Navy Sailor Dies by Suicide After Deployment Keeps Getting Extended

Jaimie Bethea spent 11 months aboard the USS Fort Lauderdale, photographing life at sea, staying in touch with friends and family, and trying to cope with the death of her mother. The 21-year-old Navy communications specialist took her own life on June 20, weeks before the ship was scheduled to return to Norfolk, Virginia. Now, Bethea’s family is questioning whether the Navy did enough to help her after she began struggling with her mental health during the deployment. Jaimie Bethea, 21, served as a mass communication specialist aboard the USS Fort Lauderdale before dying by suicide in June, just weeks before the ship returned to Norfolk, Virginia. (Photo: Arianna Calderon) “Nothing matters to me more than my sister,” Bethea’s older sister, Arianna Calderon, told NPR. “I lost my world, genuinely.” Bethea’s deployment came shortly after her mother died of cancer.