{{Short description|US Navy SEAL (1924–2008)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}} {{Infobox military person |name= Roy Boehm |image= Roy Boehm.jpg |caption= Roy Boehm as a Captain in Vietnam |birth_date= 9 April 1924 |death_date= {{death date and age|df=yes|2008|12|30|1924|04|09}} |birth_place= Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |death_place= Punta Gorda, Florida, U.S. |burial_place= |nickname= |allegiance= United States of America |service_years=1941–1971 |rank= 25px Lieutenant Commander |unit= 30px SEALs |branch= 25px United States Navy |commands= UDT-21, Seal Team 2 |battles=World War II * New Guinea campaign ** Battle of the Coral Sea * Solomon Islands campaign ** Guadalcanal campaign *** Battle of Cape Esperance *** Battle of the Green Islands * Bougainville campaign * Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign ** Operation Hailstone * Mariana and Palau Islands campaign ** Battle of Saipan ** Battle of Tinian ** Second Battle of Guam * Japan campaign ** Volcano and Ryukyu Islands campaign *** Battle of Okinawa Korean War * Battle of Inchon * Battle of Chosin Reservoir Vietnam War |awards= Bronze Star with Valor Device<br />Purple Heart<br />Air Medal }} '''Roy H. Boehm''' (9 April 1924 – 30 December 2008) 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 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.
==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.<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 |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'' p. 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″ 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.<ref name="second"/> Subsequently, he had to literally fight off sharks, which killed the sailor he tried to save.<ref name="second"/>
Boehm participated in the following campaigns and engagements: Battle of the Coral Sea, Bougainville, Truk, Green Island, Emerau, Saipan, Tinian, and Guam.<ref name="second"/> He was engaged in supplying arms and ammunition to the guerrillas in the Philippines and fought the Japanese in Kerama Reto and Okinawa.<ref name="second"/>
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|Worcester|CL-144}} during the Korean War providing fire support for the Marine Corps landing at Inchon and covering the retreat at the Chosin Reservoir.{{fact|date=May 2026}} 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 swimmer-delivery vehicles. Eventually he was commissioned as an officer.{{fact|date=May 2026}}
After receiving his commission, in early 1960 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.<ref name="comphist">{{cite book |last=Dockery |first=Kevin |title=Navy SEALs: The Complete History |year=2004 |publisher=Berkeley Books |location=New 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 SEAL |author2=Sasser |year=1997 |publisher=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?id=qoUorbbMq94C}}</ref>
While forming the SEALs, Boehm was subjected 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.<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 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&q=%22boehm%22+%22kennedy%22+%22navy%22+%22seals%22&pg=PT72 |location=Novato, CA |publisher=Presidio Press |at=Chapter 6 |isbn=978-0-8914-1408-7}}</ref>
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.<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>
==Service in Vietnam== On 4 November 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 VC underwater attack on USNS 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 hepatitis 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"/>
==Post Vietnam Service== 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 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?id=qoUorbbMq94C|pages=40}}</ref>
==Death== Boehm died 30 December 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 3 January 2008</ref>
On 19 August 2009, President Barack Obama signed Public Law No. 111-59 (H.R. 2470), sponsored by Congressman Tom Rooney, which officially named the Murdock Post Office in Port Charlotte, Florida, located in Charlotte County in which Boehm lived, after him.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.swfc.edu/pdf/PCnewprogramsArticle.pdf| access-date = 15 September 2009| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110720053240/http://www.swfc.edu/pdf/PCnewprogramsArticle.pdf |title=Bill passes to name post office for SEAL pioneer | archive-date = 20 July 2011}} ''Charlott Sun'' newspaper, 17 June 2009</ref><ref>{{cite web| title = Acts Approved by the President| url = http://www.gpoaccess.gov/presdocs/2009/DCPD-2009ACTSAPPROVED.pdf| access-date = 15 September 2009| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090904181328/http://www.gpoaccess.gov//presdocs/2009/DCPD-2009ACTSAPPROVED.pdf| archive-date = 4 September 2009}}</ref>
{{Quote|To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 19190 Cochran Boulevard FRNT in Port Charlotte, Florida, as the "Lieutenant Commander Roy H. Boehm Post Office Building"| Public Law No. 111-59, enacted August 19, 2009}}
==Military awards==
*{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|other_device=v|name=Bronze Star ribbon|width=106}} Bronze Star with Valor Device *106px Purple Heart *106px Meritorious Service Medal *106px Air Medal *106px Navy Achievement Medal *106px Presidential Unit Citation (1942) *106px Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation (1967) *{{ribbon devices|number=3|type=service-star|name=United States Navy Good Conduct Medal ribbon|width=106}} Navy Good Conduct Medal with three bronze service stars *106px China Service Medal *106px American Defense Medal *106px American Campaign Medal *{{ribbon devices|number=6|type=service-star|other_device=arrowhead|name=Asiatic-Pacific Campaign ribbon|width=106}} Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal with one Silver Star, one Bronze Star and Arrowhead device *106px World War II Victory Medal *106px Navy Occupation Service Medal *{{ribbon devices|number=1|type=service-star|name=National Defense Service Medal ribbon|width=106}} National Defense Service Medal with one Bronze Star *{{ribbon devices|number=2|type=service-star|name=Korean Service Medal - Ribbon|width=106px}} Korean Service Medal with two Bronze Stars *106px Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal *106px Vietnam Campaign Medal *106px Presidential Unit Citation (Philippines) *106px Korean Presidential Unit Citation *106px United Nations Medal *106px Philippine Liberation Medal *106px United Nations Korea Medal *106px Vietnam Campaign Medal *106px USN Expert Rifle Medal *106px USN Expert Pistol Medal
==See also== *List of United States Navy SEALs
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==External links== *[http://www.firstseal.com Official Website] *[http://www.ussduncan.org/capesper_page3.htm USS Duncan Reunion Page Featuring Boehm's accounts of World War II]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boehm, Roy}} Category:1924 births Category:2008 deaths Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II Category:United States Navy personnel of the Korean War Category:United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War Category:Military personnel from Brooklyn Category:People from Punta Gorda, Florida Category:Recipients of the Air Medal Category:United States Navy officers Category:United States Navy SEALs personnel