Roy Boehm: Difference between revisions

|image= Roy Boehm.jpg

'''Roy H. Boehm''' (April 9, 1924 – December 30, 2008) was born in [[Brooklyn, New York]], and was a veteran of 30 years of military service in the [[United States Navy]], serving in three wars and various clandestine operations. Boehm was a [[Mustang (military officer)|mustang officer]] who rose up from the enlisted ranks and was commissioned to develop and lead what would become the [[Navy SEALs|US Navy SEALs]] as the first Officer In Charge of SEAL Team Two.

On November 4, 1963, Boehm arrived in [[South Vietnam]] to act as an advisor for [[Army of the Republic of Vietnam]] Underwater Demolition Teams. Rather than train for the conventional UDT mission Boehm employed his frogmen in the unconventional warfare role conducting recon missions, ambushes and raids against the [[Viet Cong]] (VC). He would also aid in the investigation of the successful VC underwater [[Attackattack on USNS Card]], suggesting that the explosives and expertise used may have been provided by a group of deserters from his own unit. Boehm was eventually evacuated on medical grounds in late 1964 with viral hepatitis and a deformed kneecap. As an advisor in Vietnam, Boehm befriended and grew to respect one of his enemies, the commander of the VC 514th Battalion named Minh.<ref name="BM"/>

Boehm died December 30, 2008, at his home in [[Punta Gorda, Florida]]. He was 84. According to his wife Susan, he wanted his death to go unpublicized.<ref name="obit"/> "He wanted no obituary, no funeral service and no fanfare," she said, "He just wanted to go in peace".<ref name="obit">[http://www.sunnewspapers.net/articles/pnnews.aspx?NewsID=429342&a=newsarchive2/010309/tp1ch1.htm&pnpg=0 Legendary 'First SEAL' passes away] Charlotte Sun, retrieved January 3, 2008</ref>

On August 19, 2009, [[President of the United States of America|President]] [[Barack Obama]] signed Public Law No. 111-59 (H.R. 2470), sponsored by [[Tom Rooney (Florida politician)|Congressman Tom Rooney]], which officially named the Murdock Post Office in [[Port Charlotte, Florida]], located in [[Charlotte County, Florida|Charlotte County]] in which Boehm lived, after him.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.swfc.edu/pdf/PCnewprogramsArticle.pdf| access-date = September 15, 2009| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110720053240/http://www.swfc.edu/pdf/PCnewprogramsArticle.pdf |title=Bill passes to name post office for SEAL pioneer | archive-date = July 20, 2011}} ''Charlott Sun'' newspaper, June 17, 2009</ref><ref>{{cite web| title = Acts Approved by the President| url = http://www.gpoaccess.gov/presdocs/2009/DCPD-2009ACTSAPPROVED.pdf| access-date = September 15, 2009| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090904181328/http://www.gpoaccess.gov//presdocs/2009/DCPD-2009ACTSAPPROVED.pdf| archive-date = September 4, 2009}}</ref>