Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr.

Elmo Russell Zumwalt, Jr. (November 29, 1920 – January 2, 2000) was an American naval officer and the youngest man to serve as Chief of Naval Operations. As an admiral and later the 19th Chief of Naval Operations, Zumwalt played a major role in U.S. military history, especially during the Vietnam War. A highly-decorated war veteran, Zumwalt reformed Naval personnel policies in an effort to improve enlisted life and ease racial tensions. After he retired from a 32-year Navy career, he launched an unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate.

Early life and education

Zumwalt was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Elmo Russell Zumwalt, M.D., and Frances Zumwalt, M.D., both country doctors. Frances had been the daughter of two French-Canadian doctors in a small town in Vermont: her parents had both died in a smallpox epidemic when she was a baby. She was adopted by a family who moved to Los Angeles, where she grew up. Her adoptive parents encouraged Frances to become a doctor like her birth parents.

Zumwalt, an Eagle Scout and recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America, attended Tulare Union High School in Tulare, California, where he became the valedictorian, and Rutherford Preparatory School in Long Beach.

Entrance into the US Navy

He had planned to become a doctor like his parents, but in 1939, Zumwalt was accepted to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. As a midshipman at the USNA, he was president of the Trident Society, vice president of the Quarterback Society and the two-time winner of the June Week Public Speaking Contest (1940-41). Zumwalt also participated in intercollegiate debating and was a Company Commander (1941) and Regimental Three Striper (1942). He graduated with distinction and was commissioned as an ensign on June 19, 1942. He also received an honorary degree from Texas Tech University.

World War II

Zumwalt joined the USS "Phelps" (DD-360), a destroyer. In August 1943, "Phelps" was detached for instruction in the Operational Training Command-Pacific in San Francisco. In January 1944, Zumwalt reported for duty onboard the USS "Robinson". On this ship, he was awarded the Bronze Star with Valor device for "heroic service as Evaluator in the Combat Information Center "...in action against enemy Japanese battleships during the Battle for Leyte Gulf, October 25, 1944."

After the end of World War II in August 1945, Zumwalt continued to serve until December 8 as the prize crew officer of the HIMJS "Ataka", a 1,200-ton Japanese river gunboat with a crew of 200. In this capacity, he took the first American-controlled ship since the outbreak of World War II up the Huangpu River to Shanghai, China. There, they helped to restore order and assisted in disarming the Japanese.

Marriage

While there, Zumwalt met and married Mouza Coutelais-du-Roche, whose French-Russian family was living in Shanghai. She returned with him to the United States. Her family, left behind in a region whose post-war government was chaotic, fared poorly, despite the best intentions and best efforts of the victors.

Command assignments

Zumwalt next served as executive officer of the destroyer USS "Saufley", and in March 1946, was transferred to the destroyer USS "Zellars", as Executive Officer and Navigator. In January 1948, he was assigned to the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps Unit of the University of North Carolina, where he remained until June 1950. That same month, he assumed command of USS "Tills", a destroyer escort that was commissioned in a reserve status. The Tillis was placed in full active commission at Charleston Naval Shipyard on 21 November 1950, and he continued to command her until March 1951, when he joined the battleship USS "Wisconsin" as Navigator.

Detached from USS "Wisconsin" in June 1952, he attended the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, and in June 1953, he reported as Head of the Shore and Overseas Bases Section, Bureau of Naval Personnel, Navy Department, Washington, D. C. He also served as Officer and Enlisted Requirements Officer, and as Action Officer on Medicare Legislation. Completing that tour of duty in July 1955, he assumed command of the destroyer USS "Arnold J. Isbell", participating in two deployments with the U.S. Seventh Fleet. In this assignment, he was commended by the Commander, Cruiser-Destroyer Forces, U.S. Pacific Fleet for winning the Battle Efficiency Competition for his ship and for winning Excellence Awards in Engineering, Gunnery, Anti-Submarine Warfare, and Operations. In July 1957, he returned to the Bureau of Naval Personnel for further duty. In December 1957, he was transferred to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Personnel and Reserve Forces), and served as Special Assistant for Naval Personnel until November 1958, then as Special Assistant and Naval Aide until August 1959.

Ordered to the first ship built from the keel up as a guided missile ship, USS "Dewey" (DLG-14), built at the Bath (Maine) Iron Works, he assumed command of that guided missile frigate at her commissioning in December 1959, and commanded her until June 1961. During this period of his command, Dewey earned the Excellence Award in Engineering, Supply, Weapons, and was runner-up in the Battle Efficiency Competition. He was a student at the National War College, Washington, D. C., during the 1961-1962 class year. In June 1962, he was assigned to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (International Security Affairs), Washington, D. C., where he served first as Desk Officer for France, Spain and Portugal, then as Director of Arms Control and Contingency Planning for Cuba. From December 1963 until 21 June 1965, he served as Executive Assistant and Senior Aide to the Honorable Paul H. Nitze, Secretary of the Navy. For duty in his tour in the offices of the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Navy, he was awarded the Legion of Merit.

Flag assignments

After his selection for the rank of Rear Admiral, he assumed command in July 1965 of Cruiser-Destroyer Flotilla Seven. In September 1968, he became Commander Naval Forces, Vietnam, and Chief of the Naval Advisory Group, U. S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, and was promoted to Vice Admiral in October 1968. Vice Admiral Zumwalt was the Navy adviser to General Creighton Abrams, the commander of all US Forces. Zumwalt always spoke very highly of Abrams, and said that Abrams was the most caring officer he had ever known. Zumwalt mentioned that the General was the first to congratulate him when he was chosen to be Chief of Naval Operations.

Father and son in uniform

Zumwalt's command was not a blue-water unit, like the Seventh Fleet; it was a brown-water unit: he commanded the flotilla of Swift Boats that patrolled the coasts, harbors, and rivers of Vietnam. Among the swift-boat commanders were his son, Elmo Russell Zumwalt III, and later future Senator John Kerry. During this time, the elder Zumwalt had an opportunity to safeguard the men who served under his command from the Viet Cong who hid in the jungle and ambushed American and ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) patrols at will.

Admiral Zumwalt and Agent Orange

A new herbicide, Agent Orange, could be sprayed on the foliage to remove the cover that the Viet Cong used so effectively. The side effects on humans of long-term exposure to Agent Orange were not yet known, and the manufacturers, Dow and Monsanto, were eager to reassure potential users about its safety. Admiral Zumwalt acted to protect not only his own son, but also his many comrades from a "clear and present danger," but in so doing, he inadvertently exposed them to chemicals now known to cause cancer. As all commanders must do, Admiral Zumwalt acted quickly and decisively on the available information; in this case, he relied on sources that were biased and unreliable, as later developments made clear.

Chief of Naval Operations

President Richard M. Nixon nominated Zumwalt to be Chief of Naval Operations on 14 April 1970. Upon being relieved as Commander Naval Forces, Vietnam, on 15 May 1970, he was awarded a Gold Star in lieu of a second Navy Distinguished Service Medal for exceptionally meritorious service.

He assumed command as Chief of Naval Operations and was promoted to full Admiral on 1 July 1970, and quickly began a series of moves intended to reduce racism and sexism in the Navy. These were disseminated in Navy-wide communications to the Navy known as "Z-grams." These included orders authorizing beards (sideburns, mustaches, and longer groomed hair were also acceptable) and introducing beer-dispensing machines to barracks. Not all of these changes were well-received by senior naval personnel. The measures to reduce discrimination against women and racial minorities were adamantly opposed by those who had long benefited from this discrimination.

Zumwalt reshaped the Navy's effort to replace large numbers of aging World War II-era vessels, a plan called "High-Low." Instituted over the resistance of Admiral Hyman Rickover and others, High-Low sought to balance the purchase of high-end, nuclear-powered vessels with low-end, cheaper ones -- such as the Sea Control Ship -- that could be bought in greater numbers. Rickover, the Father of the Nuclear Navy, preferred buying a few impressive ships to buying many ordinary ones. (A similar dichotomy was seen in the late 16th century: The Spanish Armada was a fleet of 100-odd large ships of the line; they were massive, fast, and heavily armed, they carried an army of infantrymen inside them, ready to invade England. Arrayed against the Spanish Armada was a more numerous English fleet of small, agile, lightly-armed ships. Ultimately, the little ships sank many of the big ones, and storms sank almost all of the rest.) Zumwalt proposed four kinds of warships to fit the plan; in the end, only the "Pegasus" class of missile patrol boats and the "Oliver Hazard Perry" (FFG 7) class of guided missile frigates became reality. But the "Perrys" stood as the most populous class of U.S. warships since World War II until the advent of the "Arleigh Burke" (DDG 51) destroyers.

Zumwalt retired from the Navy on 1 July 1974.

Later years

In 1976, he unsuccessfully ran as a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate from Virginia. Later, he held the presidency of the American Medical Building Corporation in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

In 1996, Admiral Jeremy Boorda, Chief of Naval Operations, and a close subordinate of Zumwalt's in Vietnam, committed suicide while on active duty because of an article by retired U.S. Army Colonel David Hackworth in "Newsweek" magazine. Hackworth questioned Boorda's wearing a "V" (for valor) pin on his Navy Achievement and Commendation Medals (which were earned for service in Vietnam). Zumwalt publicly stated that Boorda had indeed earned them and was authorized to wear them, but it proved too late for Jeremy Boorda. Following these statements made by Zumwalt, Hackworth's criticism of Boorda ceased to make headlines.

Family and home life

In his later years, Zumwalt made his home in Arlington, Virginia. He and his wife, the former Mouza Coutelais-du-Roche of Harbin, Manchuria, China, had four children: Elmo R. Zumwalt III, who had died of cancer in 1988, possibly due to Agent Orange exposure, and James Gregory Zumwalt; two daughters, Ann F. Zumwalt Coppola and Mouza C. Zumwalt-Weathers.

During his son's illness in the early 1980s, Admiral Zumwalt was very active in lobbying Congress to establish a national registry of bone marrow donors. (Such donors serve patients who do not have suitably matched bone marrow donors in their families. This was ultimately a disinterested act, since his son was able to receive a transplant from his own sister, but many patients don't have close relatives who are able and willing to help in this heroic way. His efforts were a major factor in the founding of the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) in July 1986. Admiral Zumwalt was the first chairman of the NMDP's Board of Directors.

Admiral Zumwalt said he felt his son's cancer was most definitely due to Agent Orange. He also mentioned that his grandson Russell suffered from very severe learning disabilities that could possibly be traced to it as well. However, Zumwalt said he did not regret ordering the use of Agent Orange because it reduced casualties by making it difficult for the enemy to hide and find food.

Admiral Zumwalt, along with John Pekkanen, authored a book called "My Father, My Son", published by MacMillan in September 1986, where they discussed the family tragedy of his son's battle with cancer.

It should be noted that the younger Zumwalt said he bore his father no bitterness and did not blame him. After treatment in a number of hospitals, Elmo III went to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, in Seattle, where he received a bone marrow transplant from his sister Mouzetta, whose tissues fortunately matched his well enough for this treatment to be feasible. Results were promising at the end of "My Father, My Son," but he died in 1988.

That same year, 1988, the book was adapted for a TV movie of the same name, starring Karl Malden as the elder Zumwalt, and Keith Carradine as his son.

Death

Admiral Zumwalt died on 2 January 2000 at the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina after suffering from mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the lungs caused by his exposure to asbestos while serving in the Navy. (The same disease took the lives of actor Steve McQueen and musician Warren Zevon.) Zumwalt was also survived by six grandchildren.

Legacy

The lead ship of the United States Navy's DD(X) guided missile destroyer program is named the USS "Zumwalt"; by Navy tradition, the ship and its sisters will be called the "Zumwalt" class.

Medals and decorations

United States

US Military medals and decorations

*Navy Distinguished Service Medal with two gold award stars in lieu of second and third award
*Legion of Merit with one gold award star
*Bronze Star with Combat "V"
*Navy Commendation Medal with Combat "V"
*Navy Unit Commendation
*China Service Medal
*American Defense Service Medal with bronze "A" Device
*American Campaign Medal
*Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one silver and two bronze campaign stars in lieu of seven awards
*World War II Victory Medal
*Navy Occupation Service Medal
*National Defense Service Medal with one bronze service star
*Korean Service Medal with two bronze service stars
*Vietnam Service Medal with one silver and two bronze service stars in lieu of seven awards

US Civilian medals and decorations

*Presidential Medal of Freedom

Foreign medals and decorations

*United Nations Korean Medal - (United Nations)
*The Order of May for Naval Merit, Grand Master (or "Orden de Mayo al Mérito Naval") - (Argentina)
*Order of Léopold, Commander - (Belgium)
*Order of Naval Merit, Grade of High Officer - (Bolivia)
*Order of Naval Merit, Medal of Grand Officer - (Brazil)
*National Order of the Southern Cross, Degree of Grand Cross - (Brazil)
*Great Star of Military Merit - (Chile)
*Almirante Padilla Naval Merit Order, Great Official [http://www.armada.mil.co/english/index.php?idcategoria=1505&ts=7f3024cc795133007de73be428cbbd60] - (Colombia)
*Order of Merit of Duarte, Sanchez and Mella, Grand Cross with Silver Breast Star (Dominican Republic)
*Légion d'honneur in the Rank of Commander - (France)
*Grand Cross, Second Class of the Order of Merit - (Germany)
*Order of George I, Grand Cross - (Greece)
*Bintang Jalasena Utama, First Class - (Indonesia)
*Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, Grand Cross (or "Cavaliere di Gran Croce Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana") [http://www.quirinale.it/onorificenze/DettaglioDecorato.asp?idprogressivo=35071&iddecorato=34618 Presidency of the Italian Republic: Order] - (Italy)
*Order of the Rising Sun, 1st Class, Grand Cordon - (Japan)
*Order of Military Merit, Third Class - (Republic of Korea)
*Korean Presidential Unit Citation - (Republic of Korea)
*Order of National Security Merit, Tong-Il Medal - (Republic of Korea)
*Order of Orange-Nassau ("with Swords"), Grand Officer - (Netherlands)
*Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav, Grand Cross - (Norway)
*Philippine Presidential Unit Citation - (Philippines)
*Philippine Liberation Medal with two service stars - (Philippines)
*Royal Swedish Order of the Sword, Knighthood Grand Cross - (Sweden)
*Order of Naval Merit, First Class - (Venezuela)
*National Order of Vietnam, Third Class - (Vietnam)
*Republic of Vietnam Navy Distinguished Service Order, First Class - (Vietnam)
*Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm - (Vietnam)
*Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm - (Vietnam)
*Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with "1960 Bar" device - (Vietnam)
*Vietnam Civil Actions Medal, First Class - (Vietnam)

Miscellaneous

*Zumwalt's picture hangs in the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, near pictures of John Kerry, Robert McNamara, Warren Christopher, and other American dignitaries, in commemoration of a visit he made after normalization of relations between Vietnam and the United States. [http://daily.nysun.com/Repository/getmailfiles.asp?Style=OliveXLib:ArticleToMail&Type=text/html&Path=NYS/2004/08/16&ID=Ar00100]
*In his first book, "On Watch", Zumwalt quoted at length an interview with Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, regarded as the Father of the Nuclear Navy and who interviewed all officers with responsibilities involving nuclear propulsion. Rickover and Zumwalt had a combative conversation, with Zumwalt referring to it as a humbling experience.

*Zumwalt was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity. He was initiated in 1980.

ee also

References

Further reading

*"My Father, My Son" by Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr. and Elmo R. Zumwalt III, with John Pekkanen. (Dell Publishing Company, ISBN 0-440-15973-3)
*"On Watch: a memoir" by Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr. (The New York Times Book Co., ISBN 0-8129-0520-2)
*"Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr., Texas Tech University Series" [http://www.virtualarchive.vietnam.ttu.edu/cgi-bin/starfetch.exe?N4@s13Nbkp6bg29BrFO1pNZvr0DdFDSjye3yUDRVsV6Ke0GZcmbVZhkmoBkfSLgLY9RC5Rqs0Us4tQAivQKzlsyfJEfo4pVehbpFTLDZjAE/6310000000.pdf]

External links

*findagrave|20677 Retrieved on 2008-07-13
* [http://www.usszumwalt.com USS Zumwalt.com]
* [http://www.ddg1k.com DDG-1000 ddg1k.com]
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq93-2.htm Z-grams: A List of Policy Directives Issued by Admiral Zumwalt 1 July 1970 to 1 July 1974]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,944519-1,00.html 1972 Time magazine article on resistance to Zumwalt's policies, "Keelhauling the Navy"]