He's Still On Watch: Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr.
Reflections on the life and contributions
of Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr.
E. Barclay Poling, January 15, 2000
Admiral Elmo Russell Zumwalt Jr. (November 29, 1920 - January 2, 2000) was remembered this past Monday, January 10, 2000, at the United States Naval Academy Chapel as the "Reformer". Millbrook High history teacher, Mrs. Lindy Poling, and my wife of 23 ½ years, is a great "Recruiter". Not surprisingly, she asked that I provide her Lessons of Vietnam (LOV) class and the class's Bridges' newsletter readers with some of my recollections of what it was like "being there" to celebrate the life of Admiral Zumwalt. I scarcely know where to begin or end this piece. And, even five days after the funeral, I find myself still struggling to understand the extraordinary power of this event.
 The late Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr. served as an inspirational "guest teacher" and classroom resource for Millbrook HIgh history students and teacher, Lindy Poling. |
Our journey to Annapolis began with some difficulty. Last Sunday morning, Mrs. Poling came down with a flu bug (still not sure which one it was)! Luckily, it ran its course in about 24 hours, so by the time we arrived in the town of Annapolis on Monday morning, I cannot say your teacher was entirely "ship-shape", but the worst was over. Our dear personal friend, and frequent LOV class "guest teacher", Vice Admiral Emmett H. Tidd, USN (Retired), urged us to be at the Naval Academy Officers Club by mid-morning to set up the superb poster created by students Allicia Cole and Jason Cournoyer, representing the contributions of another favorite guest speaker, Admiral Zumwalt, to the Millbrook High School LOV class.
Unfortunately, when we came through Gate 3 and then finally
reached the Officers' and Faculty Club at the Naval Academy,
a light morning shower suddenly became a torrential flood.
Mrs. Poling, never the nervous one, was worried about the
LOV class exhibit. I brought our jeep as close as I could
to the entrance of the Club; and, luckily, in the very next
moment, two men came dashing out in the rain to rescue Mrs.
Poling and help bring the poster to drier ground. It turned
out that these two helpful gentlemen were Dave Shelly, and
Les Cullen, of the Vietnam Center (based in Lubbock, Texas).
Parking near the Club was non-existent. I finally left our
vehicle on a sidewalk next to an athletic field about a ¼
mile away. I was dressed for a funeral, not a walk through
a rice paddy. As I sloshed my way from the soccer field to
the Officers' and Faculty Club, I caught myself muttering,
"Its going to be one of those days". But, it wasn't…
It was a day of tears, smiles, memorable words of Scripture
read by the Zumwalt grandchildren, famous people, great naval
pageantry, cannon fire; and, amazingly, half way through the
funeral service, the whole chapel brightened as the sun broke
through the clouds outside. The Admiral's sole surviving son,
James, later said to Mrs. Poling and I as we departed the
reception, "Wasn't it great how Dad orchestrated that,
too."
The greatest surprise for Mrs. Poling and I occurred at ten
minutes after two o'clock as the Zumwalt family entered the
chapel in the company of the President of the United States!
Admiral Zumwalt's wife, Mouza, was being pushed in a wheelchair
from the side entry of the chapel by President Bill Clinton
right towards us! At the exact point where the President stopped
the wheel chair, there was a secret serviceman and your teacher.
Our pew was only 10 feet from the President. The secret serviceman
sat in the pew immediately to Mrs. Poling's left, and I was
to her right. Mr. Clinton leaned over to assist Mrs. Zumwalt
out of the wheelchair. She was determined to walk down that
center aisle arm-in-arm with the President.
I hung on every word of the service, and even found myself
trying to record the power of the event on my notepad as Admiral
Jay Johnson, The Honorable Richard Schifter, the Honorable
Philip Lader, and the President gave us such wonderful words
of remembrance about the life of Admiral Zumwalt. At one point
during Admiral Johnson's eulogy, Mrs. Poling reached over
to borrow my pen and pad to write, "He was the epitome
of humility, dignity and respect." I know that Mrs. Poling
was thrilled to share the actual text of Admiral Johnson's
speech with the LOV class upon her return to Raleigh.
The biography of Admiral "Bud" Zumwalt, which is
being written by Dr. Cullen (who helped Mrs. Poling into the
the Officers' and Faculty Club) will surely recognize this
man's many remarkable achievements, both at sea and ashore.
He was appointed by President Nixon to become, at age 49,
the youngest Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) in history. His
service as CNO took the Navy through extraordinarily challenging
times; and as a lady in our pew (daughter of recently deceased
Admiral Stillwell) pointed out to us, morale in the Navy was
at an "all-time low when Bud took over." President
Clinton said, "Bud took on more than 200 years of Naval
history to make the Navy color blind". The President
continued, "You could always count on (him) to do the
right thing". He also commented that another famed admiral,
Arleigh Burke, was remembered as the "spirit of the Navy
and Bud was its conscience." "Admiral Zumwalt saw
only two days of the new century," observed our Chief
Executive, "but the changes he brought about will shape
our Navy for a long time."
In 1998, President Clinton awarded Admiral Zumwalt the Medal
of Freedom, our nation's highest civilian honor. He was the
founder of the Marrow Foundation, director of the Vietnam
Assistance to the Handicapped Foundation; and he actively
supported the Vietnam Center at Texas Tech University, a center
dedicated to helping future generations learn from the past.
It was through her participation at the Vietnam Center's Conference
for High School Teachers in June 1998 that Mrs. Poling first
met Admiral Zumwalt. She often reminds me that she learned
more about American foreign policy in a two hour dinner discussion
with "Admiral Z" than she did in five years of college!
The Ambassador to the Court of St. James, Philip Lader, said
during the funeral, "It was the man, not the Admiral;
the story, not his achievements, that most touched us."
What most touched your teacher was the special interest Admiral
Zumwalt took in her Lessons of Vietnam course in Raleigh,
North Carolina. The Admiral personally came to speak to her
LOV students on September 29, 1998, and was planning a return
visit in the fall of 1999.
It is really marvelous to think that one of Admiral Zumwalt's
"final watches" was related to the education of
our youth. Last spring, Vice Admiral Tidd and Admiral Zumwalt
bestowed on Mrs. Poling a wonderful gift of two lithographs
signed by artist Tom Nielsen, entitled the Colors of Courage
and The Last Patrol. An inscription on the Colors of Courage
reads, "To Lindy Poling, teacher of the century, with
respect, E.R. Zumwalt Jr., Admiral, U.S. Navy, Retired."
Something tells me that "Admiral Z" is still on watch. I think that there is a part of Admiral Zumwalt's life that is "still coming". It is coming in Mrs. Poling and her LOV classes. You can feel it coming in the greater understanding, respect, and appreciation she and her students have for our military men and women and the incomparable sacrifices they have made for our country.
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A VISIT WITH ZUMWALT Regarding the Jan. 3 article "Navy Adm. Elmo Zumwalt Dies at Age 79": How privileged we were to have Adm. Zumwalt visit our Lessons of Vietnam class at Millbrook High School in September of 1998! After delivering an intriguing evaluation of post World War II American foreign policy, the admiral fielded questions ranging from the threat of biological weapons to the meaning of prestigious awards. To the latter, he modestly responded that he took the most pride in the Presidential Medal of Freedom, because, he said, it showed that he had continued to give service to his country. My students asked the admiral difficult questions concerning his decision to use Agent Orange during the Vietnam conflict. He explained that his job was to save as many lives as possible, and Agent Orange saved more lives than it damaged. He told us that his eldest son, Elmo III, thanked him many times for making this difficult decision, even as he battled cancer. Comments from my students in letters of appreciation to the admiral reflect the positive impact he had. "You are a model of what every American should be. You showed my classmates and I that if you try your best in life, you can accomplish great things, not only for yourself, but for others as well, " wrote one junior. A senior commented, "I'll never forget what you taught us, and I hope I can make an impact on someone like you did to me." Who could ask for a more outstanding role model than that? Lindy Poling, History Teacher Millbrook
High School |