When a Saudi military trainee opened fire on a Naval base in Florida last week, three men died. The oldest was 23. These men were gunned down while trying to protect their brothers and sisters. 

Airman Mohammed Hathaim, 19, Ensign Joshua Kaleb Watson, 23, and Airman Apprentice Cameron Scott Walters, 21 were young hopefuls at the start of their careers, excited to pursue their dreams in Naval aviation. They all had enormous potential. While this heinous act of violence has taken away their chance to complete their training, they still deserve to be honored. 

Join me in asking the U.S. Navy to posthumously bestow "Wings of Gold" to each trainee who died on Dec. 6, 2019. 

Ensign Watson spent the last moments of his life as a hero. According to his commanding officer, he jumped over a desk to put himself between the shooter and the others in the room, and yelled for everyone to run while he attempted to unarm the gunman. 

After being shot 5 times, Ensign Watson still managed to crawl out of the building to give responders the location of the shooter and a description of him. 

Airman Mohammed Hathaim – known to friends and family as Mo – would have turned 20 years old on Dec. 16. He also tried to take down the shooter before he was killed. 

Airman Apprentice Cameron Walters finished boot-camp just a few weeks before the shooting. His father told the Associated Press that his son died while standing watch at the building where the shooter opened fired. Mr. Walters said in his interview,  “He just wanted to earn his wings. He was looking so forward to having those wings pinned on his chest.”

All three of these men deserve wings they would have earned if it weren’t for this careless act. Sign to ask the U.S. Navy to honor them as they died – heroes.