Navy airman recounts USS Lincoln leap: ‘If I was supposed to die then I would have just been dead’

One of the eight sailors who attempted suicide by jumping overboard during the grueling deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group is speaking out after he was effectively punished for the incident.   Navy airman Nicholas McKelvey, 19, jumped overboard on Aug. 3, 255 days into the ship’s deployment, The New York Times reported. McKelvey, an aviation mechanic in a helicopter squadron, told the outlet he had been working 12-hour shifts on the flight deck in extreme heat with limited food, had missed the birth of his daughter and was dealing with in-laws battling cancer when he hit his limit and jumped into the Arabian Sea. U.S. Navy records reviewed by the Times said he was rescued by a helicopter crew and returned to the ship 50 minutes later, with a report on the incident seeming skeptical of what caused him to take the leap. In the report, an officer acknowledged that it had been “a difficult deployment” and that “it is unsurprising that we might have a jumper.” But they also said McKelvey’s “motives are undetermined” and “the conditions in which he jumped appear suspect,” pointing to the fact he wore his “float coat,” a vest that can be used as a flotation device. “I didn’t want to be there anymore,” the airman told the Times. “If I was going to die because of it, then that’s just how it is.” He later added: “Obviously, I was trying to get home. I kept my float coat on because if I wasn’t supposed to die then I was going to get saved, but it didn’t matter, and if I was supposed to die then I would have just been dead. It’s that simple.” The Navy on Thursday moved to discharge McKelvey, accusing him of faking a mental health crisis to end his deployment, making him ineligible for education assistance under the GI Bill of Rights. The Lincoln earlier this month docked in San Diego, completing its 322-day deployment, which was expected to end this summer but was extended as part of the war against Iran. The aircraft carrier had helped enforce the U.S. naval blockade in the region.  The deployment has come under intense scrutiny due to the tight food supplies and degrading........

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