Missing sailor mom USS John McCain
Anguished mom awaits word of sailor son
01:48 - Source: CNN
CNN  — 

The mother of one of the sailors missing after the collision between the US destroyer John S. McCain and an oil tanker near Singapore described her son’s enthusiasm for the Navy during an emotional interview on CNN’s “New Day.”

Cynthia Kimball said her son John Hoagland “loved the Navy” and “thought that the Navy was definitely the place he needed to be.”

“He really loved the idea and the places he got to see,” she continued. “He was proud of who he was and what he was doing.”

Kimball talked to CNN moments after the Navy informed her that the hunt for missing sailors was now considered a “recovery” mission instead of search and rescue.

Destroyer USS John S. McCain shows damage to its port side following a collision with a merchant vessel on  August 21.

But somehow the grieving mother found a way to share a laugh with anchor Alisyn Camerota.

“Every place he went, he sent me pictures,” she said. “I can’t tell you how many pictures I have of the ocean!”

When Camerota asked if Kimball would like to hear from President Donald Trump, she said no.

“I would rather hear from the Navy giving me some kind of closure than from the President,” she said.

US military divers continue to search the flooded areas of the McCain for the missing sailors while ships and planes scour the nearby seas.