Four Suicides on U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier Leads to Investigation

Four recent suicides aboard the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush have led federal law enforcement agents and Hamptons Road authorities to open an investigation. Navy officials said that authorities have not been able to link any of the deaths to each other, including two that occurred on the same day. “The sailors did not serve in the same departments, and there does not appear to be a connection between their deaths,” Naval Air Force Atlantic spokeswoman Cmdr. Jennifer Cragg said in a statement to the Navy Times. Authorities began investigating after Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class Robert John Bartulewicz III’s death on July 16, but last week three more deaths were ruled suicides. Between Jan. 1 and Sept. 5 of this year, 46 active duty and four reservists died by suicide, according to Navy records. The Navy Times reports that last year, the Navy recorded 68 active duty suicides.