The man who threw himself to his death from the deck of Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas in May has been identified as highly decorated retired military veteran, Lieutenant Colonel James Bryan Wright, 53, who suffered from PTSD.
Wright was on the first day of a week-long cruise from Florida to the Caribbean with his wife Tracie when passengers raised the alarm about a man overboard at 7:50 a.m. on May 26.
A newly released incident report from the Miami-Dade Police Department reveals that the couple from Gaston, South Carolina, had a fight in their cabin shortly before Wright disappeared 300 miles off the Florida coast. “Contact was made with Mrs. Wright who advised that she and her husband were involved in a physical altercation which prompted Mrs. Wright to exit the cabin leaving Mr. Wright inside the cabin,” the report records.
“Shortly after the altercation, Mr. Wright exited the cabin at which point he made his way to Deck Five where he entered a secured gated area and proceeded to jump off the ship.” The world’s largest cruise ship was ordered to halt as a search began for the missing father of two.
Passengers shared images of the rescue on social media as the search continued, with some saying he had been found alive.
Two hours after he jumped, he was found floating by one of the ship’s rescue boats before being brought back on board, where staff unsuccessfully attempted to resuscitate him. He was declared dead at 9:58 a.m.
An obituary reveals that Wright spent 30 years in the military after enrolling with the South Carolina Air National Guard in 1988. In 2012, he was stationed at Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan as Director of Manpower and Personnel for the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force. He retired in 2018 as Deputy Director of Human Resources-Joint Force Headquarters for the South Carolina National Guard.
“Bryan was compassionate about the men and women who served under him,” his obituary notes. “During his tour in Afghanistan, Bryan flew into many combat zones visiting soldiers and personnel assigned to his command. He had the honor of presenting numerous Purple Hearts and other distinguished decorations to many heroes who served so selflessly to protect the freedoms we all enjoy.”
The cruise was thrown into chaos after the alarm was raised on board. Passenger Zachary Normandin was in the dining room with some 300 others when the ship’s captain announced that the man had been found.
“Everyone in the dining room clapped and we’re like ‘yeah’,” Normandin told the New York Post. “We assumed that the guy was fine.” He says they were informed that a rescue mission was to take place and that the ship would be turning around. But it was only later they found out the passenger had died.
To Normandin’s surprise, he said the atmosphere onboard was entirely surreal as most people simply continued to enjoy their vacation as if nothing had happened. “I don’t think everyone knows about the guy dying. I think it’s kind of purposely silenced,” Normandin added.
Wright won numerous decorations during his decades in the military, including the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with 2 Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal with 2 Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters, and Army Commendation Medal.
The family were members of the Gantt Street Baptist Church in Gaston where his daughter, Victoria, a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, plays bass guitar. His son, Nicholas, is a law graduate of The Citadel Military College in South Carolina and married his long-term girlfriend Emily in January last year.
In a tragic twist, it emerged that the veteran’s younger brother William, 49, died just two days after Wright’s death.
The 1,200-foot-long Icon of the Seas only took its first voyage in January. The $2 billion ship holds 7,600 passengers and 2,350 crew members, along with a 55-foot artificial waterfall, 40 dining venues and bars, seven swimming pools including a 40,000-gallon ‘lake’, 50 musicians and comedians, and a 16-piece orchestra.
In April, 20-year-old Levion Parker jumped overboard from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship in front of his horrified family. The 18-story Liberty of the Seas was traveling between Cuba and the Bahamas’ Grand Inagua Island when the tragedy took place.
Wright was buried with military honors at Fort Jackson National Cemetery in Columbia, South Carolina.
We recently reported that while the ship was docked in Costa Maya, a renowned tourist destination in Southeast Mexico, a fire broke out along with a power outage that was adverted thanks to backup systems.
