Wife Says Navy Kept Her in Dark After Husband Jumped Overboard: ‘Trying to Cover This Up’

The USS Abraham Lincoln conducting joint exercises in the Arabian Sea in 2019. Credit: Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Brian M. Wilbur/U.S. Navy via AP

The wife of a 19-year-old sailor who jumped overboard from the USS Abraham Lincoln accused the Navy of keeping her in the dark about what she described as her husband’s suicide attempt, according to a Thursday report from MS NOW.

The sailor spent roughly an hour in the water after going overboard on Aug. 3 before being rescued, his wife told the outlet. But she said Navy officials did not contact her about what happened until four days later.

“I think that it was handled very poorly because they didn’t inform me and they didn’t want me to know, and they’re just trying to cover this up,” said the woman, who was granted anonymity because of the sensitive mental health issues involved.

She instead learned something was wrong from one of her husband’s friends aboard the carrier, who initially told her that a member of his squadron had gone overboard before later identifying him as her spouse. The wife said her husband had struggled with exhaustion and homesickness during his first deployment and had sought help from both his chain of command and the ship’s medical team. She alleged his concerns were repeatedly brushed aside.

In a July 21 text obtained by MS NOW, he told her, “i [sic] think the boat is finally getting to me and i really dont think i can keep up my peace act anymore,” later adding, “i dont even know if i can finish this deployment.”

The Navy declined to discuss the individual sailor’s medical information with MS NOW but pushed back on broader concerns about deteriorating mental health aboard the carrier, with a spokesperson telling the outlet, “We have not observed an increase in suicidal ideations aboard the ship,” and adding that mental health professionals were available to sailors.

On Thursday, CNN reported that the Navy is moving to provide relief to the ship, which has been deployed since November and has remained at sea months beyond its originally expected May return as the war with Iran continues, though it remains unclear when that relief will arrive.

Not to mention, a Thursday MeidasTouch report detailed troubling accounts of food shortages aboard the Lincoln, including messages from one sailor who claimed the crew had gone without milk for three months and that meat sometimes arrived “rotten.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) also pressed Navy leadership, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, for answers Wednesday, citing reports of supply shortages, water contamination, plumbing problems, deteriorating mental health and other poor living conditions.

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