THORNVILLE – A central Ohio man whose son was slain in the Chattanooga shootings says his son had volunteered for duty at the reserve center where he was killed because he was interested in helping people.
Kip Wells, of Thornville, says his son Lance Cpl. Skip Wells was scheduled to leave that duty soon, within days or weeks.
Kip Wells said Sunday that his son followed in a long family military tradition dating to his great-grandfather’s Navy service in WWII.
Kip Wells, who helped liberate Kuwait as a member of the Navy during the first Gulf War, said he found it ironic that a Kuwaiti-born person killed his son.
Wells, 45, said families expect relatives serving in the military to be in harm’s way overseas, not at home.
Skip[ Wells was one of two victims in the shootings with ties to Ohio.
Randall Smith, a sailor who died of his wounds, grew up in the northwest Ohio city of Paulding, near the Indiana state line, and joined the military after attending college in Ohio.
Smith was a reservist serving on active duty in the Navy.