Accompanying the obituary for Marine Lance Corporal Skip Wells was a gallery of 120 photos and a guest book with hundreds of remembrances and comments.
In a terrorist attack on July 16 at the Navy Reserve Support Center in Chattanooga, Tenn., Wells died with three other Marines - Sgt. Carson Holmquist, Staff Sgt. David Wyatt and Gunnery Sgt. Thomas J. Sullivan - and Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith, also from Georgia who died Saturday.
Born April 29, 1994, Wells, 21, of Marietta, was an E-3 in the U.S. Marines, having joined in November 2014, according to his obituary.
With the 3rd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve, he had received the National Defense Service Medal and a Certificate of Appreciation.
A Sprayberry High School graduate, he was remembered and honored by nearly 10,000 during a memorial service on the Sprayberry campus on July 21.
Wells is survived by his mother, Cathy Wells; maternal grandparents, Patricia and Richard Trapanese; aunt, Lynn Trapanese and Sandy Jackson.
Open to the public, funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at the main sanctuary of the First Baptist Church of Woodstock, 11905 Highway 92, with Dr. Jim Law officiating.
Burial will follow at the Georgia National Cemetery at 1080 Scott Hudgens Drive in Canton.
In honor of Wells and Smith, Governor Nathan Deal has ordered U.S. and state flags across Georgia to fly at half-staff through sunset on July 30.
Those who desire, instead of flowers, may make contributions to a Memorial Fund at any Wells Fargo Bank or to the Marines and Mickey Foundation, providing Disney theme park vacations to Marines in need and their families and trips for families in need to attend U.S. Marine Corps graduations of their sons or daughters at Parris Island or San Diego.
