ADM Jeremy "Mike" Boorda, May 16, 1996: Pt. 2

Part 2 of 4.
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Washington Post: How rumor becomes news fact - the Adm Boorda cover-up

Navy's Top Officer Kills Himself After Medal Inquiries
Adm. Jeremy Boorda Faced Media Questions About Legitimacy of His
Combat Valor Pins

By Bradley Graham and John Mintz
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, May 17 1996; Page A01
The Washington Post

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Boorda left two notes, one to his wife and family, and another addressed to two friends with instructions to pass the message to all Navy sailors, according to Pentagon and law enforcement sources. In the message to sailors, Boorda acknowledged he made a mistake in wearing the "V" pins. He had wrongly thought he was entitled to them, he said, but worried that some would never see his action as an honest mistake.

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In addition to the questions about Boorda's decorations, top Pentagon officials pointed out that the Navy chief had recently drawn two public attacks on his leadership. An anonymous letter in this week's Navy Times alleged that Boorda had lost the respect of other senior officers and should resign. And former Navy secretary James H. Webb III delivered a scathing speech at the Naval Academy last month accusing unnamed service leaders of currying political favor at the expense of Navy personnel.

Copyright 1996 The Washington Post Company
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The Enigma of an Admiral's Death

To Many Colleagues, Neither Medal Controversy Nor Grueling Pace
Explains Suicide

By Dan Morgan and George Lardner
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, May 20 1996; Page A01
The Washington Post

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Grieving fellow officers and friends have therefore been left with two main explanations for what happened.

One is that Boorda was acting in a noble, if misguided, attempt to protect the honor of the Navy, which has suffered a string of embarrassments and scandals over the last several years. Boorda left two suicide notes, which indicated the CNO's deep concern about questions being raised by news organizations about his past, possibly unauthorized wearing of two combat pins on Vietnam-era ribbon decorations.

Boorda indicated that he was not taking his life in the belief that he had been caught in a lie, but out of fears that the media would accuse him of one and blow it out of proportion.

[Mac note: No longer attributed - assumed fact.]

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Copyright 1996 The Washington Post Company
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Boorda Critic Voices Regrets
But Navy Officer Who Wrote Letter Stands By Comments

By John Mintz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 29 1996; Page A03
The Washington Post

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The Navy has announced it will not release Boorda's suicide notes, one to his family and one addressed to "the sailors." The message the Navy sent to its personnel included a passage that, according to Bettie Boorda, "might be something like" what her husband would have wanted to say.

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Copyright 1996 The Washington Post Company
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Pursuing a Non-Story to Its Bitter End

By Nat Hentoff
Saturday, June 1 1996; Page A15
The Washington Post

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In his suicide notes, Boorda -- as reported by Dan Morgan and George Lardner in The Post -- "indicated he was not taking his life in the belief that he had been caught in a lie, but out of fears that the media would accuse him of one and blow it out of proportion." Of whom could the admiral have been thinking?

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[Mac note: Despite fact, Hentoff quotes reporters, who read some other rumor, as factual sources.]

Copyright 1996 The Washington Post Company
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[Mac note: Washington Post collusion or just fargin' stupid? I just can't believe the Washington press corps is this idiotic!! Hello Janet! Nice to see you again - was wondering where you've been keeping yourself.]

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Truth still unknown - NSNS and Adm Boorda Cover-up

The Boorda Story: `What Good Reporters Are Supposed to Do'

Saturday, June 8 1996; Page A13
The Washington Post

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As the bureau chief who authorized the Freedom of Information request that uncovered the reality that Adm. Jeremy M. Boorda wore unauthorized Combat Distinguishing Devices (combat V's), I can tell Hentoff that having someone take his life over a story in which you had a hand is not an experience I take lightly ["Pursuing a Non-Story to Its Bitter End," op-ed, June 1]. The suicide of Adm. Boorda is a tragedy. But this tragedy cannot be used as an excuse not to do stories.

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Hentoff and others have decided to make NSNS and Newsweek the issue instead of how a very talented but troubled man came to head the Navy at a critical time. The Navy public relations apparatus and others have been working hard to keep the attention on the role of the media, not problems in the Navy. Only a few stories, including one in the Philadelphia Inquirer, took seriously indications that Boorda had been displaying signs of stress.

The Navy and the D.C. police have refused to release the contents of the two suicide notes that Boorda left behind. Why? The Navy claims it wants to protect the privacy of the family. Since one of the suicide notes was typed and dated the day before Boorda was to see the Newsweek reporters, the possibility is raised that his suicide may have been prompted by other issues.

To set the record straight, the Boorda story began with a request and tip from a "60 Minutes" producer named Charles Thompson, who told us that he had heard that a number of top military officers were wearing decorations they were not entitled to. Our inquiry about Boorda was one of many FOIA letters we sent out requesting service decoration citations. In the meantime, Thompson left "60 Minutes" after we had filled the FOIAs. Our reporter, Roger Charles, asked me if he could bring the results to David Hackworth, whom we had worked with before. Hackworth, had Hentoff bothered to check, had the role of being handed the FOIA material. He had no vendetta against Boorda.

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-- Joe Trento

The writer is bureau chief of the National Security News Service.

(C) Copyright 1996 The Washington Post Company

[Mac note: Trento still doesn't explain why NSNS waited a year before pursuing the story. The claim was NSNS needed photographic proof. All of a sudden "Defense Week" runs a photo of Adm Boorda that is more than a year old where he's wearing the medals (he had stopped wearing them more than a year before Newsweek's Thomas and Hackworth called for the interview), and voila NSNS - which didn't think to unearth on old photo of Adm Boorda wearing the medals when it finally received the FOIA info - has its miraculous scoop! IMHO, Trento is ready to take down the house of cards what set him up. And why hasn't this "Charlie Thompson" of 60 Minutes been interviewed? What the hell's going on with the Washington press corps????]

Next post: ADM Jeremy "Mike" Boorda, May 16, 1996: Pt. 3