Master Chief Petty Officer E-9, US Navy SEAL Rudy Boesch: US Merchant Marine 1944-1945 U.S. Navy 1945-1990 World War II 1944-1945 Cold War 1945-1990 Vietnam War 1968-1970 Rudy Boesch was born on January 20, 1928, in New York. He joined the US Merchant Marine in 1944, and then enlisted in the Navy on March 5, 1945. After receiving Underwater Demolition Team Training at Fort Pierce, Florida, he served aboard the barracks ship USS New Yorker in the Pacific at the end of World War II. Boesch's next