Alabama Brother commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant in the US Marine Corps

Twenty friends and relatives attended the ceremony in U.S. District Judge Scott Coogler’s courtroom. Gattozzi was commissioned by Col. Lee Busby, also of Tuscaloosa, and was given his first military salute as an officer by friend and fellow Marine Chris Navaro.

Gattozzi completed Officer Candidates School in Quantico, Va. He completed requirements for commission through the Platoon Leaders Class.

Gattozzi graduated from Northridge High School in 2006 and completed boot camp at Parris Island to join the Marine Reserve’s Anti-Terrorist Unit in Bessemer. He served one weekend a month in the reserves while attending the University of Alabama.

Gattozzi was a member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and graduated cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree from the college of arts and sciences. His major was political science and his minor was Middle Eastern studies, including four semesters of Arabic.

Gattozzi has also worked with several adult and youth groups sent by First Presbyterian Church in Tuscaloosa to mission trips in Washington, D.C.; Atlanta; Hatillo, Costa Rica; and Tumatuma School for the deaf in Kenya.

He was born in Huntsville and is a resident of Tuscaloosa. His parents are Joe Gattozzi (Ashley) and Amy Echols (Mike).

Chris is engaged to be married to Sarah Allison “Sassy” Crowson from Melbourne, Fla., in August in Tuscaloosa and will move to Quantico, Va., where he will be trained and placed in his primary military occupational specialty.

After six months of training and three months of placement in his specialty, he will begin active duty.

Coast Guard Reserve Seaman Apprentice Alex C. Lee, son of Mitzi H. and Robert D. Lee of Tuscaloosa, recently graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Recruit Training Center in Cape May, N.J. Lee is a 2008 graduate of Hillcrest High School.