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Mike Boorda

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Military Personnel

The Resume

    (November 26, 1939-May 16, 1996)
    Born in South Bend, Indiana
    Admiral in the United States Navy and Chief of Naval Operations
    Committed suicide during an investigation of accusations of his wearing military decorations he was not entitled to display
    Full name: Jeremy Michael Boorda
    BA from University of Rhode Island in Political Science
    Jewish

Why he might be annoying:

    Some military decorations (medals) including two that Boorda earned; the Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal and the Navy & Marine Corps Achievement Medal have a 'V' attached to them if earned during combat. Boorda wore these medals with these V's even though they technically hadn't been awarded with these medals.
    He received a lot of criticism of his handling of the 'Tailhook' sexual harassment scandal in the early 1990's.
    It's very hard for non-veterans to understand what a big deal his wearing of unearned decorations was.
    He quit high school, ran away from home and lied about his age to join the Navy at 17, got married at 19, and fathered his first child at 20.

Why he might not be annoying:

    Ironically, he was probably entitled to wear the disputed decorations.
    He was the first member of the United States Navy to rise from the enlisted ranks to be the Chief of Naval Operations and was first Jewish CNO and first Chief of Naval Operations to not be a graduate of the United States Naval Academy.
    He was obviously suffering from emotional problems before the medals controversy.
    He was very bright, talented, intelligent, and hard-working.
    He served two tours off the coast of Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
    He pushed hard for the Navy to keep up with technological advancements.
    He and his wife's first child was born with serious disabilities.
    He was a decent and honorable man and no one, not even his most serious critics accused him of knowingly wearing unearned decorations.

Credit: tom_jeffords


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 47 Votes: 57.45% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 10 Votes: 40.0% Annoying