Navy Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Menelek M. Brown

Died January 2, 2008 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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24, of Eastpoint, Ga.; stationed aboard the destroyer Hopper home-ported at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; died Jan. 2 after apparently going overboard in the Arabian Sea. Navy aircraft and ships conducted an extensive search but did not locate him.

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Navy IDs overboard sailor, declared dead

Staff report

The Navy has identified the 24-year-old sailor who is believed to have fallen overboard from a destroyer Thursday in the Arabian Sea, the Navy announced Monday.

Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Menelek M. Brown went missing as the destroyer Hopper was on patrol along with the cruiser Port Royal and the frigate Ingraham, the Navy said, prompting a 30-hour search by the ships and their helicopters.

Commanders initially believed Brown, who was last seen at 4:30 a.m. Thursday, had a good chance of survival because he went overboard in warm water, but he was never found. He was officially declared dead Friday.

Brown, of Roswell, N.M., enlisted in the Navy in 2004 and served aboard the frigate Bo