Admiral Jeremy "Mike" Boorda

I have been thinking recently about the death of Admiral Boorda. I realize that the 8th anniversary of his death is just a few days away and I was wondering if anybody had any inputs as to whether his death was a suicide or not.

My questions are:
1. Do you think his death was a suicide?
2. If not, who do you think killed him?
3. Why do you think he was killed?
4. Did Adm. Boorda impact your life in a memorable way while he was the CNO?
5. Did Adm. Boorda's death impact you life in a memorable way?

I would really like to hear what everyone thinks about this. Adm Boorda is the only past CNO I can remember and I don't believe it is only because of his death.

[Edited on 14-5-2004 by Jbeth73]

Forgive my ignorance...don't deny it...what is a CNO?

CNO is Chief of Naval Operations, the senior officer in the Navy.

I was stationed oversea's when he died, no impact. But I do believe he killed himself and it was not over the medals. Remember he was the highest man ever to achieve going from Seaman to Admiral. He must have had some dirt on him and someone was going to tell it.

I was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal (I believe the medal in question by detractors minus the Combat "V" cluster) by then Vice Admiral Mike Boorda in 1987 while with the Sixth Fleet. He was greatly admired by all within the ranks, and I never understood why he was persecuted by Navy veterans. I spoke to him for less than thirty seconds during the award ceremony, the usual trivialities, but he made a lasting impression: here was someone who started at the bottom and worked his way to the top.

Prior to becoming CNO, Boorda was CINCSOUTH, and thus had oversight responsibilty for operations involving the Balkans, to include enforcement of the 'no-fly' zone, and also the UN/NATO arms embargo. However, LOTS of weapons, ammunition, etc, etc. actually did flow into Bosnia for the benefit of the Bosinan Muslims, and Boorda was chief coordinator for that. This was in violation of all treaties, etc, and the only person that could have ordered or 'encouraged' such activity was President Clinton.

In return for these efforts, Boorda was 'rewarded' with the position of CNO. This operation was designed to improve the US position as a 'honest broker' in the Middle East, esp. as regards the Arab-Israeli conflict, which had been an ongoing policy strategy for about 30 years (but up until then, of only limited success). However, Boorda didn't cover his tracks very well, and there were a number of investigators that were on the trail that could only lead to him, and ultimately back to the White House (both NATO, and news reporters). And this occurring during an election year (1996), was considered an intolerable threat to the Administration. To deal with this, a bogus 'investigation' was created regarding a couple 'V' devices on medals from Vietnam service that allegedly Boorda was not authorized to wear. Of course, every serviceman knows exactly what he or she is authorized to wear, and everyone else knows it too (every serviceman has an official photo in full uniform with all medals and appurtenances that must remain current, and is included with all promotion board paperwork for review by the board. Trust me, the Board reviews these photos and everything else very carefully each and every time!)! After the 'suicide' it was revealed that in fact, Boorda was authorized to wear those medals, and certainly he would have been well-aware of that fact, and this was confirmed by his former commanding officer as well. However, two years later, a subsequent inquiry into his paperwork and request for correction by one of Boorda's sons resulted in a suddenly quite different result (read: boards.law.af.mil...

The day of his 'suicide,' Boorda was visited by 'Navy Officials' including Rear Adm. Kendell Pease (special head of Public Affairs for the Navy) in the hour before his death, and subsequently, Boorda supposedly shot himself in the chest (which is an awkward way to shoot yourself, as against simply putting a gun to your head or mouth; try it and see with a toy gun) after writing two suicide notes. The gun was a .38 owned by his son-in-law, but how the pistol came into his possession is a mystery. The autopsy has never been released, nor have the contents of the two 'suicide notes,' and the paperwork and records involving his medal awards have subsequently been altered significantly. The late Admiral Boorda has a number of sons and son-in-laws now in service, and not surprisingly, no further inquiries from the Boorda family have been launched into the matter.

This is all I can reveal on this matter at present, and all this information is already in the public domain.

Seeing as this thread has resurfaced, I just wanted to put a few words of respect for Jeremy, as his brother Tim was a good friend of mine. In fact, he was my high-school French teacher and someone who's advice I very much appreciated.

I remember the first day Tim came back into class and explained what happened he was obviously a very saddened and broken individual.

Take care man.

reply to post by Jbeth73


I had 19 years of active duty at the time of his death. It was unfortunate, since he was the first to go from enlisted to CNO. Plus alot of the Academy grad officers looked down at him, since he came up thru the enlisted ranks and didn't attend the Naval Academy. They can be clique'ish like that.

1. Do you think his death was a suicide?.....Yes, i think he killed himself for whatever reason.

4. Did Adm. Boorda impact your life in a memorable way while he was the CNO?.... Nope, no more or no less than any previous CNO.

5. Did Adm. Boorda's death impact you life in a memorable way?...Nope, not at all.

I am a former officer who personally worked with Admiral Boorda in the Navy's personnel headquarters. He was a very well-rounded, cheerful individual, who respected everyone with whom he came in contact. I believe he was personally responsible for improving the Navy's overall treatment of individuals (especially women and people from minority groups).

Both at the time of his death, and now, I find it very hard to believe he killed himself. There is no way I believe this action occurred due to the investigation of the V's on Boorda's combat medals. Since Boorda had quit wearing the V's over a year prior to the story, he had virtually already publicly admitted that mistake.

It may have been related to the senior officers who criticized Boorda's behavior with regard to orders from President Clinton. I beleive that criticism was born of jealousy and elitism.

Admiral Boorda's death was a huge loss to his personal family, his Navy "family," and the world.

who is this?

please provide some background info or a link as I am not aware of who this individual is. Maybe this is the guy who headed the project in development of lsd? If so it was prolly better off if he is dead since that works best. afterall he was not a scientist and did nothing but oversee the project. I bet alot of people were happy he was dead since all he did was take credit for other peoples hard work. I hate that about gov projects and today its run differently but their still just as braindead. they really need to start hiring scientists as the go betweens and not a bunch of randoms like this guy if was him.

What did he have to do with Area 51? Seems this guy was very respected. Hate to lose those who still garner respect in this world.

this is odd. ti said i made a post tonight on this topic and i didnt.. until now. but it said it earlier

Adm. Boorda when he was head of Bupers implemented the Exceptional Family Member Program.He had a son who was disabled with Cerebral Palsy.He understood the hardship a military family had with not only dealing with the military life but also the trials of having a family member with special needs.

The EFMP was established to document military families with special family members,help them find the programs that may assist them.If a person applied to the EFMP he could not be assigned,overseas,recruiter duty,instructor duty or any duty that would put constraints on him.

Your career was pretty much frozen but you could continue to serve the military.Unlike the old days where having a special needs family member could possibly end your career. I had TWO disabled sons.I was one of the first people entered into the EFMP.

A few years later, I was called into my Dept.Heads office.He asked me if I had a fresh pair of whites to put on.I did.He said to go home put them on he would come by and get me.We head to the nearby N.A.S. airfield.

We pulled in to the NAS C.O. headquarters got out walked inside.My C.O. was waiting. He said there was somebody who had flown in and landed for a quick visit and had specifically asked to meet me if I was available.He led me into a near by conference room and there surround by a group of senior officers was a shorter than average man it was ,Vice-Admiral Boorda.

He and I chatted .He knew all about me and my family.He knew I was top of my rate and was one of the best performers in my command. He said I was one of the reasons why he knew that the Navy had to do some to not lose such valuable people.He also pointed out that even though I was the only person in the navy with two disabled family members,I was still in the top 10% of the Navy.

I never have forgot the meeting. Mike Boorda was a unique person that I believe was brought down by a conspiracy of jealous and powerful people.
"Ring Knockers"(Academy Grads.) didn't like him because he related to enlisted people.Aviation didn't like him and Submariners didn't like him because he was a surface officer.

There is a lot of politics involved in the Navy and he made a lot of enemy's and died for it.But the Navy and this country is a better place because there was a man named Mike Boorda and he was my CNO.

Anyone who knew Mike Boorda knows he did not kill himself. He was a Great man. Caring beyond words. I was a lowly E4 when met at the time Vice Admiral Boorda. He treated me with respect and with kindness. He came and found me the night of our attack during Desert Shield because he knew I had a family member serving in Bahrain. He NEVER forgot anyone. He knew names, faces and days he had met you. He knew your family and what your kids names were. He truely cared about the Sailors. No one has ever done more for the Enlisted community.

The day he died was one of the saddest days in Navy History. It's been 12 years .. and it still breaks my heart.

I met Admiral Boorda at Sigonella NAS shortly before his untimely death.
I was very impressed. I can not accept that this man, at the height of his carreer, who had advanced from E-1 to the top position of the US Navy. And reportedly for wearing a "V" on a ribbon which supposedly he was not awarded. (Which after his death it was verified that he was authorized to wear that award) His "suicide" notes were typewritten. And who commits suicide in their front yard, and shooting one's self in the chest? There is too many questionable aspects cocerning the admiirals death and were not adequately investigated. Admiral Boorda was a very intelligent man who knew that if he committed suicide that his wife would not receive his life insurance. She would not get that much from the government, and he had a disabled child. Did he commit suicide? I highly doubt it. Who killed him? Well, there were a lot of Navy officers who were jealous and upset that Admiral Boorda was promoted above them. Too many questions. Not enough investigation. Sure smacks of cover up.

During my career I met with him a couple of times on official business but it was like talking with your long lost brother rather than a high ranking military officer. He was a good man and one did not need to be around him long to tell that. I was shocked when I heard the news, I was in Wiesbaden Germany at the Eagle's Nest NCO Club preparing to escort a vip to the bank in Mainz Kastell when AFN broadcasted the terrible news.

I have always thought that the Stan Arthur debacle MAY have had something to do with it, but I still have a difficult time thinking this man killed himself over a cluster device...that makes no sense and the Adm. had no reason to wear the thing "trying to be something he was not" after all, her WAS the damn Admiral. There were MANY people who were upset at the way Adm. Boorda handled the Tail Hook incident and allowed or made more than a few people retire. I do however think it is odd that the Navy refused and still does, to release the autopsy information. Suicide by gunshot to the chest is highly irregular and not common at all.

reply to post by Jbeth73


Admiral Boorda spoke at my Brother's commissioning as a Lieutenant (last class to graduate from Newport News in RI). After the "suicide" my brother reported that he detected absolutely nothing in the Admiral's actions or countenance that would indicate that he was at all discouraged, depressed, etc. in fact, quite the opposite. He found Admiral Boorda engaging and upbeat, and was very impressed with him. My brother told me this unsolicited after the ceremony.

It seems VERY IRREGULAR that ANYONE in the military would BORROW A GUN to commit suicide (the gun belonged to his SON-IN-LAW??? He went to his daughter's house to kill himself ???), and find it doubly unusual that he would shoot himself in the chest. This is extremely suspicious...

Now, suppose you are in charge of taking out Adm. Boorda and want to frame it as a suicide. How do you write a suicide note when you can't get it in Boorda's handwriting? EASY. Type it. Guess what? The suicide note was typed!

I don't think there is much question that Admiral Boorda was taken out. All that nonsense about his medals not being valid is just the sort of garbage that is drummed up when those in the black ops community want to create a background excuse for "why" he committed suicide.

There are those who think Boorda was going to spill the beans about some sort of black ops info, perhaps the existence of TR-3B's and contact with so-called extraterrestrials, something about space command... not sure what.

Here is what Alex Jones' website says about Admiral Boorda, which can be found in a list of people who were murdered or "committed suicide" during the Clinton administration:

Admiral Jeremy Boorda
Chief of Naval Operations

Died May 16th, 1996

Boorda supposedly went home for lunch and decided to shoot himself in the chest (by one report, twice) rather than be interviewed by Newsweek magazine that afternoon.

Explanations for Boorda’s suicide focused on a claim that he was embarrassed over two "Valor" pins he was not authorized to wear.

Former CNO Admiral Elmo Zumwalt said on the May 17 Larry King Live show that Admiral Boorda was not only authorized to wear the "V" on his medals, but that had personally authorized him to do so when he was serving as Commander Naval Forces Vietnam.

When it turned out that Boorda was entitled to those decorations, blame shifted to stresses over the down sizing of the Navy, and even (Washington Times) the adverse affect that feminism was having on the Navy’s morale.

Boorda supposedly left two suicide notes, neither of which was released.

On Thursday, June 25, 1998, Navy Secretary John Dalton formally acknowledged that Boorda had been entitled to wear the decorations.

So, like Brown, and like Foster, the proximate cause for the "suicide" turns out to be fraudulent.

The Navy has the highest rate of two things: Suicide and divorce.

Admiral Boorda died many years before my naval career. But they did name a new building after him at the Great Lakes Naval Base while I was there. It brought up the entire suicide controversy again, which we all discussed at great lengths. There wasn't much else to do with our free time.

Admiral Boorda wasn't a very well liked guy. He was under a lot of pressure from all sides. And eventually it just became too much for him. It happens fairly often. He made a lot of enemies after he threw Admiral Stan Arthur under the bus to take the blame for the Tailhook Scandal in 1994.

After his death in 1996, they found two suicide notes which have NEVER been released to the public. Even after FOIA requests by just about every major news outlet, the Navy claimed that would invade his and his families privacy.

The last person to see Admiral Boorda alive was Rear Adm. Kendell Pease, the Navy's Chief Information Officer. He had been having a conversation with Boorda until an hour before his death. One of the two suicide notes were for him. The conversation had been about a meeting scheduled later that day with two Newsweek reporters who wanted to question him about the allegations surrounding his medals.

After learning about the meeting, Boorda abruptly left the office, saying he was going home for lunch at 12:30pm. Boorda was found outside his quarters at the Washington Navy Yard with the gunshot wound to the chest at around 2pm and pronounced dead at approximately 2:30pm.

A .38 caliber revolver was also recovered from the scene which belonged to his son-in-law.

In 1998, the Navy Board of Corrections determined his medals WERE incorrect after an inquiry by one of his sons.

reply to post by nonnox14


"Admiral Boorda was a very intelligent man who knew that if he committed suicide that his wife would not receive his life insurance."

I know this is late but this quote is not accurate...Prudential pays regardless of COD, or cause of death, for active duty members.