Top Navy Officer Dies

WASHINGTON, D.C.: The U.S. chief of naval operations, Admiral Jeremy Michael Boorda, died Thursday at his Washington Navy Yard home apparently of a self-inflicted shot to the chest. Boorda, who went by the name of Mike, was the Navy's top uniformed officer and had succeeded Admiral Frank Kelso II as chief of naval operations after the Tailhook scandal. "Admiral Boorda was highly respectable and respected," says TIME's Mark Thompson. "He was never a scandal mongerer and there is a lot of speculation among the top Admirals why he would do this." The 57 year old Boorda was the first sailor to have risen through the enlisted ranks to the Navy's top officer position. He joined the navy at age 17 by lying about his age. Prior to being nominated for the Navy's top job, Boorda was a NATO commander in charge of American naval forces in Europe and commander in chief of Allied forces in southern Europe. -->