‘BRIGHT YOUNG MAN’

Navy Confirms Overboard Death of 19-Year-Old Sailor in Baltic Sea

Seaman Recruit David Spearman was a “bright young man” who “made an oversized positive impact” aboard his destroyer, its commanding officer said.

The U.S. Navy on Thursday identified the sailor who was lost overboard while serving aboard a naval destroyer in the Baltic Sea earlier this week as Seaman Recruit David Spearman. The 19-year-old sailor was stationed on the USS Arleigh Burke, which was near Helsinki on Monday, when he fell off the ship. Search and rescue efforts were launched for the North Carolina native, but had ceased by late Tuesday. “This bright, young man made an oversized, positive impact on Arleigh Burke,” said the destroyer’s commanding officer, Cmdr. Pete Flynn. Spearman, who originally hailed from the Asheville area, enlisted last November. He was from a family that boasted several generations of Navy sailors, according to WLOS. After completing basic training, he had reported to the USS Arleigh Burke in April, and was on his first assignment when he was lost.