Jeremy Michael Boorda

Jeremy Michael Boorda (November 26, 1939 – May 16, 1996) was an admiral of the United States Navy and the 25th Chief of Naval Operations (CNO). Boorda is the only CNO to have risen to the position from the enlisted ranks. Boorda was born in South Bend, Indiana to Gertrude and Herman Boorda, a Jewish family, and had a bar mitzvah at the age of 13. His family moved to Momence, Illinois, where his father had a dress shop. His grandparents had immigrated from Ukraine. Boorda dropped out of high school to enlist in the United States Navy in 1956 at the age of 17; it provided a structure he at first disliked but came to use. He attained the rate of Personnelman First Class. Boorda served a variety of commands, primarily in aviation. His last...