Roy Boehm

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Roy Boehm
Born 1924

Roy Boehm as a Lieutenant in Vietnam
Place of birth Brooklyn, New York
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branch United States Navy
Years of service 1941-1971
Rank Lieutenant Commander
Commands held UDT-21, Seal Team 2
Awards Bronze Star with Valor Device
Purple Heart

Roy H. Boehm was born in Brooklyn, New York and 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 officer who rose up from the enlisted ranks and was commissioned to develop and lead what would become the US Navy SEALs as the first Officer In Charge of SEAL Team Two.

Contents

[edit] Career

At the age of 17, Boehm enlisted in the United States Navy in April 1941 to become a diver and saw action in the Pacific theater of operation during World War II from February 1942 until the conclusion of the war in 1945.

His first billet as a hardhat diver was aboard the USS Duncan (DD-485), a newly commissioned Gleaves-class destroyer.[1] 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.[1] Boehm was tasked with salvaging the sunken USS Arizona and diving to recover corpses and ammunition.[1][2]

Boehm is a survivor of one of the largest "all surface" sea engagements of World War II, the Battle of Cape Esperance at Guadalcanal.[2][3] During the battle, Boehm was serving on the destroyer USS Duncan when the ship received fifty-eight 6" and 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.[3] Subsequently, he had to literally fight off sharks, who killed the sailor he tried to save.[3]

Boehm participated in the following campaigns and engagements: Battle of the Coral Sea, Bouganville, Truk, Green Island, Emeru, Saipan, Tinian, and Guam.[3] He was engaged in supplying arms and ammunition to the guerrillas in the Philippines and fought the Japanese in Kerama Reto and Okinawa.[3]

After World War II, Boehm left the Navy briefly, but reenlisted after a few months of civilian life. He served as Chief Boatswain's Mate aboard the USS Wooster during the Korean conflict providing fire support for the Marine Corps landing at Inchon and covering the retreat at the Chosin Reservoir. In 1955 Boehm went through UDT(Underwater Demolition Team) training at age the age of 31. Because of his prior experience as a deep-sea diver he had the opportunity to test prototype submersibles and swimmer-delivery vehicles. Eventually he was commissioned as an officer and even became friends with Marine Lieutenant General Lewis "Chesty" Puller, often driving the General home from the Officer's Club after the General had too much to drink.[3]

Prior to the Bay of Pigs invasion, Boehm infiltrated Cuba on an intelligence-gathering mission and later helped train a cadre of Cuban ex-patriates in amphibious assaults to carry out the invasion.[4] Afterward, he publicly criticized President John F Kennedy for losing his nerve in the Bay of Pigs disaster and calling off US air strikes, thereby exposing the Cuban insurgents to death and capture, although none of the men he trained were killed or captured.[4]

In early 1960, under a Presidential Two priority received from President Kennedy, Boehm developed, designed, implemented, and led the US Navy's commando organization known as the SEALs. He was the first Officer in Charge (OIC) of SEAL Team Two.[5] Boehm personally selected the men for this unit, the first two being Rudy Boesch as master-at-arms and Hoot Andrews as storekeeper.[6][7]

While forming the SEALs, Boehm was subject to a board of inquiry five times but never court-martialed 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-15s on the open market as opposed to going through official channels or the Navy's Bureau of Weapons.[5][8] The investigations were dropped after he received a Presidential One Priority from the White House.[5][7]

Boehm's idea for a Naval Commando Unit 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.[5] 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.[9] He even sent SEALs to train in prisons to learn skills such as lockpicking, safecracking, and hotwiring cars from professional criminals.[9][7]

Boehm assisted in the design and implementation of the Navy's first counterinsurgency course, for which he received the Navy Achievement Medal.[5] Following this, he was named head of the Navy's River Patrol Craft Division where he developed tactical procedures, organized, and trained River Patrol Boat sailors for Operation Gamewarden in Vietnam.[5][10][8] As an advisor in Vietnam, Boehm befriended and grew to respect one of his enemies, the commander of a local Vietcong Battalion named Minh.[8]

[edit] Military awards

[edit] See also

United States Navy Portal

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Boehm, Roy; Sasser (1997). First Seal (in English). New York: Pocket, 32-40. ISBN 978-0671536268. 
  2. ^ a b Carrol, Andrew (2001). War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars (in English). New York: Scribner, 394. ISBN 978-0743410069. 
  3. ^ a b c d e f Boehm, Roy; Sasser (1997). First Seal (in English). New York: Pocket, 41-73. ISBN 978-0671536268. 
  4. ^ a b Boehm, Roy; Sasser (1997). First Seal (in English). New York: Pocket, 130-132. ISBN 978-0671536268. 
  5. ^ a b c d e f Dockery, Kevin (2004). Navy Seals: the Complete History (in English). California: Berkeley, 73,74,195,200. ISBN 978-0425200728. 
  6. ^ Boehm, Roy; Sasser (1997). First Seal (in English). New York: Pocket, 150. ISBN 978-0671536268. 
  7. ^ a b c Fawcett, Bill (1995). Hunters & Shooters (in English). New York: Avon, 7-8. ISBN 071-00100699. 
  8. ^ a b c Kelly, Orr (1992). Brave Men Dark Waters (in English). New York: Pocket Books, 111-113, 140. ISBN 978-0671867621. 
  9. ^ a b Boehm, Roy; Sasser (1997). First Seal (in English). New York: Pocket, 144. ISBN 978-0671536268. 
  10. ^ Fawcett, Bill (1995). Hunters & Shooters (in English). New York: Avon, 40. ISBN 071-00100699. 

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Roy H. Boehm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Navy SEAL
DATE OF BIRTH 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH