USS Bataan Sailor Dies In Training Accident

A Norfolk-based sailor was killed in a training mishap involving a forklift while underway aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD-5) , the Navy’s 2nd Fleet said. Killed was Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Lawrence Salamone, 19, of Revere, Mass. Salamone was taking part in an integrated training team drill during a shipwide general quarters drill when he was killed inside a weapons magazine on the USS Bataan’s 5th deck, said Journalist 2nd Class Stephanie Bissell of 2nd Fleet. She said she couldn’t provide further details about Salamone’s involvement in the mishap or how it occurred, citing an ongoing investigation. Salamone had been in the Navy for 19 months. He was pronounced dead at 2:29 p.m. and flown off the ship the same day, according to Lt. Cmdr. Charles Owens of 2nd Fleet. The ship was 120 miles off Key West when the mishap occurred. USS Bataan (LHD-5) USS Bataan had gotten underway out of Norfolk on July 20 to take part in PANAMAX, an annual training exercise in which U.S. and Latin American navies plan and coordinate a response to a mock security threat to the Panama Canal.