Sailors’ kin get belated condolences

RELATIVES OF at least three sailors killed aboard the wrecked John S. McCain have received fasttracked condolences from the White House, according to a report Saturday.

The father of Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Timothy Eckels Jr. said in the two months since the deadly Strait of Malacca crash killed his son, he received comforting words from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis.

But President Trump was not among those condolences until Friday, when Timothy Eckels Sr. received a rushed letter dated Oct. 18.

“Honestly, I feel the letter is reactionary to the media storm brewing over how these things have been handled,” Eckels told The Atlantic.

Since four soldiers were killed in Niger earlier this month, Trump said he has called the families of all service members killed under his watch, while claiming President Obama never did.

Eckels’ son was among 10 service members killed during the August maritime collision with a merchant vessel near Singapore.

The families of 1st Class Information Systems Technician Corey Ingram, of Poughkeepsie, in Dutchess County, N.Y., and 3rd Class Electronics Technician John Hoagland, of Killeen, Tex., also received letters from the White House on Friday, The Atlantic reported.

Eckels said the letter he received “seemed genuine” and “respectful.”