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Posted on Aug 12, 2017
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I found this memory of ADM Mike Boorda (written 20 years after his death) on my LinkedIn feed this morning, and thought it was worth a share.
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Thank you Maj William W. 'Bill' Price for sharing reflections on Admiral Mike Boorda.
I well remember that spring day. While the vegetation was verdant green and birds were singing, Admiral Boorda was depressed to the point that suicide seemed his only logical choice.
Here is the posting by Steve Clawson:
"On May 16, 1996, U.S. Navy men and women stationed around the globe received wrenching news: Adm. Mike Boorda had shot himself to death during a lunch break from his Pentagon job leading the Navy. Sailors revered him as a leader who made people his top priority. Boorda also was the first in the Navy’s 220-year history to rise from the rank of seaman recruit to the four-star position of Chief of Naval Operations (CNO).
I’ll never forget that Thursday morning more than 20 years ago: At Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, the Pacific Fleet commander gathered the entire staff in a morning formation usually reserved for special occasions. When he announced the CNO’s death, tears welled and more than a few sailors wept openly.
Like others who had worked closely with Boorda, I never imagined he would end his own life. Just eight months earlier, he had joined President Bill Clinton in Hawaii for the 50th anniversary of V-J Day and the end of World War II. After Clinton’s address to veterans on the flight deck of USS Carl Vinson, Boorda cheerfully led the president on an unscheduled tour of the aircraft carrier to meet crew members. This was classic Boorda – going off script for one-on-one time with sailors.
In Boorda, Clinton found a senior military leader he liked and also trusted with major military operations. Referring to Boorda’s command of U.S. and NATO forces enforcing United Nations sanctions in the Balkans, Clinton later observed, “more than any other military officer in this country, Mike Boorda helped to lead us to the point of peace.... And there are countless thousands of people alive in Bosnia today because of this small man with a big heart, a large vision, and great courage.”
When young Mike Boorda reported to boot camp in February 1956, no one could have predicted he would rise to lead the Navy. Short in stature, he was the Jewish grandson of immigrants from the Ukraine and Lithuania. With a mediocre academic record, he dropped out of high school and lied to the recruiter about his age. Shortly after facing the rigors of boot camp, Boorda decided to quit and he revealed his true age. But one of his Navy trainers, seeing some spark in this 16-year old, refused to initiate a discharge and decided to mentor Seaman Recruit Boorda instead.
From then on, in one Navy assignment to the next, others saw promise too and gave Boorda the opportunities and support he needed. One of them, a senior chief petty officer, practically ordered Boorda to apply for an enlisted-to-officer commissioning program that selected a small number of sailors annually for officer training. On his second try, the Navy chose Boorda for Officer Candidate School in 1962.
Boorda never forgot the care and encouragement he received in those early Navy years. As a three-star admiral and Chief of Naval Personnel, Boorda repeatedly urged his staff to “do the right thing” for sailors, even if it meant bending Navy policies and procedures occasionally. At the end of nearly every otherwise bureaucratic bulletin on personnel policy, he added a personal “p.s.” to explain its purpose in plain language. As a four-star admiral, when he became CNO in April 1994, Boorda sent a personal message to everyone in the Navy describing the mentoring he had received. Then he concluded, “If we took the same leadership approach with everyone..., we would get better and better as a Navy because our people would be improving and people, after all, are really what our Navy is all about.”
As much as sailors and most naval officers admired this leadership approach, it did not sit well with those inside and outside the Navy who believed a CNO’s focus should be on ships, planes and war-fighting rather than people. Boorda didn’t come from the Naval Academy crucible and sometimes seemed to identify with sailors more than with his fellow officers. His periodic “all hands” communiques directly to all Navy personnel and his frequent visits to ships, aviation squadrons and naval installations irritated some officers as interfering with the traditional chain of command. Some detractors blamed Boorda for the continuing repercussions from the Tailhook incident; concerns arising from integrating women into Navy combat roles and media criticism of the Navy on these and other concerns. Others said Boorda had become too cozy with leading members of Congress and the White House. In a book entitled Fall From Glory: The Men Who Sank the U.S. Navy, a former defense reporter described Boorda as no taller than a jockey and “a political chameleon who could cut a deal without leaving any fingerprints.”
Did Boorda occasionally do favors for members of Congress and other government leaders? Of course: This is an accepted of currency of U.S. military leaders who are not permitted to lead PACs, make campaign contributions, or present gifts of value to government leaders. But Boorda did a hundred-times more favors for regular sailors and families who needed a break. He made time to personally type responses to letters from sailors and their families, even as CNO.
We all knew the admiral’s habits of working very long hours and somehow getting by with only a few hours of sleep a night. But only a few members of his family and staff members knew about his creeping fatigue, growing discouragement from criticism of the Navy, and perhaps other demons. A tipping point approached when Naval Academy graduate and Marine Corps combat veteran James Webb told an Annapolis audience that the Navy was “struggling for its soul.” Having resigned as Secretary of the Navy after only 10 months to protest a Defense Department decision to decommission 16 frigates, Webb attacked Boorda’s response to the Tailhook incident and his lack of “vigorous strategic vision” as CNO. Webb asked the audience, “what admiral has had the courage to risk his own career by putting his stars on the table and defending the integrity of the process and of his people?” Three weeks later, on May 13, Navy Times published an anonymous letter written by a naval officer alleging that Boorda had lost the respect of senior officers in the Navy. Under the title “CNO Should Resign,” the letter referred to the CNO as “Little Mikey Boorda” and ended, “CNO ... Go home immediately – for the sake of the Navy you love.”
The final blow came three days later, when Boorda learned that Newsweek magazine planned an exposé the following week criticizing him for incorrectly wearing two combat “V” pins, signifying valor in combat, on his Vietnam-era Navy Achievement and Navy Commendation medals. Boorda admittedly had worn the V’s but had removed a year before, following questions from a retired Marine Corps officer with the National Security News Service. Indeed, the commanding officers of the two ships received Combat “V” pins for the same operations and Boorda’s own award citations noted the combat environment. But his commanders had not fulfilled an administrative requirement by specifically authorizing the "V" pins in the citations.
Facing these attacks, Boorda chose suicide to avoid more questions about his leadership and more embarrassment upon the Navy. In a final note to “my sailors,” he wrote that “I couldn’t bear to bring dishonor to you.” He closed by saying, “If you care to do so, you can do something for me. That is take care of each other.”
Those of us touched by Mike Boorda will never forget his advice, leadership, and spirit. Today his name graces Admiral Mike Boorda Hall, a residence for new arrivals at Naval Station Great Lakes, where his career began at boot camp. Likewise a Navy-Marine Corps scholarship program; the children’s center at a military hospital in San Antonio; a recreational center at a Navy base in Washington State; and the boulevard leading to the Armed Forces Retirement in Gulfport, Mississippi, are named in Boorda’s honor. And in Washington, DC, where Boorda’s life tragically ended, there is the bronze sculpture of The Lone Sailor at the U.S. Navy Memorial, dedicated in 1987 as a tribute to all the personnel of the sea services. In the end, Boorda came to feel like a lone sailor with the weight of the U.S. Navy upon his shoulders. It need not have been so, and we miss him.
Today we can honor Admiral Boorda's memory by taking care of each other, as he said. We also can insist on a civilized approach to discourse that respects others and builds understanding – in Washington, around our nation, and beyond."
FYI LTC Bill Koski LTC Wayne Brandon PO1 William "Chip" Nagel PO1 John Crafton PO1 John Miller PO3 Steven Kaminski PO3 Steven Sherrill COL Mikel J. Burroughs Capt Seid Waddell Capt Tom Brown CW5 (Join to see) MSG Andrew White SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SFC William Farrell SSgt Robert Marx SP5 Mark Kuzinski SPC (Join to see) SrA Christopher Wright Cpl Joshua Caldwell
I well remember that spring day. While the vegetation was verdant green and birds were singing, Admiral Boorda was depressed to the point that suicide seemed his only logical choice.
Here is the posting by Steve Clawson:
"On May 16, 1996, U.S. Navy men and women stationed around the globe received wrenching news: Adm. Mike Boorda had shot himself to death during a lunch break from his Pentagon job leading the Navy. Sailors revered him as a leader who made people his top priority. Boorda also was the first in the Navy’s 220-year history to rise from the rank of seaman recruit to the four-star position of Chief of Naval Operations (CNO).
I’ll never forget that Thursday morning more than 20 years ago: At Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, the Pacific Fleet commander gathered the entire staff in a morning formation usually reserved for special occasions. When he announced the CNO’s death, tears welled and more than a few sailors wept openly.
Like others who had worked closely with Boorda, I never imagined he would end his own life. Just eight months earlier, he had joined President Bill Clinton in Hawaii for the 50th anniversary of V-J Day and the end of World War II. After Clinton’s address to veterans on the flight deck of USS Carl Vinson, Boorda cheerfully led the president on an unscheduled tour of the aircraft carrier to meet crew members. This was classic Boorda – going off script for one-on-one time with sailors.
In Boorda, Clinton found a senior military leader he liked and also trusted with major military operations. Referring to Boorda’s command of U.S. and NATO forces enforcing United Nations sanctions in the Balkans, Clinton later observed, “more than any other military officer in this country, Mike Boorda helped to lead us to the point of peace.... And there are countless thousands of people alive in Bosnia today because of this small man with a big heart, a large vision, and great courage.”
When young Mike Boorda reported to boot camp in February 1956, no one could have predicted he would rise to lead the Navy. Short in stature, he was the Jewish grandson of immigrants from the Ukraine and Lithuania. With a mediocre academic record, he dropped out of high school and lied to the recruiter about his age. Shortly after facing the rigors of boot camp, Boorda decided to quit and he revealed his true age. But one of his Navy trainers, seeing some spark in this 16-year old, refused to initiate a discharge and decided to mentor Seaman Recruit Boorda instead.
From then on, in one Navy assignment to the next, others saw promise too and gave Boorda the opportunities and support he needed. One of them, a senior chief petty officer, practically ordered Boorda to apply for an enlisted-to-officer commissioning program that selected a small number of sailors annually for officer training. On his second try, the Navy chose Boorda for Officer Candidate School in 1962.
Boorda never forgot the care and encouragement he received in those early Navy years. As a three-star admiral and Chief of Naval Personnel, Boorda repeatedly urged his staff to “do the right thing” for sailors, even if it meant bending Navy policies and procedures occasionally. At the end of nearly every otherwise bureaucratic bulletin on personnel policy, he added a personal “p.s.” to explain its purpose in plain language. As a four-star admiral, when he became CNO in April 1994, Boorda sent a personal message to everyone in the Navy describing the mentoring he had received. Then he concluded, “If we took the same leadership approach with everyone..., we would get better and better as a Navy because our people would be improving and people, after all, are really what our Navy is all about.”
As much as sailors and most naval officers admired this leadership approach, it did not sit well with those inside and outside the Navy who believed a CNO’s focus should be on ships, planes and war-fighting rather than people. Boorda didn’t come from the Naval Academy crucible and sometimes seemed to identify with sailors more than with his fellow officers. His periodic “all hands” communiques directly to all Navy personnel and his frequent visits to ships, aviation squadrons and naval installations irritated some officers as interfering with the traditional chain of command. Some detractors blamed Boorda for the continuing repercussions from the Tailhook incident; concerns arising from integrating women into Navy combat roles and media criticism of the Navy on these and other concerns. Others said Boorda had become too cozy with leading members of Congress and the White House. In a book entitled Fall From Glory: The Men Who Sank the U.S. Navy, a former defense reporter described Boorda as no taller than a jockey and “a political chameleon who could cut a deal without leaving any fingerprints.”
Did Boorda occasionally do favors for members of Congress and other government leaders? Of course: This is an accepted of currency of U.S. military leaders who are not permitted to lead PACs, make campaign contributions, or present gifts of value to government leaders. But Boorda did a hundred-times more favors for regular sailors and families who needed a break. He made time to personally type responses to letters from sailors and their families, even as CNO.
We all knew the admiral’s habits of working very long hours and somehow getting by with only a few hours of sleep a night. But only a few members of his family and staff members knew about his creeping fatigue, growing discouragement from criticism of the Navy, and perhaps other demons. A tipping point approached when Naval Academy graduate and Marine Corps combat veteran James Webb told an Annapolis audience that the Navy was “struggling for its soul.” Having resigned as Secretary of the Navy after only 10 months to protest a Defense Department decision to decommission 16 frigates, Webb attacked Boorda’s response to the Tailhook incident and his lack of “vigorous strategic vision” as CNO. Webb asked the audience, “what admiral has had the courage to risk his own career by putting his stars on the table and defending the integrity of the process and of his people?” Three weeks later, on May 13, Navy Times published an anonymous letter written by a naval officer alleging that Boorda had lost the respect of senior officers in the Navy. Under the title “CNO Should Resign,” the letter referred to the CNO as “Little Mikey Boorda” and ended, “CNO ... Go home immediately – for the sake of the Navy you love.”
The final blow came three days later, when Boorda learned that Newsweek magazine planned an exposé the following week criticizing him for incorrectly wearing two combat “V” pins, signifying valor in combat, on his Vietnam-era Navy Achievement and Navy Commendation medals. Boorda admittedly had worn the V’s but had removed a year before, following questions from a retired Marine Corps officer with the National Security News Service. Indeed, the commanding officers of the two ships received Combat “V” pins for the same operations and Boorda’s own award citations noted the combat environment. But his commanders had not fulfilled an administrative requirement by specifically authorizing the "V" pins in the citations.
Facing these attacks, Boorda chose suicide to avoid more questions about his leadership and more embarrassment upon the Navy. In a final note to “my sailors,” he wrote that “I couldn’t bear to bring dishonor to you.” He closed by saying, “If you care to do so, you can do something for me. That is take care of each other.”
Those of us touched by Mike Boorda will never forget his advice, leadership, and spirit. Today his name graces Admiral Mike Boorda Hall, a residence for new arrivals at Naval Station Great Lakes, where his career began at boot camp. Likewise a Navy-Marine Corps scholarship program; the children’s center at a military hospital in San Antonio; a recreational center at a Navy base in Washington State; and the boulevard leading to the Armed Forces Retirement in Gulfport, Mississippi, are named in Boorda’s honor. And in Washington, DC, where Boorda’s life tragically ended, there is the bronze sculpture of The Lone Sailor at the U.S. Navy Memorial, dedicated in 1987 as a tribute to all the personnel of the sea services. In the end, Boorda came to feel like a lone sailor with the weight of the U.S. Navy upon his shoulders. It need not have been so, and we miss him.
Today we can honor Admiral Boorda's memory by taking care of each other, as he said. We also can insist on a civilized approach to discourse that respects others and builds understanding – in Washington, around our nation, and beyond."
FYI LTC Bill Koski LTC Wayne Brandon PO1 William "Chip" Nagel PO1 John Crafton PO1 John Miller PO3 Steven Kaminski PO3 Steven Sherrill COL Mikel J. Burroughs Capt Seid Waddell Capt Tom Brown CW5 (Join to see) MSG Andrew White SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SFC William Farrell SSgt Robert Marx SP5 Mark Kuzinski SPC (Join to see) SrA Christopher Wright Cpl Joshua Caldwell
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Good story and it's sad his death stemmed from someone not checking a block. Amazing career he had. He came out to see us afloat with 24 MEU. We had just returned from a hard deployment to Somalia and the Gulf in summer 94. Then things got lively in Haiti and they decided to send us back out rather than the next MEU, so they could carry out their mission. We were in town at Camp Lejeune for a weekend before reloading. Both the CNO and CMC flew out with their entourages on separate days to speak to everyone on the ships of the ARG. Gen Mundy had the FMFLANT CG and their Sgts Major, and ADM Boorda had his crew. Everyone asked the usual questions about when are we going in or home. One Sailor asked ADM Boorda if they could make a provision to not stop our deployed pays, because money is tight with junior personnel. He replied that he would talk with SecNav when he got back because that was his call under the law. Within a day or so we received a Naval Message that our weekend at home was considered as a port visit and everyone would continue to receive all special pay for being deployed without any break. It was unusual because at these events we usually heard a lot of "I'll check on it" or "I'm not sure", but he made good on his word. Considering the situation we were in it was great for morale.
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Maj William W. 'Bill' Price
Thank you for your post, CWO3 (Join to see). I also appreciate the leadership lesson in your turnaround from Somalia to Haiti. ADM Boorda made good on his word...a little thing perhaps, but as you point out little things (can and) do mean a lot.
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CWO3 (Join to see)
Maj William W. 'Bill' Price - When it comes to people, what seems little to bystanders can be huge to them. Anyone in charge knows that the mission always comes before the men/women, but it doesn't mean you can't do extra things to take care of them whenever you can. Without them we can't accomplish the mission. The USN concept on it always stuck with me - take care of the crew and they'll take care of the ship. Don't take care of them and you will have some tough times. Thanks for sharing the story about ADM Boorda. I know there was a lot of jealousy and angst toward him in the upper echelons, likely because he wasn't a ring-knocker. From what I heard and observed about him while afloat, the Sailors loved him. We'll never know if this medal issue was the prime mover in his suicide, but I've often wondered if there was more, such as a bad medical diagnosis or more deeply rooted depression for whatever reason.
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Amazing Admiral Boorda was the CNO 1994 when I 18 years old, was at Great Lakes, Every Morning we had to look at the Chain of Command.
At first that chain of command was some pressure the first test to use the brain
I was a quiet sailor
I learned the chain of command well
I found out later I was always in the top 10% percentile in test scores
I learned about the Seaman to Admiral program for the first time.
I was inspired by his story.
I had a career mission to endeavor.
The Navy was my beginning and end then the 7 seas of life.
I was meritoriously advanced paygrade e2 bootcamp graduation
I was driven to also do such rise from e1 to Admiral as well starting with the SAM enlistment I was recruited into.
A 24 K gold Fouled Anchor was the first piece of jewelry I ever purchased around my neck
The rest is history.
1996 20 years of age, swamped with requirements of my FFG duty, during mid 1990s force reductions, haze gray and underway, I was not able to fully understand or reflect on the stunning moment hearing for the first time in newspapers about Admiral Boorda 1996.
My officer dream soon fell off course as well, but not because of him. The SAM program was not specifically implemented managed well I am understanding now 2017.
A dark sad moment when it was already dark and stormy on the FFG.
Some years later now I can reflect more openly.
2017 Knowing his quote
In a final note to “my sailors,” he wrote that “I couldn’t bear to bring dishonor to you.” He closed by saying, “If you care to do so, you can do something for me. That is take care of each other.”
It all makes sense now.
Maybe he was dealing with a bunch of confusion and sadness, internal battles with people who do not see eye to eye, which seemingly is just normal life, but can really seem overwhelming at times. But I will never see his sadness and confusion as dishonorable. The mental health stigmas need to change. He was just a human like us all.
And I can really look at the Constitution of which we swore an Oath to defend which infact starts with a preamble of
"We the People"
At first that chain of command was some pressure the first test to use the brain
I was a quiet sailor
I learned the chain of command well
I found out later I was always in the top 10% percentile in test scores
I learned about the Seaman to Admiral program for the first time.
I was inspired by his story.
I had a career mission to endeavor.
The Navy was my beginning and end then the 7 seas of life.
I was meritoriously advanced paygrade e2 bootcamp graduation
I was driven to also do such rise from e1 to Admiral as well starting with the SAM enlistment I was recruited into.
A 24 K gold Fouled Anchor was the first piece of jewelry I ever purchased around my neck
The rest is history.
1996 20 years of age, swamped with requirements of my FFG duty, during mid 1990s force reductions, haze gray and underway, I was not able to fully understand or reflect on the stunning moment hearing for the first time in newspapers about Admiral Boorda 1996.
My officer dream soon fell off course as well, but not because of him. The SAM program was not specifically implemented managed well I am understanding now 2017.
A dark sad moment when it was already dark and stormy on the FFG.
Some years later now I can reflect more openly.
2017 Knowing his quote
In a final note to “my sailors,” he wrote that “I couldn’t bear to bring dishonor to you.” He closed by saying, “If you care to do so, you can do something for me. That is take care of each other.”
It all makes sense now.
Maybe he was dealing with a bunch of confusion and sadness, internal battles with people who do not see eye to eye, which seemingly is just normal life, but can really seem overwhelming at times. But I will never see his sadness and confusion as dishonorable. The mental health stigmas need to change. He was just a human like us all.
And I can really look at the Constitution of which we swore an Oath to defend which infact starts with a preamble of
"We the People"
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