Family, friends and fellow Marines will begin saying their final farewells to Lance Cpl. Squire “Skip” Wells a week after he, another Georgian and three other servicemen were killed in Chattanooga in an attack on two military centers.
The Marietta Police Department will shut down part of the Canton Road Connector Bridge over I-75 on Thursday so that citizens can gather on the road and pay their respects to Wells as he makes his final journey home from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The City of Marietta asked in a news release that people bring their American flags to honor Wells and the other people killed at 1 p.m. Parking is available to the right of exit 267A on 75.
Wells will be remembered during visitation services at the Winkenhofer Funeral Home in Kennesaw on Friday and Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m., and again from 6 to 8 p.m., according to the Cobb County School District. The funeral home is at 2950 Cobb Parkway.
The Marine’s funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at the First Baptist Church, 11905 Hwy 92, in Woodstock. The service will be followed by a burial at the Georgia National Cemetery, 1080 Scott Hudgins Drive in Canton.
Services for Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith
Wells was one of two Georgians killed in the attack at Marine and Navy centers in Chattanooga.
Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith, 26, of Rossville died July 18, two days after the attack. Rossville is in Walker County, a north Georgia community that borders Tennessee and is only about five miles from Chattanooga. Smith, 26, lived with his wife and three daughters.
According to WTVC News Channel 9, Smith’s funeral service will be Tuesday at the First Baptist Church in Fort Oglethorpe. The TV station cited information from Heritage Funeral Home in Fort Oglethorpe. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. A chapel service will be at 2 p.m. Smith also will be buried at the Chattanooga National Cemetery at 4 p.m.
A Cobb County native, Wells was honored Tuesday evening at a vigil at his alma mater, Sprayberry High School in Marietta. He graduated from Sprayberry in 2012 and initially attended Georgia Southern University. Wells studied history through fall 2013 before joining the military.
Andy Kingery, the family’s spokesman, said all memorial ceremonies for Wells are open to the public.
“We are going to celebrate Skip, and [his mother, Cathy] wants everyone to be included,” Kingery said during a Wednesday press conference.
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