A Sailor Survived Getting Sucked into a Jet Engine During Operation Desert Storm

The USS Theodore Roosevelt was deployed to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Desert Storm on Feb. 20, 1991. Working the flight deck in the early morning hours was Bridges and Michael McDonald. At 3:41 a.m., they were completing a pre-takeoff check of an A-6E Intruder on a precision strike mission.

Bridges' last check was making sure the aircraft was connected to the Roosevelt's catapult for takeoff. He checked out where the launching mechanism was and moved to back away from the Intruder, he began to walk forward, but didn't make it very far.