In the last 20 years, more than 60 Armed Forces personnel have been shot to death at U.S. military installations. The latest: July 16, when a gunman opened fire in a Navy building in Chattanooga, Tennessee, killing four Marines and one sailor. According to the FBI, the gunman was suicidal and looking for a way to absolve what he considered were his sins.

In Washington, D.C., Department of Defense officials are revisiting a directive that gives authority to carry firearms “only to qualified personnel when there is a reasonable expectation that life or DoD assets will be jeopardized if firearms are not carried,” adding that “DoD personnel regularly engaged in law enforcement or security duties shall be armed.”

Until July 16, no one expected a military recruitment office would be a place where life would be in jeopardy.

The issues, and causes, of these shootings since 1994 are manifold. Some gunmen were current or former military personnel being treated or evaluated for combat-related PTSD. Some gunmen were mentally ill. Some were motivated by anger or a perceived wrong. Some were motivated by radical religious beliefs. The end, however, was always the same.

We could engage in debate over the need to revise policies or beef up security at all offices and installations, but we’ll leave that to the brass and the politicians. At this moment, we feel it most appropriate to simply remember those who died when a southeast Tennessee city became a battleground.

Let us remember them by name, for they are not statistics; they are sons, fathers, husbands, brothers. And let us say a prayer for the safety of our personnel — abroad and at home.

— Sgt. Carson Holmquist, USMC, of Grantsburg, Wisconsin.

— Petty Officer Randall Smith, USN, of Paulding, Ohio.

— Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Sullivan, USMC, of Hampden, Massachusetts.

— Lance Cpl. Skip Wells, USMC, of Marietta, Georgia.

— Staff Sgt. David Wyatt, USMC, of Russellville, Arkansas.