‘I won’t let his death go in vain’

Clean out of high college, Xavier Hunter Sandor radiated with delight as he enlisted in the Navy on Aug. 24, 2021. 

He beamed in his uniform, realizing his grandfather and uncle had also the moment worn the very same dress blues. And he sailed by means of boot camp, shining brightest as a sharpshooter, his father said.

Then he bought his orders. On Jan. 27, he still left his family’s household in Shelton, Connecticut, for the initially time to provide on the aircraft provider USS George Washington, as it underwent an comprehensive overhaul at a Virginia shipyard. He was onboard when he took his existence a few months later. 

Sandor was the third sailor on the ship to die by suicide in the span of a week this April, in accordance to the Navy and the point out main health-related examiner’s workplace. He had just turned 19, mentioned his father, John Sandor. Sandor liked remaining in the Navy, and as significantly as his father realized, only the ailments at perform were being upsetting him.

“He was these a pleased, proud human being,” the elder Sandor mentioned. “What else could it be?”

Given that 2017, the USS George Washington, a person of the world’s greatest warships, has been docked at the Newport Information Shipyard in Virginia, exactly where it is undergoing a multiyear overhaul. These types of an overhaul is performed as soon as throughout a carrier’s 50-calendar year company everyday living, the Navy stated, and it includes important repairs and updates, and the refueling of the ship’s two nuclear reactors.

Though most of the about 2,700 sailors go property right after their shifts, hundreds who stay out of point out or do not have off-site housing continue to be on the George Washington. These onboard endure almost uninhabitable circumstances, including continual construction sound that would make sleeping immediately after prolonged shifts not possible and a absence of incredibly hot water and electrical power, according to a number of sailors.

Sandor, a master-at-arms seaman recruit, was one of individuals who stayed. 

When Sandor was not working 12-hour night time shifts on the George Washington, he slept and stayed in his car or truck, in which he saved a thick blanket and his dresses, in accordance to his father.

“Xavier was by itself,” his father reported. “There was not considerably to do there at his age. He’d go to his vehicle and isolate himself.”

During each day cellular phone discussions with his father from his automobile, Sandor frequently expressed frustration with his living and operating circumstances.

“He normally mentioned it sucked, and I’d always say to talk to for enable,” John Sandor explained. “He’d say, ‘Dad, they do not give a f—. They really do not treatment.’ That was always his response to me.”

Each individual other weekend, Sandor would drive eight hours back to his family’s household and hardly ever want to leave when he received there, his father explained. 

In a statement to NBC Information, Lt. Cmdr. Robert Myers, a Navy spokesman, said a “certain number” of sailors have to stay on the ship to operate essential devices, manage hearth and flooding watches, and secure the vessel. The Navy has directed leaders on the ship to discover sailors who could profit from morale and private properly-being plans, Myers mentioned.

Many current and previous George Washington sailors have advised NBC Information that their struggles had been straight linked to a society the place searching for enable is not met with the required assets, as perfectly as the conditions aboard the ship.

John Sandor, 49, said he knew the circumstances have been “bad” but not to the total extent. It by no means crossed his intellect that his son was considering suicide. 

“If I would have identified that, I could have changed it somehow,” he claimed. “That’s heading to haunt me for the relaxation of my existence.”

On April 15, Xavier Sandor texted his beloved ones goodbye, minutes just before his loss of life.

“His mother started out screaming. I chased her down the hall,” John Sandor explained. “I simply cannot wrap my head all over it. That which is his only way out is just thoughts-baffling to me.”

At the time, John Sandor reported the Navy experienced not outlined just about anything to his family about the again-to-back suicides of two other shipmates just days prior to.

Sandor’s loss of life arrived 5 times right after Natasha Huffman, an inside communications electrician, died by suicide off-foundation in Hampton, officials said. The working day prior to, Retail Solutions Professional 3rd Class Mika’il Rayshawn Sharp also died by suicide off-base in Portsmouth, mentioned his mother, Natalie Jefferson. 

John Sandor reported he acquired of the other suicides by means of social media posts and news reviews. “I’m unwell to my belly,” he claimed. “I haven’t slept. I really don’t consume.”

Because Xavier Sandor’s dying, the Navy mentioned it sent a unique 13-human being psychiatric fast intervention staff to counsel individuals serving on the George Washington from April 16 to April 19. Sailors on the ship are currently staying offered tele-psychological well being chances and expedited appointments for mental overall health referrals, in accordance to the Navy. 

 John Sandor reported they need to have deployed all those resources just after the first suicide, which he reported could have saved his son. He also explained junior sailors really should not have been set on the boat in all those conditions. 

“He had these types of a future in advance of him,” he explained, including that his son was a born chief and athlete, and had been the quarterback of his substantial university football workforce. 

In a assertion, the Navy said, in aspect, that it was a “resilient force,” but “not immune from the exact same worries that have an impact on the nation that we provide.” 

“We continue being committed to guaranteeing our carriers are manned, properly trained and geared up to exceptional levels like embedded psychological wellbeing providers,” stated Rear Adm. John F. Meier, the commander of Naval Air Pressure Atlantic. 

In a new tackle to the George Washington crew, Learn Main Petty Officer of the Navy Russell Smith, the service’s senior enlisted leader, explained to crew associates that he knew their operating problems in the course of the overhaul have been “not pleasant” or quick, and he acknowledged there was a suicide difficulty. 

“Beating suicide is like beating cancer,” he reported, in accordance to a transcript of the handle, produced Monday by the Navy. “There are numerous unique leads to, many diverse motives.”

In 2020, the most modern year for which full facts is available, 580 military customers died by suicide, a 16 per cent improve from 2019, when 498 died by suicide, in accordance to the Defense Division. Nineteen out of each and every 100,000 sailors died by suicide in 2020, when compared to customers of the Army, which had the maximum amount, at about 36 for each 100,000, Pentagon data show.

Myers, the Navy spokesman, claimed a more substantial Navy team is becoming designed to evaluate quality-of-lifestyle conditions on aircraft carriers going through overhauls. 

“Their tips will notify possible upcoming action, discover places for improvements, and propose mitigation techniques to optimize [quality of life],” he said.

When John Sandor thinks about all the memories he will no for a longer time get with his son — a wedding, grandchildren — he breaks down into tears. When he regains his composure, however, he would make a pledge: “There’s heading to be a time when my unhappiness turns to anger,” he claimed. “I won’t enable his demise go in vain.”

“Maybe his demise can improve the Navy,” he additional. “If we could continue to keep this from taking place to one more sailor’s family members, which is what I want to do.”

If you or anyone you know is in disaster, contact the Countrywide Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text House to 741741 or take a look at SpeakingOfSuicide.com/assets for extra means.