Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has approved Purple Heart awards for four Marines and a sailor who were killed in the July attack on military facilities in Chattanooga, Tenn., and a sixth Purple Heart for a Marine who was wounded and survived.

The decision was announced Wednesday afternoon by Mabus’s office following an investigation and some angst from supporters about whether the awards would be approved. They will go posthumously to Marine Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Sullivan, 40; Staff Sgt. David Wyatt, 35; Sgt. Carson A. Holmquist; Lance Cpl. Squire D. “Skip” Wells, 21; and Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith, 26. The surviving Marine who will be recognized is Sgt. Marine DeMonte Cheeley, who suffered a gunshot wound to the leg.

“Following an extensive investigation, the FBI and NCIS have determined that this attack was inspired by a foreign terrorist group, the final criteria required for the awarding of the Purple Heart to this Sailor and these Marines,” said a statement released on Mabus’s behalf. “This determination allows the Department of the Navy to move forward immediately with the award of the Purple Heart to the families of the five heroes who were victims of this terrorist attack, as well as to the surviving hero, Sgt. Cheeley.”

The July 16 attack on a naval reserve center and recruiting station was carried out by 24-year-old Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez, who was born in Kuwait and became a naturalized American citizen. On his blog, he called Muslims who waged jihad in earlier generations “the best human beings that ever lived” other than the prophets.

The Marines and sailor killed were targeted at the naval reserve center, while Cheeley was shot while running with other Marines out the back of the recruiting station under fire.

The approval of the awards hinged on the FBI determining that the attack was inspired by terrorism. FBI Director James Comey said in New York on Wednesday that the Chattanooga attacks were investigated as terrorism, “from the beginning.

“The Chattanooga killer was inspired by a foreign terror organization,” he added. “It’s hard to entangle which particular source… There are lots of competing poisons out there.”

Left unanswered still is whether any of the Marines and naval personnel involved in the attack will be recognized for heroism. Survivors said in interviews afterward that some of those killed acted with valor in facing Abdulazeez, who was armed with a Kalashnikov rifle and a pistol. Abdulazeez died in a shootout at the second facility he targeted, the naval reserve center.