Roy Boehm: Difference between revisions

|image= Roy Boehm.jpg

|birth_place= [[Brooklyn, New York]], U.S.

|death_place= [[Punta Gorda, Florida]], U.S.

|allegiance= {{flag|[[United States of America}}]]

|unit= [[File:USUnited States Navy SEALsSpecial Warfare insignia.png|30px]] [[United States Navy SEALs|SEALs]]

|battles=[[World War II]]<br />[[Korean War]]<br />[[Vietnam War]]

'''Roy H. Boehm''' (April 9, 1924&nbsp;– 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.

His first billet as a [[professional diver|hardhat diver]] was aboard the {{USS|Duncan|DD-485}}, a newly commissioned [[Gleaves class destroyer|''Gleaves''-class]] [[destroyer]].<ref name="first">{{cite book |last=Boehm |first=Roy |title=First Seal |author2=Sasser |year= 1997 |publisher= Pocket |location=New York |isbn=978-0-671-53626-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/lovesong00wild/page/32 32–40] |url=https://archive.org/details/lovesong00wild/page/32 }}</ref> The ship entered the wreckage of [[Pearl Harbor]] for last minute repairs and refitting before proceeding to the ocean war in the South Pacific. Qualified divers on all vessels entering Pearl Harbor were temporarily assigned to the base to assist in salvage of sunken ships.<ref name="first"/> Boehm was tasked with salvaging the sunken {{USS|Arizona|BB-39|6}} and diving to recover corpses and ammunition.<ref name="first"/><ref name="letters">{{cite book |last=Carrol |first=Andrew |title= War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars |year=2001 2001|publisher= Scribner |location=New York |isbn=978-0-7434-1006-9 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/warletters00andr/page/394 394] |url=https://archive.org/details/warletters00andr/page/394 }}</ref> Boehm confessed that he found the job of recovering dead sailors so distressing that he actually vomited inside his diver's helmet the first time he was required to do it.<ref>''First Seal'' pagesp. 44</ref>

Boehm was a veteran of one of the largest "all surface" sea engagements of World War II, the [[Battle of Cape Esperance]] at [[Guadalcanal]].<ref name="letters"/><ref name="second">{{cite book |last=Boehm |first=Roy |author2=Sasser |title=First Seal |year= 1997 |publisher= Pocket |location=New York |isbn=978-0-671-53626-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/lovesong00wild/page/41 41–73] |url=https://archive.org/details/lovesong00wild/page/41 }}</ref> During the battle, Boehm was serving on the destroyer USS ''Duncan'' when the ship received fifty-eight 6"6″ and 8"8″ shell hits at point blank range before going down. With shrapnel embedded in his head and body, he saved one of his shipmates from burning to death by plunging into the ocean.<ref name="second"/> Subsequently, he had to literally fight off sharks, whowhich killed the sailor he tried to save.<ref name="second"/>

After World War II, Boehm left the Navy briefly, but reenlisted after a few months of civilian life. He served as [[Boatswain's Mate (United States Navy)|Chief Boatswain's Mate]] aboard the {{USS|Worcester|CL-144}} during the [[Korean War]] providing fire support for the [[United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps]] [[Battle of Inchon|landing at Inchon]] and covering the retreat at the [[Chosin Reservoir]]. In 1955 Boehm went through UDT ([[Underwater Demolition Team]]) training at the age of 31. Because of his prior experience as a deep-sea diver he had the opportunity to test prototype [[submersibles]] and [[SEAL Delivery Vehicle|swimmer-delivery vehicles]]. Eventually he was commissioned as an officer.

After receiving his commission, in early 1960 Boehm developed, designed, implemented, and led the US Navy's [[commando]] organization known as the [[Navy SEALS|SEALs]]. He was the first Officer in Charge (OIC) of SEAL Team Two.<ref name="comphist">{{cite book |last=Dockery |first=Kevin |title=Navy SealsSEALs: theThe Complete History |year= 2004 |publisher= Berkeley Books |location=CaliforniaNew York |isbn=978-0-425-20072-8 |pages=73, 74, 195, 200}}</ref> Boehm personally selected the men for this unit, the first two being [[Rudy Boesch]] as master-at-arms and J. H. "Hoot" Andrews as [[storekeeper]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Boehm |first=Roy |title=First SealSEAL |author2=Sasser |year=1997 1997|publisher=Pocket Pocket|location=New York |isbn=978-0-671-53626-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/lovesong00wild/page/150 150] |url=https://archive.org/details/lovesong00wild/page/150 }}</ref><ref name="HS1">{{cite book |last=Fawcett|first=Bill |title= Hunters & Shooters|year= 1995|publisher= Avon|location=New York |isbn=978-0380721665|pages=7–8|url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Hunters_Shooters.html?id=qoUorbbMq94C}}</ref>

While forming the SEALs, Boehm was subjected to a Board of Inquiry five times (but never [[court-martial]]ed) for offenses such as modifying issued gear (high-altitude parachutes and diving rigs) to make them suitable for the SEALs' purposes and for purchasing weapons such as [[AR-15]]s on the open market as opposed to going through official channels or the Navy's Bureau of Weapons.<ref name="comphist"/><ref name="BM">{{cite book |last=Kelly |first=Orr |title= Brave Men Dark Waters |year= 1992 |publisher= Pocket Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-671-86762-1 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bravemendarkwate00orrk/page/111 111–113, 140] |url=https://archive.org/details/bravemendarkwate00orrk/page/111 }}</ref> The investigations were dropped after he received authorization from President [[John F. Kennedy]] following a Kennedy visit to the [[Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek|Little Creek]] training area to see the SEALs in action.<ref name="comphist"/><ref name="HS1"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Kelly |first=Orr |date=1992 |title=Brave Men, Dark Waters: The Untold Story of the Navy SEALs |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3c-1AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT72&dqq=%22boehm%22+%22kennedy%22+%22navy%22+%22seals%22&hlpg=en&sa=X&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAmoVChMIlYObstXzxgIVCdGACh35JAbF#v=onepage&q=%22boehm%22%20%22kennedy%22%20%22navy%22%20%22seals%22&f=falsePT72 |location=Novato, CA |publisher=Presidio Press |pageat=Chapter 6 |isbn=978-0-8914-1408-7}}</ref>

Boehm's idea for a Naval Commandocommando Unitunit went back to his time in the Pacific in World War II. He envisioned highly motivated and highly trained warriors like the Frogmen and UDTs operating beyond the beachhead.<ref name="comphist"/> He felt that his men should have a variety of training to give them an edge in [[unconventional warfare]] beyond diving, [[shooting]], [[demolitions]], [[martial arts]], and parachuting and expanded the curriculum to include photography, intelligence gathering, and sailing.<ref name="third"/> He even sent SEALs to train in prisons to learn skills such as lockpicking, safecracking, and hotwiring cars from professional criminals.<ref name="HS1"/><ref name="third">{{cite book |last=Boehm |first=Roy |title=First Seal |author2=Sasser |year= 1997 |publisher= Pocket |location=New York |isbn=978-0-671-53626-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/lovesong00wild/page/144 144] |url=https://archive.org/details/lovesong00wild/page/144 }}</ref>

On the 4th of 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 Viet CongVC underwater [[attack on the [[USSUSNS 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 hepatitashepatitis 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 assisted in the design and implementation of the Navy's first counterinsurgency course, for which he received the [[Navy Achievement Medal]].<ref name="comphist"/> Following this, he was named head of the Navy's River Patrol Craft Division where he developed tactical procedures, organized, and trained [[Patrol Boat, River|River Patrol Boat]] sailors for [[Operation Game Warden]] in [[Vietnam]].<ref name="comphist"/><ref name="BM"/><ref name="HS3">{{cite book|last=Fawcett|first=Bill |title= Hunters & Shooters|year= 1995|publisher= Avon|location=New York |isbn=978-0380721665|url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Hunters_Shooters.html?id=qoUorbbMq94C|pages=40}}</ref>

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| titleurl = 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 accessdatepasses to name post office for SEAL pioneer | archive-date = SeptemberJuly 1520, 20092011}} ''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 | accessdateaccess-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>

[[Category:AmericanUnited militaryStates Navy personnel of the KoreanWorld War II]]

[[Category:AmericanUnited militaryStates Navy personnel of the VietnamKorean War]]

[[Category:AmericanUnited militaryStates Navy personnel of Worldthe WarVietnam IIWar]]

[[Category:PeopleMilitary personnel from Brooklyn]]