‘She Told Them She Needed Help’ — Black Sailor’s Family Demands Answers After Jaimie Bethea Dies By Suicide During Navy Deployment

Family members are mourning the loss of Jaimie Bethea, a Black mass communication specialist aboard the USS Fort Lauderdale, who reportedly took her own life on June 20, weeks before the ship was scheduled to return to Norfolk, Virginia, in July, according to a report from NPR. 

Now, her loved ones are questioning whether the Navy recognized the signs that Bethea was struggling or provided her with enough support during her 11-month deployment in the Caribbean.

“Nothing matters to me more than my sister,” Arianna Calderon, her older sister, told NPR on Sept. 29. “Nothing ever has. I lost my world, genuinely. I lost everything, and all I care about now is getting some semblance of justice.”

Jaimie Bethea lost her mother three months before boarding the USS Fort Lauderdale.

Calderon said she and her sister lost their mother just three months before the ship deployed. Bethea was given a month of shore duty, during which she watched their mother die of cancer at a South Carolina hospital. She later sought help and was placed on antidepressants by the Navy.

“Within a few months into her deployment, she was having nightmares about our mom. Definitely, I mean, I’m not a psychologist, but she was definitely experiencing symptoms of PTSD,” Bethea’s sister said.

The USS Fort Lauderdale was deployed in the Caribbean as part of the Trump administration’s operation around Venezuela. The mission included the capture of Nicholas Maduro, ongoing attacks on boats in the region suspected of carrying drugs and earthquake relief efforts.

As the deployment continued, Calderon said Bethea and other sailors faced repeated extensions and uncertainty about when they would finally return home, which she believes may have been stressful for her sister. 

“It was constantly like getting texts like, ‘Guys, you’ll never f***ing believe it. We just got extended again,’ and I think it happened four times. It’s just that uncertainty and promises unfulfilled,” Calderon said. Her sister added during an interview with WYFF News 4, that Bethea sought mental health care, but felt “dismissed” by the Navy upon reaching out.

The Navy has acknowledged that there have been suicide attempts among sailors while also dealing with an operational pace that has pushed some ships into deployments lasting nearly a year. Recently, the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln began its journey back to San Diego after spending more than eight months at sea during the war with Iran without a port visit. The Navy confirmed that one person jumped overboard and was rescued. It’s unclear if other sailors attempted suicide.

Read more after the flip.

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