Sailors from £3.1bn aircraft carrier win US fans with act of chivalry

Sailors win US fans by fixing their Uber driver’s headlight – on same night six comrades from Royal Navy’s new £3.1bn aircraft carrier Big Lizzie were arrested for drunken Florida fight

  • American Uber driver Bonnie Ginter, 51, was driving three sailors to their ship
  • She realised the bulb of her red Honda Fit had blown on September 10
  • The British seamen said they were mechanics and insisted they help Mrs Ginter
  • That same night in Jacksonville, Florida, six of their colleagues were arrested 

Bonnie Ginter (pictured), 51, was helped by three chivalrous sailors from HMS Queen Elizabeth in Jacksonville, Florida

Three chivalrous sailors from HMS Queen Elizabeth stunned an American Uber driver by insisting they fix her headlight on the same night two of their colleagues were Tasered and another four arrested after a drunken night out.

Bonnie Ginter, 51, had been called to take the young seamen back to their £3bn ship at 8.45pm on Monday night when she realised the bulb in her red Honda Fit hatchback had blown.

Mrs Ginter feared this meant she would have to finish her shift early but was amazed when the three shipmates told her they were mechanics and insisted on fixing the light for her.

The three men, aged in their 20s, arrived on the new aircraft carrier at Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Florida with 1,500 other sailors, aircrew and Royal Marines on September 5. 

After Mrs Ginter picked the three chivalrous sailors up from a restaurant area of Neptune Beach, Florida, they insisted they stop at a motoring shop on their five-mile route so they could borrow tools and change her bulb.

That same day, September 10, six of their fellow sailors were arrested by US police after the crew descended on Jacksonville beach for a night of drinking.

They were released the following morning having ‘learned their lesson’, Jacksonville Beach Police Department Sergeant Larry Smith said. 

Pictured: Aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth at its home base of Portsmouth

Mrs Ginter, whose husband Pete serves in the US Navy, said: ‘I was amazed that they would consider taking the time to fix something for someone they didn’t know at all.

‘I was very surprised, they were just so sweet to help me.

‘I was told by another driver that my passenger side headlight was out right before I picked them up.

‘We only drove a few blocks when they offered to fix it.


British sailors Thomas Reffold (left) and Ieuen Edwards (right) were Tasered by police in Florida after a night of drunkenness – the same night their three colleagues offered to help Mrs Ginter


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‘We didn’t need to buy any parts, but we borrowed tools from an Auto Zone car parts store.

‘I already had a bulb in my car because my husband had bought a double pack of bulbs a while ago when my driver’s side headlight had gone out. So it was pretty handy that I already had a bulb that night!

Pictured: Mrs Gintrt’s Uber trip showing part of the journey with the sailors from HMS Queen Elizabeth as they stopped to fix her car

‘In the dense humidity and heat, being pretty uncomfortable and sweating, yet without one complaint, they gave their time to help out a stranger. I will never forget their kindness.

‘I wanted to cancel the fare but it seems you can’t cancel it once the trip has been started.

‘It’s funny because I never carry cash on me but the passengers I had just before them – more British sailors – gave me a cash tip that was almost the same amount as their fare.

‘The fare for these three was about $7.00, and the ride before tipped me $6.00.

‘So I tried to give that cash to the three that helped me and they wouldn’t take it.

‘I wouldn’t give up and finally made one of them take it. They saw I wasn’t going to quit so I think he took it just to shut me up.

‘These guys really went above and beyond to help me and I just want everyone to know what they did.

‘It may not have been a big deal like saving a life or any type of emergency situation, but it was a big deal to me.’


Steven Gorley (left) and Matthew Cotham (right) were arrested along with Reffold and Edwards

Mrs Ginter wants to find a way of thanking the three sailors, who she only knows as ‘David and his friends’.

Previously a taxi driver on Mayport base for about 13 years, she said she had met plenty of British sailors and normally they were very well behaved.

The mother-of-one from Jacksonville, Florida, wrote a letter to the Royal Navy, thanking the sailors for their help.

She said: ‘The main reason I wrote the letter to the command was because very few ever follow up with good reports of what people have done, but they sure will jump at the chance to complain and point out the negative.


Jamie Lutas (left) and Dominic Gregory (right) were arrested along with the other four. All six were taken to Duval County Jail and released the following day having ‘learned their lesson’

‘It was all over the news about six sailors that got in trouble. That’s six, out of what, a couple thousand?

‘That irritated me because all of the ones that I met were funny, kind, and just plain good guys.

‘When David and his friends changed my headlight, I just wanted them to be the ones that got noticed, not the ones who got in trouble.

‘In my opinion, David and his friends fully represent the Queen Elizabeth and I honestly believe that if everyone wrote a letter to their command of all the positive interactions they’ve had with those sailors aboard that ship that it would far outweigh the arrests of six sailors.’

The six sailors who were fighting among themselves spent the night in custody before being returned to the 65,000 tonne ship the following morning.

HMS Queen Elizabeth is visiting the US to trial its new F35 fighter jets, made at a base in Maryland, US.

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