A relative of an Illinois sailor missing in the USS John S. McCain disaster said the family is “praying and keeping faith in God” as they await updates on the search.
The Navy identified Petty Officer 3rd Class Logan Stephen Palmer, of Decatur, as one of nine sailors still missing after the McCain and an oil tanker collided near Singapore this week. The Navy also announced the recovery of the remains of one sailor, 22-year-old Kenneth Aaron Smith, of New Jersey.
Palmer’s cousin Bekah Tucker said his relatives “are getting by with the help of family and friends.”
“We’ve had groups of people come to Logan’s mom’s house to help out inside and out. It’s been a blessing so she can just focus on Logan and praying,” Tucker said. “We’re praying and keeping faith in God that he will return Logan safe to us.”
Search-and-recovery efforts inside flooded compartments in the ship are ongoing, the Navy said, but a multinational search has been suspended in the ocean near Singapore.
U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, of downstate Taylorville, said earlier this week that Palmer, 23, had been among the missing, but the Navy did not confirm that until Thursday morning.
Palmer is a 2012 graduate of Sangamon Valley High School in Niantic, just west of Decatur, according to Superintendent Bob Meadows. He also graduated from Richland Community College in May 2015.
According to the Navy, Palmer, an interior communications electrician, received a National Defense Service Medal, according to his personnel file.
Tucker spoke of her cousin always laughing and smiling and “just enjoying life.” She said he used to build huge bonfires, and she recalled sharing holidays at their grandmother’s house where “he and I would sit back and watch everyone and talk about the future.”
She added: “When he comes back, we plan on throwing a huge bonfire!”
The Navy said divers recovered the remains of Smith, who was a third class electronics technician. But as of late Thursday, officials were still classifying the other nine, including Palmer, as missing. They are Charles Nathan Findley, 31, of Missouri; Abraham Lopez, 39, of Texas; Kevin Sayer Bushell, 26, of Maryland; Jacob Daniel Drake, 21, of Ohio; Timothy Thomas Eckels, Jr., 23, of Maryland; Corey George Ingram, 28, of New York; Dustin Louis Doyon, 26, of Connecticut; and John Henry Hoagland III, 20, of Texas.
Four other sailors injured in the collision have been released and returned to duty, according to a news release early Thursday.
Earlier, the Navy said a body found at sea by Malaysian forces was not one of the U.S. sailors missing. Those remains were medically examined and will be returned to Malaysian authorities, the 7th Fleet said in a statement.
Divers have found remains in flooded compartments of the McCain, which is docked at Singapore’s naval base, but the Navy has not disclosed specifics.
The commander of the 7th Fleet was relieved of duty Wednesday following the McCain collision and other collisions this year that raised questions about its operations in the Pacific. Seven sailors died in June when the destroyer USS Fitzgerald collided with a container ship off Japan. Two lesser-known incidents occurred earlier in the year.
The firing of Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, a three-star admiral, was a rare dismissal of a high-ranking officer for operational reasons.
Aucoin was due to retire in a few weeks, and the officer named to succeed him, Vice Adm. Phillip Sawyer, assumed command immediately.
Sawyer, speaking Thursday at a maritime security meeting in Bali, Indonesia, thanked regional navies for helping in the search for the missing McCain sailors.
“Often it is a brutal reminder that what we do is dangerous work in an unforgiving environment, requiring honed skills and constant vigilance,” he said. “And even with those, bad things can happen.”
Lawrence Brennan, an adjunct law professor at Fordham University and a retired Navy officer, called Aucoin’s dismissal “an unprecedented peacetime move.”
“Four incidents in a short time in an operational area is a problem,” he said, though he cautioned against rushing to assign blame.
The Navy has ordered an operational pause for its fleets worldwide to make sure all steps are being taken to ensure safe and effective operations. The Pacific Fleet also will carry out a ship-by-ship review of its vessels, looking at navigation, mechanical systems, bridge resource management and training.
Associated Press contributed.
