radius of us that really get all of the attention, like Atlanta, Nashville, Knoxville, Huntsville and Birmingham. Chattanooga, in many ways, feels protected. As if nothing like this could ever happen here. But on that day, it did.”