Sailor Identified From U.S.S. John McCain Lived In Virginia

NORFOLK, VA—A Navy sailor pronounced dead after the U.S.S. John McCain wrecked earlier this week has been identified as Electronics Technician 3rd Class Kenneth Aaron Smith, 22.

The sailor grew up in Michigan before moving to Norfolk, Va. as a teenager with his father, according to NJ.com, His father, also a Navy sailor, lived in Norfolk before being transferred to Philadelphia and moving to Cherry Hill, N.J. Ken Smith joined the Navy in 2014, becoming the third generation to do so in his family.

Smith is the only sailor whose body has been identified so far. Other bodies of some of the missing sailors have been located inside of the McCain. Efforts to recover the bodies of sailors from inside flooded compartments within the McCain will continue.

Still missing are:

• Electronics Technician 1st Class Charles Nathan Findley, 31, from Missouri
• Interior Communications Electrician 1st Class Abraham Lopez, 39, from Texas
• Electronics Technician 2nd Class Kevin Sayer Bushell, 26, from Maryland
• Electronics Technician 2nd Class Jacob Daniel Drake, 21, from Ohio
• Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Timothy Thomas Eckels Jr., 23, from Maryland
• Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Corey George Ingram, 28, from New York
• Electronics Technician 3rd Class Dustin Louis Doyon, 26, from Connecticut
• Electronics Technician 3rd Class John Henry Hoagland III, 20, from Texas
• Interior Communications Electrician 3rd Class Logan Stephen Palmer, 23, from Illinois

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The McCain collided with the Alnic MC on Monday in the South China Sea. The McCain was headed to Singapore for a routine port call.

Meanwhile, the Navy announced Thursday that they have suspended search and rescue efforts and shifted to recovery after more than 80 hours of a multinational effort. The Navy says that they searched a 2,100-square mile area.

Additional reporting by Patch Editor Colin Miner

Photo courtesy United States Navy