HOME / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

The tragic mystery of the USS George Washington: 3 suicides in 1 week shock Navy

'NCIS is conducting a thorough investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding the death,' spokesman Jeff Houston said

A sailor’s suicide aboard the USS George Washington (CVN-73) has shocked the Navy as it is the third such incident that happened on the ship in the span of one week and the seventh in 12 months. Master-at-Arms Seaman Recruit Xavier Hunter Mitchell-Sandor reportedly died on April 15 and his cause of death is a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Virginia’s Chief Medical Examiner Office.

Due to the ongoing investigations into a string of suicides aboard the ship, officials from the Naval Criminal Investigation Service did not reveal much information related to the latest case. Also details, like if Mitchell-Sandor was on duty during the time of the incident or he used his service gun to kill himself, have also not been disclosed.

READ MORE

Sailor in iconic photo of Times Square kiss at end of World War II passes away aged 95

A grieving sister's 40-year mission to track down and bring to justice the sailor who tortured and killed her brother

In a statement, spokesman Jeff Houston told USNI News: “NCIS is conducting a thorough investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding the death of MASR Xavier Mitchell-Sandor, as we do in response to all non-combat, medically unattended fatalities of Department of the Navy service members.” The Navy also reportedly stated that the sailor “was found unresponsive on board the ship on April 15. The sailor was treated by the medical team on board before being transported to Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News where the service member passed away.”

On April 9, Retail Services Specialist 3rd Class Mika’il Sharp killed himself and a day later, Interior Communications Electrician 3rd Class Natasha Huffman also took his life. Other than these, four deaths by suicide were reported in 2021. Naval Air Force Atlantic spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Robert Myers issued a statement that noted: “We can confirm seven total deaths of service members assigned to USS George Washington over the past 12 months — 4 in 2021, and 3 in 2022. The circumstances surrounding these incidents vary and it is premature to make assumptions, as some incidents remain under investigation.”

It has also been said that Fleet Forces commander Adm. Daryl Caudle has asked a probe into the tragedies “to include correlations, command climate and culture issues, and the systemic relationships between them.”

The suicides have created a lot of buzz on Twitter as well with people asking questions to the government. A user named Jennifer Zamora shared a link to a Facebook post while tweeting: “This needs to be brought to light 💔.” The Facebook post has been written by a person named Will Staub, who began: “An open letter to Congresswoman Elaine Luria,  my representative. Good afternoon, As I am sure you are aware, the USS George Washington (CVN 73) has made the news. What I am fearful of is that the extent of the details has not been made public. So I am here to do that.”

Staub continued, “I was stationed onboard CVN 73 myself as a Second Class Petty Officer. I know that you were a nuclear officer yourself. I am hoping that your background finds you to be uniquely versed in what I am going to be saying. Quality of living is not something that people join the U.S. Navy for. They join to see the world! They join to gain such invaluable experience that they will live ten lifetimes in one. Nine people this year have decided that they would rather be dead than experience one more minute working for CVN 73.”

He added: “Something that will not be on any CNN article or any Navy public release is the following issues. CVN 73 has the highest NJP rate of any carrier. This is not because the sailors are any worse, but because inept ‘leaders’ continue to be put in place to make decisions for people that they themselves cannot be bothered to conform to. Secondly, there are sailors onboard that have gone more than two months without power or hot water in their berthing. Now for context this is not a deployed ship running into an issue, this is a ship moored to the pier with barracks available. This is not a budget issue. This is an empathy issue. No one should have to live in these conditions without extreme necessity.”

Another user shared on Twitter, “3 US Navy sailors assigned to the same aircraft carrier USS George Washington, were found unresponsive and have passed away, all within less than a week. NOT NORMAL!” “I don’t believe they died by suicide, maybe the one but things happen inside the military and they don’t really investigate to hide what really went down. Is called Corruption inside the military and they won’t expose anything unfortunately,” a tweet added.