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May 31, 1996 - Bill Cooper
59:12
Admiral Boordh Death
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Time Text
*Piano music* Please, you can go.
Thank you, sir.
Yes, old man, you can go.
Please, you can go.
I'm going to go.
You're listening to the Hour of the Time.
I'm William Cooper.
Ladies and gentlemen, during the Clinton administration, so many people have turned up dead that it is absolutely amazing It is unbelievable.
Ripley, if he were here, would be doing an entire museum just on the people who have turned up dead, who have been close to Bill Clinton and his wife, or were a part of the Clinton administration
Or had held some office or some position close to William Clinton during his days as Governor or during his campaign for President, before he actually became President of the United States of America.
Now, I don't know how many of you have been following this, but it has reached the level here, and we have records of all of these deaths from way, way back
And to tell you the truth, I owe this attention to this fact to Linda Thompson, who first began a record of the people who had died, who had been close to, who had worked for, who had guarded, who had had something to do with Bill Clinton during his governorship in Arkansas, his campaign for President of the United States,
And during this presidency.
And when Linda first apprised me of this, because I really had no idea that it was happening, and neither did anybody else in this country.
In fact, it was Linda Thompson who not only brought our attention to the atrocity at Waco, and began to wake up the American people.
She didn't bring my attention to it.
I was down there with her when it was happening.
She brought it to most of America's attention because she had the guts and the money to be able to produce a videotape that focused the attention of the American people on Waco, Texas, when it would never have even interested them at all, when even Christians, even devout Christians who claimed to believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ were saying, and I quote, because I heard them say this to me to my face, I quote,
They deserved exactly what they got.
They were just a bunch of religious fanatics." Linda Thompson began to take heed of the people who were dying around President Clinton, before then Candidate Clinton, and before then Governor Clinton.
And at the first time that she revealed this death count to me, I believe there were 28 people already dead.
And this was a long time ago.
Long time ago, folks.
Now it's way up there.
And they're still dying.
Just the other day, a member of President Clinton's White House limousine motor pool, a driver, Who guards the presidential limousine was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head.
And it is said that they found marijuana on his body and it was supposed to be some kind of a drug hit.
But in lieu of all the other deaths that have occurred around Bill Clinton, I don't believe it for one minute, I don't believe that they found any marijuana on the body of a person who had gone through all the security checks and security clearances necessary to become a member of the White House motor pool and be a driver for a presidential limousine.
And you shouldn't believe it either.
I know what these security checks and these security clearance investigations entail.
And I can tell you right now, no one But anything to do, you know, the President and those he appoints to his White House staff might get away with having smoked marijuana or taken drugs in their life because he can waive their security clearance by executive order.
And he has done that with most of his White House staff because they've all taken drugs and been druggies in their life.
But not a lowly person who's applied for a job Or a person from one of the four branches of the military services who are appointed to the presidential motor pool and become a driver for the president for one of his limousines?
No, that doesn't happen.
If there was marijuana in that man's pockets, it was put there by somebody.
So, how and why did he end up dead?
That's a mystery.
Just recently, and this is a biggie with me, and there's even a bigger one that I'm going to talk about later in this broadcast, but there's a biggie here with me.
On the 29th of April, late in the evening, it was reported from La Plata, Maryland, that William Colby, who began his career working for Wild Bill Donovan
In the Office of Strategic Services, the OSS, during World War II, parachuting behind enemy lines, setting up resistance armies and organizations and groups, operating spies behind Nazi lines, learning his trade in the early days from some of the very best, who had to have been a nice Templar because William Colby,
worked for Wild Bill Donovan, who set up the OSS with nothing but members of the Knights Templar, and that's been well documented by intelligence buffs over the years, who went from that kind of a beginning through some of the most secret projects and operations
of the intelligence community in the United States government to actually become the chief spy in Saigon, head of the Saigon Bureau, the Central Intelligence Agency, manipulated everything that happened in South Vietnam during that time, including the execution of the leader of South Vietnam.
and rose ultimately to be the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, which is the premier, or used to be anyway, premier intelligence position in the world.
It was said to be missing, missing, Missing, ladies and gentlemen, On April the 29th, it was discovered that he had actually disappeared on April... Actually, he was discovered missing on April the 28th.
Pardon my slip there.
He was discovered missing on April the 28th, which was a Sunday evening, late in the evening.
And then it was said that He'd actually disappeared sometime on Saturday.
How they arrived at that conclusion, I don't really know.
But they found, in a tributary of the Potomac River that runs right by his home, an overturned canoe.
And the canoe was just, like, waiting there for somebody to discover it, over twenty-four hours after they say that he disappeared.
In a tributary, where there is a current moving, but they could not find William Colby.
This was a man who was used to keeping secrets.
This was a man, ladies and gentlemen, who was adept.
One of the world's premier experts in the art of intelligence and keeping secrets.
And causing things to happen.
and making people think that it happened for some other reason, or by accident, or that they themselves made it happen, when in fact it was William Colby and his cohorts who actually engineered the whole thing.
Well, they said the case was being investigated as a boating accident.
They said the foul play had not been ruled out.
And Charles County Sheriff Fred Davis, apparently was in charge of the investigation, or at least appeared to be in charge of the investigation, said that Colby apparently went canoeing late Saturday.
And again, we don't know how they discovered he was gone on Sunday the 28th, late in the evening, and arrived at the fact that he went canoeing late Saturday, and that his absence wasn't noticed until Sunday night.
This all came from Charles County Sheriff Fred Davis.
They brought in Coast Guard crews, they brought in divers, they brought in all kinds of people, and of course, you have to know, ladies and gentlemen, since this man was privy to some of the most top-secret information that this nation has ever had, and some of the most top-secret operations and un-operations that nobody even knows about to this day.
And probably some assassinations and other things that nobody wants anybody to know about this day.
You know that the Central Intelligence Agency and probably the Defense Investigative Agency, also known as the Defense Intelligence Agency, was on the scene to make sure that certain information did not get out.
The place where he was supposedly Went canoeing is called the Wickomeeco River near his Rock Point home.
And they searched, ladies and gentlemen, for nine days.
Found the canoe right away, right near the dock, right near his home.
That's where the canoe was.
It was there because I think it was supposed to be there, to give the impression.
That William Colby died in a canoe accident, but they couldn't find his body for nine days.
Because of rough waters, they said.
Rough waters.
Yet the canoe was right there by the dock.
Right where it was supposed to be found.
They couldn't find his body.
Colby was 76.
was 76.
He was intimately associated with Lieutenant Col.
James Bo Gritz, whom we call Bobo Gritz.
It was Colby who initiated and oversaw Operation Phoenix, which was an infiltration effort, they say, to root out rural support for Communist guerrillas, but in reality was an assassination campaign that resulted
In the cold-blooded murder of over 25,000 infrastructure of the youth of South Vietnam who would have resisted Communism and many of the political young men and women who were just coming up in South Vietnam who would have ensured that the Communists would not have had a chance or a foothold even if they should win.
A military victory.
Old Bobo was a big part of that.
Cold-blooded murderer and assassin.
And some of you fools would like to elect him as president.
If you ever do, you better make damn sure that he likes you.
Investigators into the Phoenix Project it.
have discovered that most of those killed were innocent South Vietnamese young men and women who were leaders in their community, had nothing to do with Communism whatsoever.
William Colby, head of the Central Intelligence Agency from 1973 to 1976 under Presidents Nixon and Ford.
He testified during many of the Senate and House select committees investigating the intelligence community and the Kennedy assassination, and some of his testimony and some of his testimony is revealing it.
He was fired by President Ford because there was a growing feeling in the White House, according to the White House, that he was cooperating too freely with Congressional investigators looking into allegations of wrongdoing.
Within the agency.
And you should get transcripts of this testimony.
It will amaze you.
The CIA had been accused of plotting assassinations overseas and of spying on civilians in the United States, and it was all true.
They never, never brought in the Office of Naval Intelligence, who has had an assassination bureau for many years before I ever became a member of the ONI.
And since their operations have never been uncovered in any investigation that I'm aware of, probably still have one.
And we'll talk about that later.
They found Colby's canoe about a hundred yards off of his home's dock on Sunday late.
Now, get this, folks.
The neighbors who take care of the Colby house in southern Maryland thought nothing of the discovery until they went there later, became suspicious, and called police.
You see, they noticed his place was idle.
Usually he leaves his home in Washington at that time and goes to his home in Maryland and his activity.
Investigators found dinner dishes on a table, clam shells in the kitchen sink, uneaten food Now listen to this, folks, because these are the most important facts that you're going to hear about his disappearance.
Colby apparently had left a radio and his computer on, accessible to anyone who would walk into his house.
The front door was unlocked.
There were still dinner items and uneaten food on the table.
The lights were on.
You understand what I'm telling you?
This is a man who is trained in keeping secrets, in closing doors, in shutting drawers, in watching for leaks.
This is a man who, if he walked into a room where a cabinet was open, would first, before he did anything else, go to that cabinet and close it.
This is a man who would never, on a computer and leave it turned on in his absence where anyone could walk in and access his disk, his information, his address book, or whatever he would have had on that computer.
This is a man who would never leave his home unlocked.
This is a man who had been trained since a very young age To be cautious, to lock doors, to keep the secrets, to be suspicious.
This is a man who never, ever would have left his door unlocked, his computer on, accessible to anyone, a radio playing, uneaten food on the table, and lights on.
And yet they ruled that he had gone canoeing and left his home and all of his equipment in this manner.
He had no medical problems that were known whatsoever by anybody.
And they say that he died of a heart attack while canoeing.
I'm telling you that William Quentin was murdered, probably through an injection of potassium into the bloodstream.
which will cause anyone to have a heart attack.
The potassium quickly is eliminated by chemical action in the body.
It's thrown into the river.
A canoe is conveniently tipped over and sort of, in some way, anchored near the dock so the current cannot whip it away.
Yet the body is whipped away quite a distance and is not found for nine days.
Nine days.
And they want us to believe that this man just wandered away from his home, jumped in a canoe, went out, tipped over, had a heart attack, and died.
No, sir.
No, sir, I'm telling you that that is not what happened.
President Clinton expressed sadness at the death of former CIA Director William Colby, calling him a dedicated public servant who led the agency through a difficult period.
Colby played a pivotal role in shaping our intelligence community.
He was instrumental in helping to bring about the conditions that exist today, the New World Order.
He was a spar. - Thank you.
He was a supposed cold warrior.
He was a liar.
He was a manipulator.
His National Cathedral Memorial Service was flected with irony for the spymaster that Colby was, the theme was honesty in a trade noted for its moral ambiguity, deception, double DD, and outright lies.
It was amazing that so many people trooped up to give testimony.
Okay.
But to the honesty and the wonderful character of this man, who in all actuality was one of the compatriots of old James Jesus Angleton, both of them were notorious Anglophiles and had not an honest bone in their bodies.
They looked down upon with disdain, disrespect, and utter contempt upon the common man.
Medical examiners said Colby, who headed the Central Intelligence Agency from 1973 to 1976, probably suffered a stroke or heart attack.
Fell into rough waters and drowned.
His body was swept away.
It took nine days to find.
Yet the canoe that floated was not touched by the current.
Was not taken anywhere.
It's a classic hit.
Done by experts.
Prompted most probably By an executive sanction.
If you don't know what that is, I don't know how to tell you.
Don't go away, folks, because I've really got something to tell you next.
Thank you.
Thank you.
So chronic that if I looked at something that moved, I'd get deathly ill.
Went into the Air Force, served four years as an Aircraft and Missile Neutral Technician on B-52s, KC-135 refueling aircraft, Minuteman missiles with the Strategic Air Command.
Went on a few flights.
Got sick a few times and then all of a sudden I didn't get sick and when I left the Air Force I decided to hell with it.
I'm going in the Navy because that was my dream.
I had read the C.S.
Forrester novels all my life.
I was entranced.
I was in love with.
I had salt water in my blood.
I went into the Navy.
I loved every second of it.
Volunteered for submarines, served on the USS Tyroo SS-416, which is an old World War II diesel-electric boat, not a modern nuclear submarine.
It was incredible.
What an adventure.
What an adventure.
I served on a gasoline tanker where none of us knew from one moment to the next whether we were going to go up in a flame, an explosion of Unbelievable magnitude, or whether we would live to see the next day or not.
I was attached to the Office of Naval Intelligence, and loved that, too.
Was specifically trained in Pacific area briefings, served on the USS Charles Berry for a memorable three-month period, performing an investigation for the Naval Investigative Service
Went on to Vietnam, attached to the Office of Naval Intelligence, and in Vietnam, the Office of Naval Security and Intelligence, our headquarters was Camp Carter.
Served as a patrol boat captain in Da Nang Harbor for the security and safety of our naval vessels that were anchored in that harbor, our docks, piers, and facilities I was trained as an Internal Security Specialist, NEC 9545.
I was transferred up through the Tachon River near the DMZ.
Our base camp was Quaviet.
I served with the Dong Ha River Security Group as a river patrol boat captain.
I earned many medals, citations, and two, in particular, With the bronze V for Valor, and they are listed in my service record exactly in that manner.
And so, when I give you this report tonight, I know what I am talking about, and I hope you will listen to me.
The Chief of Naval Operations, ladies and gentlemen, is dead.
Dead.
The government has ruled that it was a suicide, and I'm going to tell you right now I don't believe that for one moment, and in this report you're going to discover why you should not believe that either.
The United States Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Jeremy Burda, was found dead after a mysterious shooting at his residence in the Washington Navy Yard on May 16, 1996.
Sources close to the intelligence service have stated that the CNO may have shot himself in the chest.
Washington District Police say the shooting occurred shortly before, or I should say after, occurred shortly after 2 p.m.
that Thursday afternoon.
It was reported, ladies and gentlemen, that the Admiral was supposed to be interviewed by Newsweek magazine later that same day about the validity of the V for Valor he had at times displayed on two of his Vietnam combat medals.
Our sources tell us there were two typed but unsigned suicide notes found near the Admiral's body, one addressed to his wife Betty and the other to the sailors of the Navy.
Now I'm going to tell you right now I was a member of the Office of Naval Intelligence, and in every command that I ever served, I made friends with not only many enlisted men, but many officers who are still my very good friends to this day.
Over the years since then, they have introduced me to other naval officers and enlisted personnel who are devout patriots and who believe and defending the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic.
And so the information that I'm giving you tonight comes straight from people who know.
It is not colored by politics or anything else.
It is the truth.
Borda's body was found about 2.05 p.m.
in a yard next to his home at the Washington Navy Yard.
Some people nearby heard the gunshot and rushed to his aid To this day they remain unidentified.
Why?
Are they merely innocent passers-by, or are these, or maybe one of these, actually the person who really shot Admiral Borda in the chest?
Officials speaking on condition of anonymity said there was no evidence the shooting was accidental and no suspicion of foul play.
They informed us that the two suicide notes had been sealed by investigating police.
Defense officials report the suicide notes suggested he had taken his life because he did not want the Navy to face further embarrassment.
Borda was given the job two years ago in hopes that his reputation would help clear the Navy's name in the wake of the tailhook scandal involving harassment of female personnel.
A spokesman left little doubt about the connection between the suicide and questions about the medals.
And it's all just a little too pat.
Rear Admiral Kendall Pease states that he had informed Borda at around 12.30 p.m.
that day that there were questions from Newsweek, which wanted to do an interview to discuss what the magazine said was, quote, a story that called into question the military decorations, end quote, he had worn for years.
Pease said that Borda abruptly announced that he would not be having the lunch at his desk that he had ordered, stating that instead he would eat at his home.
Quote, he was concerned, but I've seen him much more concerned about other things.
End quote, said Pease.
He typed the notes and then used a .38 caliber pistol to fire one round into his chest. And Admiral Burda was pronounced dead at the D.C.
General Hospital at 2.30 p.m., the exact time he was to meet with the Newsweek reporters in his office.
Now, I'm going to tell you folks, there's several things wrong with this.
If I were going to commit suicide, I would not type a note and then not sign it.
I would want my family to know that I loved them.
I would want it to be personal.
It would be my last communication to this world and to my family.
And I would want to write it in my own handwriting.
I would want to sign my own name.
And ladies and gentlemen, personnel in the United States Navy do not normally use a .38 caliber pistol, for they are trained To use a .45 caliber pistol, and most service personnel, when they purchase a pistol for their own arsenal, will purchase a .45 caliber pistol because it is, number one, the best stopping caliber that there is, bar none.
And I don't care what anybody else says.
The military proved it to me.
So in that one little scenario there, there are several things wrong.
I do not believe that any Admiral of the United States Navy would use a .38 caliber pistol for anything.
And I do not believe that he would type two suicide notes and not sign either one of them.
And I don't believe that an admiral with the personality and the personability of Admiral Burda would have typed a suicide note at all.
He would have done what I would have done.
He would have handwritten to his loved ones his last goodbye.
He was pronounced dead at D.C.
General Hospital at 2.30 p.m.
Coincidentally, the exact time he was to meet with the Newsweek reporters in his office.
The Defense Department issued a statement saying that Burda had worn two Vietnam War combat ribbons with the V for valor, which suggested he had seen action in the Vietnam War zone.
Defense stated that the Admiral had removed the V shortly after the National Security News Service made inquiries a year ago.
The National Security News Service has direct ties to the Office of Naval Intelligence, which runs an assassination bureau.
The National Security News Service was supposedly working with ABC News and Newsweek on the Burda story.
The news service stated that its research had revealed the Admiral had never seen combat in Vietnam, and that statement did not mean much considering that the war zone covered much of the South China Sea, all of the Gulf of Tonkin, North Vietnam, parts of Laos, and parts of North Vietnam, parts of Laos, and parts of Cambodia.
And I'm going to tell you right now, Admiral Buddha served on ships in the South China Sea and the Gulf of Tonkin and furnished fire support, naval gunfire support, for troops under attack in country, in Vietnam, on several occasions.
The two medals in question are the Navy Achievement Medal, which he was awarded in 1965 for service as weapons officer on the USS John R. Craig, a destroyer, and the Navy Commendation Medal, a destroyer, and the Navy Commendation Medal, awarded in 1973, while he served aboard the USS Brooke, also a destroyer, as executive officer.
work.
Those are the medals upon which Burda wore the V for valor attachments, and those are the ships upon which he saw action in the South China Sea and the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War.
well within the combat war zone and within the zone for which medals were awarded for the Vietnam War.
Most military personnel, I can assure you, do not really know what can be worn on what and when it can be worn at all. - Burda, in fact, expressed to Rear Admiral Pease that he thought he could wear the Vs because his medals had been awarded during wartime, and it was a common misconception during those years, ladies and gentlemen, that the V was for combat and not for valor.
It was such a misconception that even though in my personal citations it specifically stated that my medals were awarded to be attached with the V for Valor that the clerk, the yeoman who typed up my DD-214 specified those exact
medals to be worn with the combat V. That's how extensive this misconception was.
So it would not surprise me that Admiral Burda, being awarded those ribbons, those medals for action in a combat zone, would have thought that he could wear the V.
as the combat be instead of what it actually was, a recognition of valor.
Military regulations require the medal must be officially awarded to be displayed and must be stated that it can be worn for valor with the medal that is awarded, as mine do.
And I'm going to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, I could go on to almost any military base in the nation and find almost everyone wearing their medals wrong.
It has always been a problem in the military.
In many instances, I could find personnel wearing medals or attachments which they are not entitled to have, and in almost all cases, it could be easily explained as a simple misunderstanding.
I hope you're following me, because this is important.
There are rumors in the Navy that the CNO had lost the admiration and respect of his fellow officers, that he could not command the other admirals, that many good people were leaving the Navy in droves.
Behind Admiral Borda's back, the other admirals, it is said, often referred to him as, quote, Little Mikey Borda, end quote.
When asked about these allegations for the record, the answer is usually, As we have learned, no comment.
Admiral Borda was born in South Bend, Indiana in November 1939, the grandson of Ukrainian-Jewish immigrants.
He enlisted in the United States Navy in 1956, attaining the rank of Petty Officer First Class—the rank, incidentally, that I left the Navy with—serving at a number of commands, primarily in aviation.
His last two enlisted assignments were in Attack Squadron 144 and Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 11.
He was selected for commissioning under the integration program in 1962.
All of these commissioning programs for enlisted men were phased out shortly before I entered the Navy.
Mustangs after that period became very rare.
A Mustang is an officer who was brought up from the enlisted ranks.
The Navy has traditionally and always been the most difficult of all of the services for anyone to progress from the enlisted ranks to the officer ranks.
Following Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island and commissioning in August 1962, Admiral Borda served aboard USS Porterfield DD-682 as Combat Information Center Officer.
He attended Naval Destroyer School in Newport and in 1964 was assigned as Weapons Officer, USS John R. Craig DD-885.
His next tour was as Commanding Officer, USS Parrot MSC-197.
Admiral Bourdas' first shore duty was as a weapons instructor at Naval Destroyer School in Newport in 1971.
After attending the United States Naval War College and also earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Rhode Island, he assumed duties as Executive Officer of the USS Brooke DEG-1.
That tour was followed by a short period at the University of Oklahoma and an assignment as Head Surface Lieutenant Commander, Assignments Assistant for Captain Detailing in the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Washington, D.C.
From 1975 to 1977, Admiral Burda commanded USS Farragut, DDG 37.
He was next assigned as Executive Assistant to the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Washington, D.C.
He relieved the civilian presidential appointee in that position, remaining until 1981 when he took command of Destroyer Squadron 22.
In 1983 and 1984 he served as Executive Assistant to the Chief of Naval Personnel, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Manpower, Personnel and Training.
In December 1984, he assumed his first Flag Officer assignment as Executive Assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations, remaining until July 1986.
His next assignment was Commander, Cruiser Destroyer Group 8 in Norfolk, Virginia.
He served as a Carrier Battle Group Commander Embarked in the USS Saratoga, CB-60, and also as Commander, Battle Force, 6th Fleet, in 1987.
In August 1988, Admiral Borda became Chief of Naval Personnel, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Manpower, Personnel, and Training.
In November 1991, he received his fourth star, and in December 1991, became Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces Southern Europe, Sink South in Naples, Italy, and Commander-in-Chief United States Naval Forces Europe, Sink U.S.
Navure, London, England.
As Sink South, Admiral Burda was in command of all NATO forces engaged in operations enforcing United Nations sanctions against the warring factions in the former Republic of Yugoslavia.
On February 1st,
1993, while serving as Commander-in-Chief, Allied Forces Europe, Admiral Burda assumed the additional duty as Commander, Joint Task Force Provide Promise, responsible for the supply of so-called humanitarian relief to Bosnia-Herzegovina via air-land and air-drop missions, and for troops contributing to the United Nations mission throughout the Balkans.
Joint Task Force Provide Promise, ladies and gentlemen, according to our investigation, is one of the means that those in power provided weapons and ammunition to those on the ground in the war in Bosnia, despite the blockade.
On April 23, 1994, Admiral Burda became the 25th Chief of Naval Operations.
He was the first ever to climb to that lofty height from the enlisted ranks of the United States Navy.
This, of course, brought him great enmity and jealousy from many officers who had been bypassed, who had graduated from the Naval Academy at Annapolis.
The Chief of Naval Operations is the senior military officer of the Department of the Navy.
The CNO is a four-star admiral and is responsible to the Secretary of the Navy for the command, utilization of resources, and operating efficiency of the operating forces of the United States Navy and of the Navy shore activities assigned by the Secretary.
A member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Chief of Naval Operations is the Principal Naval Advisor to the President and to the Secretary of the Navy on the Conduct of War, and is the Principal Advisor and Naval Executive to the Secretary on the Conduct of Activities of the Department of the Navy.
Assistants are the Vice Chief of Naval Operations, VCNO, The Deputy Chiefs of Naval Operations, DCNOs, the Assistant Chiefs of Naval Operations, ACNOs, and a number of other ranking officers.
These officers and their staffs are collectively known as the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, or in naval lingo, OPNEV.
Admiral Burda's military awards include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal, three awards, the Legion of Merit, three awards, the Meritorious Service Medal, two awards,
And, of course, a number of other personal and campaign awards, which include the Navy Accommodation Medal and the Navy Achievement Medal.
Admiral Burda left behind his wife, the former Betty Moran, four children and eleven grandchildren.
Two sons and one daughter-in-law are naval officers.
The Secretary of the Navy, John H. Dalton, issued this statement upon the death of the Chief of Naval Operations.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is my sad duty to report to you that Admiral Mike Burda, the Chief of Naval Operations, is dead.
He was pronounced dead this afternoon at 2.30 p.m.
after being brought here to D.C.
General Hospital, having sustained a gunshot wound to the chest at the Washington Navy Yard.
D.C.
Police and NCIS are investigating.
NCIS, ladies and gentlemen, for those of you who don't know, is the Navy Criminal Investigative Service, known within the Navy as NIS and not NCIS.
Mike Borda was a truly outstanding Chief of Naval Operations, an outstanding leader, and a good friend.
He was loved by the people in the Navy, officer and enlisted alike.
Mike Borda was a sailor's sailor.
We'll miss him very much.
Thank you very much." At the White House, President Clinton, on videotape, looked genuinely surprised and even shocked upon the news of the death of the Admiral.
And quite frankly, ladies and gentlemen, I don't believe that even Bill Clinton could have faked that reaction.
It appeared to be absolutely genuine.
Clinton praised Burda as a man of extraordinary energy, dedication and good humor.
The questions, ladies and gentlemen, about the legitimacy of Burda's awards came at a time when the Navy has come under fire from critics for moral lapses, including the 1991 tailhook sexual assault scandal and, of course, more recently, drug use at the Naval Academy.
Cheating on tests at the Naval Academy and sexual harassment in the officer corps.
All products of the New World Order.
I'm not telling you that this stuff is right.
I'm just telling you that it is ingrained in tradition in all the branches of the military, especially the oldest branches.
It doesn't mean it's good.
But 20 years ago, no one would have said a word.
Clinton appointed Borda as Chief of Naval Operations after Admiral Frank Kelso resigned.
I knew Admiral Frank Kelso when I was stationed at St.
Pax Fleet.
Admiral Burda's first mission was to try to restore the service's reputation following the tailhook sexual scandal.
I don't think that he made it.
Norman Palmer, a prominent naval historian, knew the Admiral for years.
Palmer said, quote, I have a high degree of confidence that it was something else.
Superimpose all these problems, the sexual and drug and cheating problems, on the downsizing of the Navy.
It would take it out of anybody." Palmer went on to say that he was certain that if Burda wore medals that he had not earned, it was an innocent mistake, and the medals would not explain his suicide.
And I agree.
All, ladies and gentlemen who knew the Admiral, voiced the same surprise.
They all say that he was in high spirits.
and that he showed no signs of depression or worry.
Defense Department colleagues who had talked to Burda in recent days described him as characteristically cheerful.
John Dalton saw him on Wednesday, and, quote, he was in great spirits, end quote.
Rear Admiral Pease said he asked Burda what they should say to the Newsweek people, and the CNO answered, quote, tell the truth, end quote, with no sign of disturbance.
As Borda left his office to go home for lunch on that fateful day, Pease asked whether he wanted to go ahead with the Newsweek interview.
Yep, Borda answered, which means yes.
Why would he say that if he intended to go home and shoot himself?
I'd like to know if he had a phone call shortly before he decided to abruptly abandon the lunch that had been prepared for him and go home.
And I'll just about bet you anything that he did.
Confidential sources, in fact, assure me that he did.
They also say that the top brass of the Navy was angry and distrustful of Burda.
Our confidential sources say that there was great animosity, that a Mustang
was appointed Chief of Naval Operations over Naval Academy graduates, which is not surprising at all for anyone who has ever served in the United States Navy, an elitist military force whose officer corps is made up of the wealthy, rich, Eastern-established family, Eastern-establishment families that have traditionally run this nation from its inception.
The United States Navy was the first military service.
The United States Navy furnished the first intelligence organization for this country.
The United States Navy is the only constitutionally lawful standing military force for the United States of America.
And most Americans don't even know that.
A source of much dissension Among the ranks of the Navy is the fact that in November of 1995, Admiral Mike Borda had apparently had enough.
Navy personnel had developed a reputation for getting in trouble and getting in the news.
The Chief of Naval Operations ordered a day off for the entire Navy in order that they study Navy standards.
A day off many officers and petty officers took as an insult to their professional reputations and personal integrity.
But that was not enough for Borda, however, and on January the 26th and 27th of 1996, he ordered another stand-down, this time directing over 300 of the Navy's top officers, every flag officer, both active and reserve, to Washington for a major ass-chewing.
The Navy denies that anything other than a discussion of a wide range of issues took place at the meeting.
The rank and file tell us, A very different story.
The meeting, in fact, took place after a series of incidents that have reflected negatively on Navy leadership.
Five captains who were selected for Admiral were dropped off the fiscal 1996 promotion list, and allegations flew around like popcorn at a Saturday matinee.
A case involving a two-star Admiral who was punished For carrying on a year-long adulterous affair with a junior female sailor in his command surfaced, among others, and you do not punish a two-star admiral lightly.
He has friends and power and political influence.
Opening remarks were made by Admiral Burda at this meeting, followed by two sessions led by Rear Admiral Robert Natter, Director of the Office of Legislative Affairs, and Rear Admiral Kendall Pease, the Chief of Naval Information.
The flag officers had briefings from the top legal public affairs and judge advocate general officers.
Then came Fleet Commanders and Navy Secretary John Dalton.
There were programs on personal updates.
and sections specific to their officer communities.
It has been ventured, ladies and gentlemen, that no military professional would ever shoot himself in the chest, and I tend to absolutely agree.
I also believe that Admiral Burda's death had nothing whatsoever to do with the bees he reportedly wore but had not earned I have two medals awarded for combat action on the Tocon River while assigned to the Dong Ha River Security Group, and both were awarded with the V for Valor and are listed in my service record and in the citations.
The V is a great distinction and brings instant admiration and respect from all military personnel.
But it would not bother me one single iota if someone told me that I was not entitled to wear them I would very simply and very quickly take them off.
And this is apparently exactly what Admiral Burda did exactly one year before his suicide when advised that he was not entitled to them.
It is very difficult, extremely difficult, ladies and gentlemen, for an ex-Navy man like me to believe that Admiral Burda fought his way up from the lowest rank to the highest rank in the United States Navy.
survived the deadly game of politics of which all Navy personnel are aware, thumped heads with the highest-ranking officers and civilian bureaucrats in the Navy and in Washington, D.C., and then went out and typed two unsigned notes before shooting himself in the chest in the middle of a side yard to his quarters.
I do not and will not believe it.
If Admiral We're going to commit suicide, he would have taken a .45 caliber pistol, put it to his head or to the roof of his mouth, and he would have blown his brains out rather than take a chance on inflicting a terrible wound and living after a shot to the chest with a .38 caliber pistol.
Is this really just a suicide by a self-perceived disgraced officer, or is it yet another in a long series of mysterious deaths connected to the Clinton administration?
Good night, and God bless you all.
Good night.
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