(Eagle News) — One of the seven US sailors killed in the sea mishap between a US destroyer and a Philippine flagged container ship was a Filipino-American from Chula Vista, California who felt that serving in the Navy was his “calling.”
Fire Controlman 2nd Class Carlos Victor Ganzon Sibayan, 23, was among the US sailors recovered after a severely damaged USS Fitzgerald returned to a US Navy base in Yokosuka, Japan aided by tugboats.
“He is, in every sense of the word, he’s my hero. We just borrowed this time from God. So now he has to go back,” said Carmen Sibayan, mother of Victor as she and the family mourned her son’s death.
The 23-year old Sibayan was an enlisted surface warfare specialist and started working on board the USS Fitzgerald on July 31, 2014.
The other victims were Seaman Dakota Kyle Rigsby, 19, from Palmyra, Virginia; Yeoman 3rd Class Shingo Alexander Douglass, 25, from San Diego, California; Sonar Technician 3rd Class Ngoc T Truong Huynh, 25, from Oakville, Connecticut; Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Noe Hernandez, 26, from Weslaco, Texas; Personnel Specialist 1st Class Xavier Alec Martin, 24, from Halethorpe, Maryland and Fire Controlman 1st Class Gary Leo Rehm Jr., 37, from Elyria, Ohio.
The U.S. Navy confirmed that all seven missing sailors on the USS Fitzgerald were found dead in flooded berthing compartments after the destroyer’s collision with the container ship off Japan early on Saturday.
The Fitzgerald and a Philippine-flagged container ship collided south of Tokyo Bay early on Saturday. The cause of the collision is not known.
Multiple U.S. and Japanese investigations are under way on how a ship as large as the container could collide with the smaller warship in clear weather.
The Japanese coastguard said on Monday (June 19) that nearly an hour had elapsed before a Philippine-flagged container ship reported the collision with a U.S. warship as investigations began into the accident in which seven U.S. sailors were killed.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Suga Yoshihide offered condolences to seven sailors found dead in flooded compartments of the USS Fitzgerald.
“I offer my sincere condolences to the U.S. sailors who died in (the USS Fitzgerald) collision and to their families, and I’d like to express my deepest sympathies to those injured and hope they recover as soon as possible,” Suga said.
As the Japanese government, we’re currently doing our best to conduct necessary investigation and gather information in cooperation with the U.S,” he added. (with a report from Reuters)
