Small Connecticut town remembers sailor killed on USS McCain | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Small Connecticut town remembers sailor killed on USS McCain

SUFFIELD, Conn. - Hundreds of people turned out in Connecticut to honour a 26-year-old sailor killed after the USS John McCain collided with an oil tanker near Singapore last month.

The mourners said goodbye to U.S. Navy Electronics Technician 2nd Class Dustin Doyon during calling hours on Monday in Suffield. Officers directed traffic and escorted shuttles that took people to and from the funeral home in the town of just over 15,000 residents.

A funeral Mass and burial have been scheduled for Tuesday.

Doyon's body was recovered several days after the collision by divers searching in the ship's compartments.

Town residents, boy scouts and others, many carrying small flags, lined Main Street on Friday as the hearse carrying Doyon's body arrived from Bradley International Airport.

Doyon, who lived in Suffield, graduated from Cathedral High School in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 2009.

Doyon was among 10 sailors killed when the Aug. 21 collision tore a hole in the ship's left rear hull and flooded adjacent compartments, including crew berths and machinery and communication rooms.

Doyon enlisted in the Navy in April 2015, and reported to the USS John S. McCain, his first ship, in June 2016.

He was promoted posthumously on Sept. 1 from Electronics Technician 3rd class.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has directed that U.S. and state flags in Connecticut to be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Tuesday observation of the funeral.

Doyon was the second Connecticut resident killed in a Naval accident this year. Ngoc T. Truong Huynh, of Watertown, died in a June collision between a destroyer and container ship off Japan. He was one of seven sailors killed aboard the USS Fitzgerald.

The commander of the Navy's Japan-based 7th Fleet was fired last month after a series of accidents this year raised questions about its operations. The firing of Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, a three-star admiral, was a rare dismissal of a high-ranking officer for operational reasons.

The Navy also ordered an operational pause for its fleets worldwide to make sure all steps are being taken to ensure safe and effective operations.

News from © The Associated Press, 2017
The Associated Press

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