MIDDLEBURG, Fla. – The father of a U.S. Navy Sailor from Middleburg who went missing while serving on the USS George Washington (CVN-73) talked about memories and the unbreakable bond with his son.
The military said it believes Jose Antonio Rivera Lynch IV had gone overboard off the coast of Australia.
When Jose Antonio Rivera III talks about his son, his face immediately lights up.
“He is my hero,” Rivera III said.
Rivera Lynch IV is his father’s youngest child, and holds the name of his father, grandfather and great-grandfather.
When Rivera III got the call about his 19-year-old son, he didn’t expect the worst, then things changed.
When I drove around, I see the car, I immediately started having thoughts," Rivera III said. “The moment the door opened and I saw the chaplain, my universe just exploded.”
On July 28, a possible sailor overboard was reported. Forty-eight hours later, Rivera Lynch IV had not been found and was presumed dead. Just 12 hours before, his son went missing; they had talked. His father recalled his son was tired from the long shifts, but excited for the journey.
“We noticed the tiredness, we noticed that, and then he said, ‘I love you guys,’ Rivera III said. I said, ‘You’re the best of me. You’ve been to places I’ve never been and we are so proud of you.’ That was the last thing I said to my son.”
Rivera Lynch IV’s military journey began at Ridgeview High School in its ROTC program. He also came from a family of military service members, including his dad. Rivera Lynch enlisted in the United States Navy at 17 years old.
Rivera said goodbye to his son with a memorial at the beginning of August. But his memory remains alive in his father’s mind like their beloved trust walks since he was a little boy.
“We would look at the stars and we would talk about many things, so whenever I had a stressful moment, he would grab me by the hand and say, ‘Dad let’s go for a trust walk,’” Rivera said.
“That is what built the relationship, there was trust [and] openness, so it was not only dad, it was a friend. I [have] so much to tell you and that remained until the last moment we talked,” said Rivera.
A father and son bond that will live forever.
And in his short life of 19 years, Rivera Lynch IV has made an impact forever. A question remains. Where is his son?
“He was vibrant, educated, humble. He served his country, he served the navy and he has made his family proud,” Rivera III said.
The ceremony for Rivera Lynch IV will be held Sept. 19 in Yokuska, Japan. He will be honored by the Navy in Japan, where he was deployed.
His family has created a GoFundMe to pay for traveling expenses.
