Zumwalt, Elmo R(ussell), Jr (1920–2000)

US naval officer. He commanded the US naval forces in Vietnam (1968–70). Born in San Francisco, California, he joined the navy in 1942 and directed arms control and (as of 1963) contingency planning regarding Cuba. He was chief of naval operations (1970–74) and in this office he became famous for firing off ‘Z-grams’, directives and orders designed to bring the navy more up to date in personnel matters, in particular to break down some of the traditional barriers between the races. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998.

In 1968 he collaborated with his son, Elmo Zumwalt III, on My Father, My Son, a book recounting his son's experiences with cancer, evidently acquired after being exposed to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam – the very chemical defoliant his father had given orders to disperse.