NAVY'S TOP OFFICER COMMITS SUICIDE : MAGAZINE QUESTIONED VIETNAM MEDALS.Byline: Philip Shenon The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times The Navy's highest-ranking officer, Adm. Jeremy Boorda, committed suicide Thursday, shooting himself in the chest shortly after he was told of an impending im·pend intr.v. im·pend·ed, im·pend·ing, im·pends 1. To be about to occur: Her retirement is impending. 2. magazine article suggesting that he wore two Vietnam War Vietnam War, conflict in Southeast Asia, primarily fought in South Vietnam between government forces aided by the United States and guerrilla forces aided by North Vietnam. combat decorations that he had not earned. Pentagon officials said Boorda, chief of naval operations chief of naval operations n. pl. chiefs of naval operations Abbr. CNO The ranking officer of the U.S. Navy, responsible to the secretary of the Navy and to the President. and the first sailor to climb from the lowest ranks of enlisted men to four-star admiral, returned to his home at the Washington Navy Yard The Washington Navy Yard is the former shipyard and ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Washington, D.C. The yard currently is a ceremonial and administrative center for the U.S. about 1 p.m., grabbed a .38-caliber handgun, walked outside, rested the gun barrel against his chest and pulled the trigger. Defense Department officials said the 57-year-old admiral left behind two suicide notes, both suggesting that he had been driven to take his life by fear that the reputation of the Navy, which has been battered in recent years by a series of scandals, would be further harmed by the disclosures about his medals. Newsweek magazine said in a statement that it had contacted Boorda earlier in the day to request an interview for ``a story that called into question the military decorations'' that he ``had been wearing for years.'' A Newsweek correspondent was arriving at the Pentagon for an interview with Boorda ``when the Navy learned of the shooting,'' the magazine said. The Navy's chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Kendell Pease, said he informed Boorda about 12:30 of the inquiries from Newsweek, and that the admiral then announced abruptly that he was going home for lunch instead of eating the meal that had been brought into his office at the Pentagon. ``He said, `I'm going to go home,' '' Pease said. ``He was concerned, but I've seen him much more concerned about other things.'' Defense Department officials said that until about a year ago, Boorda had worn two Vietnam War combat ribbons pinned with a medal ``v'' for valor valor a rodenticide no longer marketed because of toxicity in horses causing dehydration, abdominal pain, hindlimb weakness, inappetence, fishy smell in urine. Called also N-3-pyridyl methyl N1-p-nitrophenyl urea. , suggesting that he had seen combat in Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, region of Asia (1990 est. pop. 442,500,000), c.1,740,000 sq mi (4,506,600 sq km), bounded roughly by the Indian subcontinent on the west, China on the north, and the Pacific Ocean on the east. . He took them off shortly after a military research organization, the National Security News Service, placed a Freedom of Information request for details about the medals. The news service, which had been working with Newsweek and ABC News
ABC News is a division of American television and radio network ABC, owned by The Walt Disney Company. Its current president is David Westin. on the story, said its research showed that Boorda never saw combat in Vietnam. ``The admiral was not in a war zone during the war,'' said Joe Trento, the Washington bureau chief of the news service. ``You can wear them only if your citation authorizes you to wear them. His didn't.'' The News Service and Newsweek expressed their regrets over the suicide. ``None of us feel very good about this,'' Trento said. Details of Boorda's deployments during the Vietnam War were not available Thursday, although he did serve aboard ships off the Vietnamese coast and would have been entitled to some decorations for that service. Colleagues in the Navy and others in the Defense Department said that while the magazine article may have pushed Boorda over the edge, he had been under great stress at the Navy, which has been overwhelmed in recent years with scandal - from rampant cheating among midshipmen at the Naval Academy to the sexual assault of dozens of women at the 1991 Tailhook convention of naval aviators Well-known aviators People largely known for their contributions to the history of aviation While all of these people were pilots (and some still are), many are also noted for contributions in areas such as aircraft design and manufacturing, navigation or . Norman Polmar, a prominent naval historian A naval historian is a student of maritime history, who specialises in the sub-discipline of naval history. References Julian Corbett, 'The Teaching of Naval and Military History,' History, New Series, vol. 1 (April 1916), pp. 12-19. John B. who had known the admiral for years, said he was certain that if Boorda wore medals he had not earned, ``it was an innocent mistake,'' and that the medals alone would not explain his suicide. ``I have a high degree of confidence that it was something else,'' said Polmar. ``Look at what the Navy is going through these days. Superimpose su·per·im·pose tr.v. su·per·im·posed, su·per·im·pos·ing, su·per·im·pos·es 1. To lay or place (something) on or over something else. 2. all these problems - the sexual and drug and cheating problems - on the downsizing (1) Converting mainframe and mini-based systems to client/server LANs. (2) To reduce equipment and associated costs by switching to a less-expensive system. (jargon) downsizing of the Navy. It's a tough situation, a tough environment. It would take it out of anybody.'' The suicide ended a 40-year military career that began when a 17-year-old boy from South Bend South Bend, city (1990 pop. 105,511), seat of St. Joseph co., N Ind., on the great south bend of the St. Joseph River, in a farming and mint-growing region; inc. as a city 1865. , Ind., seeking escape from a troubled family, fibbed about his age to join the Navy. Boorda worked his wayH up through the enlisted ranks, discovering friends and patrons along the way. He began his Navy career as little more than a typist in a Navy personnel office in San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. . He ended it Thursday as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, overseeing more than 450,000 sailors. He was admired - and feared - for his skill in maneuvering through the treacherous political shoals of the Pentagon. His military career had always involved tough, even wrenching decisions, no more so than when he was commander of North Atlantic Treaty Organization North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), established under the North Atlantic Treaty (Apr. 4, 1949) by Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United States. forces in Southern Europe from 1991 until his appointment as chief of naval operations in February 1994. At NATO NATO: see North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO in full North Atlantic Treaty Organization International military alliance created to defend western Europe against a possible Soviet invasion. , he directed an air strike against Bosnian Serb aircraft flying in violation of a United Nations ban, the first time the forces of the Western alliance had been used in an offensive mission in the organization's 44-year history. At the White House, President Clinton praised Boorda on Thursday as a man who had ``brought extraordinary energy and dedication and good humor to every post he held in a long and distinguished career - he devoted his life to serving our nation.'' Defense Secretary William Perry called the admiral ``a sailor's sailor.'' The suicide shocked Defense Department colleagues who had seen Boorda in recent days and described him as characteristically cheerful. Navy Secretary John Dalton said he saw Boorda on Wednesday. ``He was in great spirits,'' Dalton said. ``He was in excellent spirits.'' Rep. Ike Skelton, a Missouri Democrat and member of the House National Security Committee, said he had attended a small dinner party at Boorda's home two weeks ago ``and he seemed to be just fine, just fine.'' ``I'm sick over this, I'm completely shocked,'' he said. ``He was one of the finest human beings I ever knew. He just cared for his sailors.'' Boorda would certainly not have been the first military commander to wear medals that he had not earned, although other Navy officials said the practice was highly unusuHal and would have been humiliating hu·mil·i·ate tr.v. hu·mil·i·at·ed, hu·mil·i·at·ing, hu·mil·i·ates To lower the pride, dignity, or self-respect of. See Synonyms at degrade. to an officer of such high rank. ``He should have known that he wasn't entitled to wear them,'' said another senior Navy officer. ``It's hard to imagine him not knowing.'' Pease, the Navy spokesman, said that when he went to Boorda's office to discuss Newsweek's interview request, ``I went up and told Admiral Boorda what the subject was, and he said to me, `What do we do?' He answered the question himself: `We tell the truth.' '' Lunch then was brought in to Boorda's office. But the admiral abruptly decided to go home. Pease said he then asked Boorda whether he wanted to go ahead with the Newsweek interview, scheduled for 2:30. ``Yep,'' Boorda replied. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1) President Clinton, flanked by top military lea ders, pauses Thursday for a moment of silence in honor of Adm. Jeremy Boorda. Associated Press (2 -- color) Adm. Jeremy Boorda Rose from enlisted ranks |
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