Video: 'Admiral Elmo "Bud" Zumwalt Jr.'

(Sunday, January 2, 2000) — Admiral Elmo R. “Bud” Zumwalt Jr., who as chief of naval operations in the early 1970’s ordered the Navy to end racial discrimination and demeaning restrictions on sailors, then faced a haunting personal anguish that he attributed to the defoliant Agent Orange, died today at the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, from mesothelioma.

Zumwalt, who was 79, was exposed to asbestos, which was widely used on naval vessels until it was banned during the 1980s after its hazards became widely known.

His funeral service was held Jan. 10, 2000, at the Naval Academy Chapel. In his eulogy, President Bill Clinton called Zumwalt “the conscience of the United States Navy.”