Adm. Zumwalt

Many former Navy enlisted men and women will have read with genuine sadness of the death of Navy Adm. Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr. (Jan. 3).

Adm. Zumwalt, who was chief of naval operations during the latter years of the Vietnam War, will be remembered by all who served under him as an officer who really cared about his sailors. “Saint Elmo,” as we called him, did away with many “chicken regulations” that made military life disagreeable, markedly increased morale and efficiency and undoubtedly encouraged many first-term enlistees to make a career of the Navy. This man bucked the “we’ve always done it that way” mentality that is so prevalent in so many bureaucracies.

We need more leaders like him today.

MIKE ROBINSON

Fullerton