Subj: Adm. Boorda's Death: Blaming Feminism
Date: 96-05-22
From: James Vincent Holton

Greetings,

I was reading the Washington Times yesterday and found three editorials about Adm. Boorda's suicide. All three articles in some way blamed the feminist movement as a contributing factor in the Navy's recent troubles, and indirectly, in Adm. Boorda's death.

The Washington Times, also known as the 'Morning Moonie' is not one of the nation's better papers. I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed a trend of blaming feminism in the CNO's death, or if the Times is a sorry exception.

The articles referred to Boorda as "NOW's admiral," and accused Boorda of fostering a "ladies' Navy," and made references to admirals falling over themselves to please Pat Schroeder and worrying about "feral feminism." One columnist said that Boorda had had a tough job because he had to contemplate sending "19 year old boys and 19 year old pregnant girls" into combat and made a reference to the USS Yosemite "Love Boat" scandal of a few years back (if anyone can provide more light on this particular issue, I would appreciate it).

Does anyone out there have an ear close to the ground on this issue?

Jim Holton
George Washington University
holton@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu

Date: Thu, 23 May 1996
From Linda Grant De Pauw, H-MINERVA
Reply-To: H-NET List for Discussion of Women & the Military and Women in War H-MINERVA@h-net.msu.edu
Subject: COMMENT: ADM Boorda and the Navy

Subj: Re: COMMENT: ADM Boorda and the Navy
Date: 96-05-23
From: JAYNE REED

Am I the only person who thinks the medal issue is a crock??? If all the other crap the navy has been up to lately didn't bother him, I can't see how a year-old "controversy" would drive him to suicide. Remember, when other crap the navy has been up to lately didn't bother him, I can't see how a year-old "controversy" would drive him to suicide. Remember, when the question first came up, he just took the "v" off.

There's the medal of honor, silver star, bronze star, purple heart--everything else is costume jewelry.

Jayne Reed

Date: Thu, 23 May 1996
From: Linda Grant De Pauw H-Minerva
Reply-To: H-NET List for the Discussion of Women & the Military and Women in War H-MINERVA@h-net.msu.edu
Subject: Comment: ADM Boorda
Subj: Comment: ADM Boorda and the Navy
Date: 96-05-23
From: Prendergast, Eloise C.

Jayne, NOTHING is worth committing suicide over - a medal issue, or a spouse's affair - - - really sad. Unfortunately, it's done. Eloise Prendergast

Date: Thu, 23 May 1996
From: Linda Grant De Pauw, H-MINERVA
Reply-To: H-NET List for Discussion of Women & the Military and Women in War H-MINERVA@h-net.msu.edu
Subject: COMMENT: Adm. Boorda's Death: Blaming Feminism

Subj: Re: COMMENT: Adm. Boorda's Death: Blaming Feminism
Date: 96-05-23
From: Maureen Phillips

RE Co-opting Boorda:

I have been working on a dissertation about hostile work environments in the military. I've been holding my breath since Boorda's "brave act" (he apparently offed himself to save the Navy from further suffering over his mistake) waiting to see if such rhetoric would begin. The military culture is so utterly predictable when it comes to the cycle of sexual harassment and how it gets relayed in language. Now that Boorda, who was supposedly friendly to women (and I question how/why the Navy thought it important to bring an enlisted man up to the rank of admiral while they simultaneously destroyed many women's careers) is dead, they're using his corpse to launch a counter-strike against the gains women have made in the Navy.

My guess is that favors were done for this white guy who played the game well. I personally wonder whether Boorda was not simply hyper-aware of his own duplicitous position. Sure he was a nice guy, sure the enlisted folks loved him, he was still a white male promoted as a token up through the elitist hierarchy of the Navy. Who can survive there who doesn't have a high pucker factor? At any moment, those who put you there can erase you. Now that's pressure. Who leaked the bullshit story about the valor device to Newsweek anyway? Why? Was Boorda *too* woman-friendly? Was he the next best thing to having a woman there? We in the military understand that the medals system is bogus in many ways. The awards and decorations program has long since lost its credibility. If Boorda was the star pupil that supposedly got him to his admiralty, a mere ounce of tin would not have prompted him to kill himself. Why couldn't he, as he had said before he left the office that day, simply told the truth? Maybe the truth was that the officers who "brought him up" told him to slap on the V so that their nepotism would look more legitimate.

It's utterly classic that they would then fail to blame themselves for the hypocracy of the culture and instead blame women. Collectively, women in the Navy need to stand up and call that the crime it is. I hope to see this debate and the investigation into Boorda's behavior played out. Too many people buy into these lies without critiqueing who's writing the pulp fiction.

Maureen Phillips

Date: Thu, 23 May 1996
From: Linda Grant De Pauw
Reply-To: H-NET List for Discussion of Women & the Military and Women in War H-MINERVA@h-net.msu.edu
Subject: COMMENT: ADM Boorda

Subj: Re: COMMENT: ADM Boorda and the Navy
Date: 96-05-23
From: Phyllis Soybel Butler

No Jayne, you're not. Especially in light of the comments he made about taking
responsibility for actions and correcting mistakes. In addition, being the
daughter of a mediacl examiner (and responsible as a teenager for filling out
his forms), people who commit suicide by shooting do not do it in the chest...

Phyllis

Date: Thu, 23 May 1996
From: Linda Grant De Pauw
Reply-To: H-NET List for Discussion of Women & the Military and Women in War H-MINERVA@h-net.msu.edu Subject: COMMENT: ADM Boorda

Subj: ADM Boorda and the Navy
Date: 96-05-23
From: STEAMGENE@AOL.COM

Jayne Reed wrote "am i the only person who thinks the medal issue is a crock??? "there's the medal of honor, silver star, bronze star, purple heart--everything else is costme jewelry" I'm not sure what the credentials of Jayne Reed are, but her comment is something of a crock. Despite the fact that the awards are very minor and are more than twenty years old, the fact that the "V" device may not have been authorized is important. I wouldn't wear my 2nd Infantry Division patch until I finally saw in writing from an offical source that it was okay to do so - and that's just a unit patch, not a decoration. You left out the Distinguished Service Cross/Navy Cross/Air Force Cross, as well as the Soldier's Medal (and sister service designations) as well as the Distinguished Flying Cross. While the Air Medal suffered from over exposure in Vietnam, the system has a handle on it again. Thank you very much, Jayne, but I busted my butt for my first decoration for achievement. Sorry that nobody thought my volunteering to probe for mines wasn't worth recognizing despite three wrecked vehicles in two days, three dead and I forget how many wounded, but they thought that was just what Artillery Liaison officers normally did, so nobody thought to give me a medal. As it stands, my Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, though far down on my "costume jewelry", means a whole hell of a lot to me. My father is proud of his European-Africa Campaign medal with its silver star, four bronze stars and an arrow head, his Korean Service Medal and its three bronze stars and his Senior Parachutist wings with its two bronze stars. I don't know if Jayne is a civilian or not, but she sure proves a lot of reporters correct in saying that it's hard for somebody not in the system to understand the importance of awards - which, of course, is one of the reasons for the inflation that has occurred.

Gene Moser (LTC, FA, USAR, (ret)
p.s. El - I suggest a TOT on the next person who suggests that Molly Pitcher
is a myth - recommend DIVARTY 3, DPICM/WP - how copy?

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