In Contrast: Admiral Zumwalt vs. Admiral Holloway at the Helm of the Navy

[@jimjessup3979]

I remember that Zumwalt would direct that no special field day actions were to be taken prior to his visit to a ship - he wanted no extra work by sailors just because he was visiting. Thank you for the insights into the service and lives of these two very influential men.

[@waynee.weatherwax8408]

I served under both CNO's. Zumwalts Z-grams did a huge amount of good in the areas of enlisted service. He along with Holloway paved the way for the strong Race Relations programs in the mid 1970s. As a new PO-1 on Airlant staff I saw these positive changes take place. Later on as a senior PO-1 I attended DRRI School and worked as an EOPS for 3 years. All these programs made the Navy a far better place for the enlisted community. By error I saw his Flag Officers eyes only message telling them to basically get his programs going or retire. He did what was badly needed to eliminate old policies that hamper both upward and lateral mobility for all enlisted personnel. The big mistake our Navy makes today is assuming Race Relations has been solved. We forget that every new service member comes to the Navy with those predjudices learned from childhood. Wayne E. Weatherwax CPO,USN (ret)

[@tremptr]

I served in the US Navy from 1970 to '76 and looked forward to each new Z-gram posted addressing everything from facial hair to race relations. In addition to my duties as second class sonarman on a tin can, I volunteered for and trained as a facilitator to conduct UPWARD (Understanding Personal Worth and Racial Dignity) seminars, one element of the Navy's efforts to improve race relations. It is difficult to know the impact of the program. In retrospect, I think that UPWARD was a well-intentioned, honest, and sincere effort to help individuals recognize and understand everyone's worth and dignity. I'd like to think that the Navy's programs made some small contribution our to social progress. But I also know that our shipmates have always and continue to be reflections of the society that has produced us and that the navy has to address the social problems that could impact readiness. A failure to recognize the problem can cause a person to reject the need to address the problem. Let's hope that the navy's current efforts are not sunk by those who refuse to recognize problems and oppose the Navy's efforts to address them by labeling them as "woke." I am grateful for the contributions made by Admiral Zumwalt and Admiral Holloway to the Navy and to the perfection of our union.

[@DickJohnson-y1n]

There’s a lot people don’t know about Admiral Zumwalt. I served in Vietnam when he was the Admiral in charge. When we signed up for Swift Boats, we knew the casualty rate was 70%. After Agent Orange, the casualty rate dropped to around 1%. Charlie couldn’t fire at us and hide in the trees. Zumwalt’s son served on Swift Boats. Lt. Zumwalt later died from Agent Orange. He also had two sons, one died from Agent Orange, and the other was seriously handicapped. When Sandy and I found out you could pass Agent Orange on to your kids, we tried not to have any more kids. I’ve had 11 cancers after which several doctors ask me if I was exposed to Agent Orange. Our dentist asked the same thing when the enamel started chipping off my teeth. The VA doesn’t see it that way.

[@timkeffer6860]

Dick- I am really sorry for health problems. You must be tough as hell to be still standing after all you've gone through. Thank you for your insight on the Mekong campaign. I knew Adm. Zumwalt authorized the use of Agent Orange, but I did not know the context.

[@richardm7275]

I served from 1954-74 including on a destroyer and in country in Vietnam. Zumwalt was a much-needed reformer . But the thing that stood out the most to me is that he was the only senior officer to willingly admit that the military knew that Agent Orange and other herbicides used in Vietnam were contaminated with dioxanes. Not only that, but the decision was consciously made to continue using them - aware of their health effects - but estimating that they could save more lives than were lost (at least in the short term).

[@markjumper]

What was highly embarrassing about the 1970’s was the abandonment of two (2) allies - Republic of South Vietnam and the Republic of China. We abandoned both because of a globalist traitor named Henry Kissinger. It’s was a sad and shameful day in April 1975 when Saigon fell to communist NVA forces. Even more shameful was visits to Mao’s communist bloodbath utopia by President Nixon and Ford. President Carter finished Kissinger’s marching orders by announcing on December 15, 1978 that the United States would abandon the Republic of China and recognize the Peoples Republic of China on January 1, 1979. Militarily we could have CRUSHED North Vietnam. Today we could have full Naval dominance of the western Pacific and the South China Sea but our weak military and political leaders of the 1970’s (Zumwalt was but one of that group) would rather follow a Secretary of State with evil intentions, recognizing a regime that killed 80 million of its own citizens between 1949 to 1979 and purposely helping to build its economy and military expansion.

[@josephpadula2283]

Mark ,’you are wrong about Zumwalt u think . In his bio I read 40 years ago he tells how he hated Henry Kissinger . Get the book to check me .