Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr.

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Elmo R. Zumwalt

Elmo Russell Zumwalt, Jr. (November 29, 1920 – January 2, 2000) was an American naval leader and the youngest man to serve as Chief of Naval Operations. As an admiral and later the 19th Chief of Naval Operations in the U.S. Navy, Zumwalt played a major part in 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.

1 Early life and education
2 World War II
3 Command assignments
4 Flag assignments
- 4.1 Chief of Naval Operations
5 Later years
6 Family
7 Medals and Decorations
- 7.1 United States
  - 7.1.1 US Civilian medals and decorations
  - 7.1.2 US Military medals and decorations
- 7.2 Foreign medals and decorations
8 Miscellaneous
9 Further reading
10 External links

[edit] 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. 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. In 1939, Zumwalt was accepted to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. As a midshipman at 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.

[edit] 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 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. There they helped to restore order and assisted in disarming the Japanese.

[edit] 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 month he assumed command of USS Tills, in commission in reserve status. That destroyer escort 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 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 to the 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, Antisubmarine 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), building 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 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.

[edit] 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. 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 he was the most caring officer he had ever known. He mentioned the General was the first to congratulate him when he was chosen to be Chief of Naval Operations. Zumwalt'z 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 John Kerry. During this time the elder Zumwalt had an opportunity to safeguard the men who served under his command from the VietCong who hid in the jungle and ambushed American and ARVN patrols at will: a new herbicide, Agent Orange, could be sprayed on the trees to remove the cover the VC used so effectively. The effects of long-term Agent-Orange exposure on humans were not yet known, and the manufacturers--Dow and Monsanto-- were eager to reassure potential users about its safety. Admiral Zumwalt acted to protect his son and his many comrades, but in so doing he inadvertently exposed him to chemicals now known to cause cancer. As all commanders must do, he acted quickly and decisively on incomplete information; in this case, he relied on information sources that were biased and unreliable, as latel developments made clear.

[edit] 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 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 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--massive, fast, heavily armed, carrying an army of infantrymen inside them, ready to invade England. Against them was ranged a more numerous English fleet of small, agile, lightly armed ships. Ultimately the little ships sank the big ones.)

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 Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) destroyers came along.

Zumwalt retired from the Navy on 1 July 1974.

[edit] Later years

In 1976, he unsuccessfully ran as a Democratic candidate for the 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 a Newsweek article by retired U.S. Army Colonel David Hackworth. 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.

Admiral Zumwalt died on 2 January 2000 at the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina after suffering with 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.) His home was in Arlington, Virginia. He was married to the former Mouza Coutelais-du-Roche of Harbin, Manchuria, and they had two sons, Elmo R. Zumwalt III, who died of cancer in 1988, possibly due to Agent Orange exposure, and James Gregory Zumwalt, and two daughters, Ann F. Zumwalt Coppola and Mouza C. Zumwalt-Weathers. He was also survived by six grandchildren. Admiral Zumwalt and his son wrote a book called My Father, My Son where they discussed their family tragedy. The book was adapted for the 1988 made-for-TV movie starring Karl Malden.

Admiral Zumwalt said he felt his son's illness was most definitely due to Agent Orange. He also mentioned that his grandson suffered from very severe learning disabilities that could possibly be traced to it as well. The Admiral mentioned that he felt terrible guilt and shame over his decision to have US Navy planes use the infamous defoliant during the war. It should be noted that the younger Zumwalt said he bore his father no bitterness and did not blame him.

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.) 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.

The lead ship of the U.S. 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.

[edit] Family

There have been four men named Elmo Russell Zumwalt. The first, born in the late 19th century, was the California physician Elmo Russell Zumwalt, M.D; he marriod another physician, the daughter of two physicians who died battling a smallpox epidemic when she was a child. Their son became a naval officer, Adm. Elmo Russell Zumwalt, Jr. When his father died, (sometime between 1974 and 1988, the son could have become Elmo Russell Zumwalt II, but apparently he did not. The son died in 2000: his epitaph reads "Zumwalt/Elmo Russell, Jr." The grandson, Elmo Russell Zumwalt III, did predecease his father, in 1988: he died of cancer attributed to Agent Orange exposure. The great grandson, Elmo Russell Zumwalt IV, was alive at the end of the 1986 book My Father, My Son. He survived his father, but has no children of his own. Even the Wikipedia article, which is the most complete source on the Web, only mentions ERZ, Jr, and ERZ III; the first and fourth ERZ were only mentioned in the emendations made in the last few months, and information about them is very sketchy. The only source is the two Zumwalt books, and these lack key details. A Zumwalt genealogy would be helpful.

[edit] Medals and Decorations

[edit] United States

[edit] US Civilian medals and decorations

Presidential Medal of Freedom

[edit] 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

[edit] 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^[1] - (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)^[2] - (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 (military division), Grand Office - (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)

[edit] 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. [1]
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.

[edit] Further reading

My Father, My Son by Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr. and Elmo R. Zumwalt III. (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)

[edit] External links

Preceded by Thomas H. Moorer	United States Chief of Naval Operations 1970–1974	Succeeded by James L. Holloway III

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