Sailor Killed in Destroyer Shooting to Receive Heroism Medal

April 24, 2014 10:22 AM - Updated: April 24, 2014 11:27 AM
Master-at-Arms 2nd Class Mark A. Mayo was killed on board the destroyer USS Mahan on Monday. US Navy Photo
Master-at-Arms 2nd Class Mark A. Mayo was killed on board the destroyer USS Mahan on Monday. US Navy Photo

The sailor who was killed protecting a shipmate when a civilian trucker rushed the quarterdeck of USS Mahan (DDG-72) in March will receive the Navy’s highest non-combat decoration, according to the service.

Master-at-Arms 2nd Class Mark A. Mayo will receive the Navy and Marine Corps Medal posthumously in a ceremony by vice chief of naval operations Adm. Mark Ferguson at Arlington National Cemetery ahead of Mayo’s funeral on Friday.

“The Navy and Marine Corps Medal is the highest non-combat decoration awarded for heroism by the United States Department of the Navy to the members of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps,” according to a Wednesday release from the service.

Mayo, 24, was fatally shot by civilian trucker Jeffery Tyrone Savage after Savage gained access to Naval Station Norfolk, Va., snuck onto the pier where Mahan was moored.

Savage, 35, had stormed the quarterdeck of the ship, took the weapon of a watchstander on duty, shot Mayo and and attempted to fire on other guards when Savage was shot and killed by Navy security forces, according to NCIS.

The shooting spawned a U.S. Fleet Forces Command investigation into the incident led by Rear Adm. Jeffrey Harley, current president of the Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV).

“This investigation will be a comprehensive examination into the circumstances surrounding the
Naval Station Norfolk shooting, to include a review of applicable policy, programs and implementation,” the service said in March.

Mayo, a native of Hagerstown, Md. enlisted in the Navy in Oct. 2007 and reported to Naval Station Norfolk on May 2011, the Navy said.

The Navy and Marine Corps medal is among the rarest awarded by the service, with only 5,000 to 10,000 recipients in the award’s history, according to a report in the Navy Times.

Sam LaGrone

Sam LaGrone

Sam LaGrone is the editor of USNI News. He has covered legislation, acquisition and operations for the Sea Services since 2009 and spent time underway with the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and the Canadian Navy.
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