Posted on 06/09/2012 1:56:06 PM PDT by Dave346
A sailor from Gulfport was found dead in his berthing compartment aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Enterprise in the Middle East on Friday morning, according to a ship spokeswoman.
Master Chief Petty Officer Richard J. Kessler, 47, was found dead in his compartment at 7 a.m. local time, according to Lt. Com. Sarah Self-Kyler.
The cause of death is under investigation, said Navy Lt. Greg Raelson.
(Excerpt) Read more at 2.tbo.com ...
What is the mysterious aspect of his death?
ping
There were some reports yesterday the ship was attacked by 4 jets. Was a thread here on FR before moderators pulled it.
Given where it happened you never know...but guys younger than him keel over every day from a fatal heart attack.They’ll do an autopsy,of course,with full toxicology screen if necessary.
RIP.
5.56mm
Uhhh....he was 47.
Four ‘sophisticated’ jets was the term used.
Did the FReeper who posted that thread ask it pulled?
Was it your thread pulled?
47 year old guys have been known to drop dead from coronaries with no prior warning signs. Spending time outdoors in an area like the Gulf (although I have to say tomorrow’s reported high temp in Dubai will be a camel’s hair under 100F - cool for June) could be unhealthy for someone nearing the big “50” too.
USS Enterprise - Hormuz Attack Story – Friday, June 8, 2012
Obama needs a Wag the Dog War, but he does not want the Straits of Hormuz closed. That would drive gas prices to the moon. The Oligarchy currently prefers a war in Syria apparently.
Back in the 1980s I worked with a guy and since we both lived near where we worked, we both went to our homes for lunch.He was in his 20s. One day I noticed that he had not came back and had not been at work for a couple of days. I asked the foreman what happened to Kenny. The foreman replied, His wife called in and said he died. He laid down on the couch after eating to take a short nap and when she tried to wake him up, he was dead. They investigated his case and run tests for over two years and one day I saw a short piece in the paper that they had run every test they knew and exhausted all investigative leads and they still could not determine a cause of death for him. So, who knows? He could have had some help or it could have been natural causes. At any rate, it is sad when some loses their life.
It was posted again today. If four jets attacked a carrier/carrier group, more than one man would die. I saw a FReeper speculate that it might have been a hoax, as yesterday was the 45th anniversary of the USS Liberty attack.
I think you can rest assured that he wasn’t found dead in his rack because the ship was attacked. The navy is pretty savvy when it comes to identifying causalities in battle. There usually isn’t a lot of ambiguity there.
There were no reliable reports that the Enterprise group was attacked, that’s why the thread was pulled.
Plus there would be bullet holes, bomb damage, wreckage of 4 planes etc. Unless the enemy has new invisible ray guns that kill sailors in their sleep. In which case, it’s still not very effective if they sent in 4 planes and only got one guy.
I had a brother drop dead from a heart attack while making lunch - he was 42.
Why the parenthetical “mysterious death”, when the article mentions nothing mysterious? I’m a couple of years older than the chief, and unfortunately, guys our age dropping dead isn’t unheard of, and the likelihood increases with every passing year.
Maybe it was UFOs that British guy from the Defense Ministry was talking about. He said they might be around during the Olympics...
This might be a case where Occam’s razor applies.
Attack, complete BS. Totally un-nmaed sources.
Imagine what would happen when 2000+ sailors got home. How are you going to keep 3 quiet, let alone 2000+?
Old Russian proverb, “Two People Can Keep A Secret, When One Of Them Is Dead.”
In addition, there are imbedded reporters.
I was a reporter for years. Rumors like this flew all the time. Always BS. The only one that proved out was the Bay of Pigs. Back un those days, the Coban ex-pat community was Tampa, rather than Miami based. We put it on the air 2 days early!
60gunner posted a story about a 37-y/o in a similar situation. Title was “Famous Last Words”.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1777035/posts
Gulfport = Sea Bee........
Naval construction battalion
We lost a chief same way on a deployment. He simply passed in his sleep. 5000 plus men like a small town some do pass on by heart attacks etc.
Back when I was in college there were two students who died in the dorm. Same room. Nothing came up. No one knew how or why they died.
Don’t forget TWA800.
A Master Chief, no less. He wasn’t a silly E-2.
A few years ago I began hunting down some shipmates. Guess who I found? Alive and well. He told me what had happened. He did have some convalescent leave then got shore duty in the yards then later retired. He makes kids toys in his shop in Va Beach.
A heart attack by a senior enlisted especially on a carrier is not that uncommon.
I haven’t flown since I heard that happened in July 1996; if I can’t drive there, I don’t need to go.
Read the linked report. It all comes from one un-named man in New Hampshire.
From my 3 days on the Bonnie Dick, I can assure you there are hundreds of sailors above deck.
Why do we all think that something on the internet is real?
Before these ‘net, these were stupid, idiotic beauty shop and taxi cab driver rumors. Now they are stupid, idiotic internet rumors.
In this case, Gulfport is a suburb of St. Petersburg, near Tampa, and this story is from the Tampa Trib.
Just gathering information. Have no idea what happened.
On the WWII +70 years thread the old newspaper image is up, and has a photo of the flier George Gay and his detailed account of the Battle of Midway as he floated in the water watching three Jap carriers going up in flames.
On the same page was the “Report from Hawaii”. Said something like “No activity near Midway, battle in Alaska continues”.
I miss 60gunner’s stories.
Nor does the Live Leak site promoting this foolishness!
Be well :)
Sadly, it does happen. I knew an Air Force Colonel, early 40s, physically fit and near the lower end of the insurance “weight tables” for his height. Always in the gym or doing PT at 6 am. Finished a workout one morning at Langley AFB, went straight to his desk. When he failed to show up for a nine am staff meeting, someone was sent to check on him. Didn’t respond to a knock on his door, so the Lt went into his office. Found the Colonel face down on his desk, dead of a heart attack.
I also remember a Lt Col (navigator) from my days in SAC. Retired in early 85 after 20 years of active duty. Had just built his dream home and landed a job with a defense contractor. Died from a heart attack two weeks after his retirement ceremony. He was 43.
Amen, FRiend.
I know three men that died young from sudden heart attacks.
One in his 30s.the other two in their early 40s.
“No one knew how or why they died.”
—
Now THAT’S really weird.
People often die... whats the problem?
I'm sure more guys had heart attacks on the ship likely while in port. The chief that died during the deployment we were on was taken in a body bag to the aft walk in cooler and a watch posted outside. This would be protocol for anyone who died onboard by accident or any other circumstance otherwise. My shop which was Air Conditioning & Refrigeration had the responsibility for standing that watch until fly off was arranged.
Heart attacks are not a respector of ones age or youth. My first wife had a fatal one at age 23.
Noticed in the Tampa Bay Online article in the comments section a Maude Alice Whitfield said her husband was also on the ship. Her name links to her facebook acct. Wonder if she knows anything about the other story?
One of my buds from Nam went in for a stress test
and died on the treadmill, he was probably 60.
If they had been in port it might be that he died
in the arms of a bar girl. One of our gunnys died
like that in Iwakuni Japan. Don’t think they ever
told the wife.
Sorry about your friend.
We had a priest years ago that every single Sunday would say “We know not the day nor the hour”.
I was young and thought it was quite funny.
I don’t anymore.
That said,as an old lady,fast is the way I want to go.
When I was stationed in Germany, our brigade surgeon had a massive stroke and died a day later. I can remember that he was a health nut, and could PT anyone of us into the ground.
Then while I was stationed at Ft Polk, we had a guy in my unit drop dead during PT. According to the doctors, he was dead before he hit the ground.
Both cases they were in their early to mid 40’s
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