Jeremy Michael Boorda

Jeremy Michael Boorda (November 26, 1939 – May 16, 1996) was a United States Navy admiral who served as the 25th Chief of Naval Operations. Boorda is notable as the first person to have risen from the enlisted ranks to become Chief of Naval Operations, the highest-ranking billet in the United States Navy. Boorda died by suicide by shooting himself in the chest after leaving suicide notes reported to contain expressions of concern that he had tarnished the reputation of the Navy, following a media investigation into the legitimacy of his having worn on his uniform two service medals with bronze "V" devices, which indicate the awards were for acts of valor. The "V" devices are by regulation only to be awarded to personnel who performed an act of valor in actual combat, and Boorda had not served in combat. Boorda had removed the two medal devices on his uniform almost a year before he died and was generally perceived as having made a good-faith error in believing he was authorized to wear the devices. Early life Boorda was born in South Bend, Indiana, to Jewish parents, Gertrude (Frank) Wallis and Herman Boorda. His family moved to Momence, Illinois, where his father had a dress shop. His grandparents had immigrated from Ukraine. When he was 19, Boorda married Bettie Mae Moran. Their first son David was born with severe disabilities. They had two more sons, Edward and Robert, and a daughter named Anna. Boorda and his wife raised their children as Protestants.