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 mental health on board the massive ship and its strike group. The Lincoln did not have a port call for 286 days until it finally docked in Thailand for a short period last month. Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao later revealed there had been eight suicide attempts during the lengthy deployment. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has conceded the Lincoln’s crew members operated in a tough environment but accused the news media of attempting to “turn the USS Abraham Lincoln into some sort of a symbol of dysfunction or a symbol of low morale, or a symbol of a failed mission.” But McKelvey and his wife, Samantha Larry, said they are speaking out now because they believe he received inadequate mental health care before and after his jump, making his punishment unfair. The sailor said in June that he visited the ship’s medical unit for mental health care but was directed to speak with a chaplain, a choice he declined, according to the Times. The Lincoln only had six mental health specialists for a ship of more than 5,000 service members. “They don’t want to take accountability for what happened to him, and to what happened to multiple sailors on the boat,” Larry said about her husband. “I don’t think that they care.” She added, “They care more about how they’re pictured, how they’re viewed. They don’t want anyone to see the bad stuff.” The Navy charged McKelvey with malingering and “absence without leave” for abandoning his post when he jumped, according to the charging papers, reviewed by the outlet.

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 mental health on board the massive ship and its strike group. The Lincoln did not have a port call for 286 days until it finally docked in Thailand for a short period last month.

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao later revealed there had been eight suicide attempts during the lengthy deployment.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has conceded the Lincoln’s crew members operated in a tough environment but accused the news media of attempting to “turn the USS Abraham Lincoln into some sort of a symbol of dysfunction or a symbol of low morale, or a symbol of a failed mission.”

But McKelvey and his wife, Samantha Larry, said they are speaking out now because they believe he received inadequate mental health care before and after his jump, making his punishment unfair.

The sailor said in June that he visited the ship’s medical unit for mental health care but was directed to speak with a chaplain, a choice he declined, according to the Times.

The Lincoln only had six mental health specialists for a ship of more than 5,000 service members.

“They don’t want to take accountability for what happened to him, and to what happened to multiple sailors on the boat,” Larry said about her husband. “I don’t think that they care.”

She added, “They care more about how they’re pictured, how they’re viewed. They don’t want anyone to see the bad stuff.”

The Navy charged McKelvey with malingering and “absence without leave” for abandoning his post when he jumped, according to the charging papers, reviewed by the outlet.