Illinois Sailor Confirmed Dead After USS John McCain Collision

DECATUR, IL — The U.S. Navy on Sunday said the remains of all 10 sailors killed when the destroyer U.S.S. John S. McCain collided with a merchant vessel have been recovered. Among the dead is Interior Communications Electrician 3rd Class Logan Stephen Palmer, 23, of Decatur. The sailors were declared missing after the McCain was involved in a collision with the merchant ship Alnic MC in waters east of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore Aug. 21.

The bodies of some of the sailors were found in sealed compartments inside the USS John McCain, the Navy said last week. On Sunday, officials said U.S. Navy and Marine Corps divers had recovered the bodies of all the missing sailors:

• Electronics Technician 1st Class Charles Nathan Findley, 31, from Amazonia, Missouri
• Interior Communications Electrician 1st Class Abraham Lopez, 39, from El Paso, Texas
• Electronics Technician 2nd Class Kevin Sayer Bushell, 26, from Gaithersburg, Maryland
• Electronics Technician 2nd Class Jacob Daniel Drake, 21, from Cable, Ohio
• Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Timothy Thomas Eckels Jr., 23, from Manchester, Maryland
• Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Corey George Ingram, 28, from Poughkeepsie, New York
• Electronics Technician 3rd Class Dustin Louis Doyon, 26, from Suffield, Connecticut
• Electronics Technician 3rd Class John Henry Hoagland III, 20, from Killeen, Texas
• Interior Communications Electrician 3rd Class Logan Stephen Palmer, 23, from Decatur, Illinois
• Electronics Technician 3rd Class, Kenneth Aaron Smith, 22, from Cherry Hill, New Jersey

Four sailors who were injured in the collision and flown off the ship to a hospital in Singapore were released and returned to duty, the Navy said Thursday.

Search and rescue efforts shifted to a recovery mission on Thursday, and the admiral in charge of the United States Navy's 7th Fleet was relieved of his command. He was replaced by Vice Adm. Phil Sawyer, the Navy said Friday,

Navy Recovers Remains Of All 10 Missing Sailors After McCain Collision

The crash led Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson to order a pause in operations for the Navy's nearly 300 ships. It was the second crash involving a Navy destroyer in the Pacific theater in as many months and the fourth notable incident since February.

In June, another Naval Guided Missile Destroyer — the U.S.S. Fitzgerald — was involved in a collision with a container ship off the coast of Japan. Seven sailors died in that incident, the greatest loss of life suffered by the Navy since the bombing of the Cole 17 years ago.

Palmer, the Illinois sailor, received a National Defense Service Medal. He is a 2012 graduate of Sangamon Valley High School and 2015 graduate of Richland Community College. He enlisted in the Navy in April 2016. His brother said he always dreamed of serving his country and initially hoped to enlist in the U.S. Air Force, according to the Herald-Review. After an eye injury, he opted for the Navy and found a newfound love of sailing and seeing the world, his brother said.

As they waited to hear word of his fate, Palmer's cousin said the family was coping with the support of friends and relatives and "keeping faith in God," according to the Chicago Tribune.

Photo via U.S. Navy