A sailor on the USS Abraham Lincoln jumped into the water, but his wife was not informed until 4 days later.
Pentagon cover-up over sailor's suicide attempt on USS Abraham Lincoln
A sailor on the USS Abraham Lincoln jumped into the water, but his wife was not informed until 4 days later.
The wife of a sailor on the USS Abraham Lincoln who committed suicide by jumping into the water last week told MS Now that the Pentagon tried to keep the incident a secret.
She, who asked not to be named to protect details about her husband's mental health, said that US Navy officials had not contacted her for four days after her husband's suicide attempt.
He said his wife was in the water for an hour after the suicide attempt but was eventually rescued and is now receiving treatment.
The wife of a US soldier said of the Pentagon's response: "I think they were very weak, because they didn't inform me or want me to know; they were just trying to keep it a secret."
The wife of the US soldier added that she learned of the suicide attempt through a message from a friend of her husband on the ship; the friend first reported that someone from their battalion had fallen overboard and then confirmed that it was his wife.
Finally, a day after a controversial meeting between the families of the soldiers on the ship, she was contacted by US Navy officials and informed of her husband's condition.
The meeting was held on August 6 in a hall at North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego. The families repeatedly questioned Secretary of the Navy Hong Kao and other commanders about reports of a sailor falling overboard.
One commander responded that he was aware of the incident and that an investigation was underway, but added that it was not clear at the time whether the sailor had thrown himself overboard or fallen.
This was met with intense anger from the audience, according to two people present. The official then claimed that the sailor had been returned to the ship and appeared to be “fine,” a statement that was met with jeers and protests.
On Friday, August 7, the day after that tense meeting, the sailor’s wife finally received an official message from the US Navy informing her that her husband had attempted suicide but was now safe and sound.
The wife said that she had been unable to communicate regularly with her husband, a 19-year-old sailor on his first tour as an aircraft mechanic. He said his wife complained about homesickness and extreme fatigue in conversations.
In the last text messages on July 21, before the incident, the sailor wrote: “I think the ship is finally giving me away and I really don’t think I can keep up the calm anymore. You were right about nothing being okay. We were supposed to leave the 5th Fleet on July 15, but something happened and my last hope of getting home early is gone. I’m trying hard not to feel hopeless, but with the internet, the uncertainty of when I’ll be back, and the lack of news about home, it’s really putting a strain on me. I don’t think I’ll be able to go on another mission after this one, and I don’t even know how I’m going to finish this one.”
His wife said he had approached the ship’s medical team and the command hierarchy about his mental health, but they kept ignoring him.
She also noted that his prescription lenses had expired and he was having trouble seeing and performing his duties properly. He worked on helicopters on the flight deck and believed that this poor vision was causing him to make mistakes.
“Every time he made a mistake, they would yell at him and get him in trouble,” his wife said. “He would explain that he couldn’t see because his lenses had expired, but they still let him work. It was a lot of stress for him, because they kept reminding him that he could hurt himself or others.”
Other families have also spoken to MSNow about the mental health of their loved ones on the Lincoln.
