Eight sailors who were part of the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group attempted to take their lives during its long deployment in support of the war against Iran, according to a letter from the US Navy, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.
One of those sailors assigned to the Lincoln’s air wing “went overboard from the ship” in early August and was recovered by one of the carrier’s rescue helicopters, Hung Cao, the acting navy secretary, said in the letter. A second sailor attempted to go overboard in March but was stopped by shipmates, Cao wrote.
The new information about the crew aboard the Lincoln and the other ships in the strike group was released to Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who pressed the navy for information about the crew.
The letter about the attempted suicides was reported earlier by CNN.
Gillibrand criticised US President Donald Trump and the Pentagon on Wednesday (Washington time) for downplaying the strain on the crew. The response from the navy proved that the conditions the sailors faced aboard the Lincoln were “serious and deteriorating”, she said in a statement.
The Lincoln, with its crew of about 5000 sailors, has spent more than 300 days at sea and recently set a navy record for the longest time at sea without making a port call.
After stopping for a week earlier this month in Thailand, the San Diego-based ship arrived in Guam on Saturday. In total, the strike group consists of about 6000 sailors.
Last month, Trump dismissed concerns about difficult conditions reported aboard the ship. Asked whether he was concerned about the crew’s mental health and whether he thought the deployment had gone on too long, the president said: “No. No. No.”
He added: “Not nearly long enough.”
The full article is here.
