Midshipman Kyle James Found Dead: Naval Academy

msn ^ | October 23, 2025 | staff

[xxqqzz]

Found dead outside Naval Academy about 3 weeks ago. They say it is under investigation.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Ran track and cross country; was a member of the marching band; participated with the USNA Gospel Choir.

So sad. He sounds like a wonderful kid. I cannot imagine drugs or suicide, but you never know.

[Gritty]

Do an autopsy and check his Covid shot record.

[larrytown]

Military is vaccine happy with these kids.

[Ciexyz]

Seemed like a committed young man. A real loss.

[ABN 505]

99.9 % chance he is black if he went to Bloomfield high. Drugs are abundent there. Sounds like a good kid, hope it wasn't drugs.

[irishjuggler]

Sad. We’ll see what any investigation or further info reveal, but suicide would be my first guess. The USNA is of course a great school with a great tradition, but my understanding is that it can also be a very stressful, soul-crushing place.

Growing up, one of my best friends ended up going there. I remember meeting up with him and others during Christmas vacation freshman year of college, and everyone else was really excited about their colleges (partying, sorority girls etc etc), but my Annapolis friend was miserable. His executive summary: “The place really sucks.” He said that he was depressed as hell and that every day he kicked himself for not taking up UCLA on their offer, as he imagined himself in SoCal having a fun life... which he probably would have. He wanted to quit, but his parents were not supportive of that idea, indicating they wouldn’t be helping him financially.

[Gay State Conservative]

I was discharged in 1975 so I don’t know much about today’s military.But IIRC today’s military does frequent,random,unannounced drug screenings. Although I suspect that that would include Academy cadets...but I can’t be sure.

[Robert DeLong]

If I were running the investigation, I would start with the Covid vaccination possibility.

[Gay State Conservative]

Although I never contemplated suicide during my Army years (’69-’75) I did seriously consider going AWOL during BCT. And I have no doubt that the Naval Academy is at least as stressful...and probably far more stressful...than Army BCT.

[null and void]

Poor guy and family. We’ll see if he died of “suddenly”, or perhaps an undiagnosed heart problem?

[PGR88]

Military is vaccine happy with these kids.

Military is vaccine happy with everyone. My Aunt was a career Army nurse, and got shots every time she landed in a new country on deployment. Had dozens of them.

She once was very fit - ran races regularly, did judo, never smoked nor drank. Now in her mid 60s and is a wreck - cancer, rare skin diseases, auto-immune disorders

[ken in texas]

- ... but my Annapolis friend was miserable -

I can relate. Sometime during the night after our first full day of basic training at the Air Force Academy my roommate tried to commit suicide. From what I was able to learn after the fact, he was at the Academy only because his father wanted him to attend, he had no desire to be there.

[RWGinger]

If you had read the article there are several pics of him
What does race have anything to do with it?

[jjotto]

A couple years ago the Air Force Academy had a string of somewhat odd student deaths.

[Tired of Taxes]

>during the night after our first full day of basic training at the Air Force Academy my roommate tried to commit suicide.<

No doubt the military academies are stressful. But suicides happen at colleges, too. My kids went to different colleges. Multiple students committed suicide at one college, and multiple students committed suicide at another college that my other kid turned down - that one had only STEM majors and mostly male students.

Whatever the cause of death for the young cadet, this news is very sad. Deepest condolences to his family.

[AppyPappy]

Suicide ideation is rampant on campuses.

[irishjuggler]

Good points. Yeah, I live near Stanford, and it seems like they average about 1 undergraduate suicide per year, so extreme stress/despair isn’t unique to the service academies. And at the same time, I also understand the case for intentionally making the service-academy environments stressful. Few things are more stressful than war, so the academies are not only preparing officers for that, they’re also weeding out those who can’t handle it

[Tired of Taxes]

Yeah, the service academies must be stressful. All these stories of young people passing on are heartbreaking, whatever the cause.

[MHT]

Pictures look like a big boy—and track athlete. I am betting heart failure or disorder. Lots of athletes have unknown heart conditions and vaccines (particularly Covid) can result in myocarditis, among other diseases.