David Hackworth, Vietnam vet and military analyst, dies at 74

Newsday.com ^ | May 5, 2005 | MATT APUZZO

[AgentEcho]

Retired Army Col. David Hackworth, a decorated Vietnam veteran who spoke out against the war and later became a journalist and an advocate for military reform, died Wednesday in Mexico, where he was receiving treatment for bladder cancer, his wife said. He was 74.

"He died in my arms yesterday morning," his wife, Eilhys England, said Thursday.

Hackworth, a syndicated columnist for King Features, advocated a streamlined military and improved conditions for troops.

[processing please hold]

When I saw the picture of Col. Hackworth, I remembered him.

[OldFriend]

Yes, Hack went after Boorda and then it was learned that Hack himself had an unearned ribbon (medal) on his own website which he subsequently took down.

His campaign against Boorda was disgraceful.

[MikefromOhio]

It is the responsibility of the media to expose atrocious behavior even if it makes our govt. or military look bad.

Technically it was the responsibility of those in charge at the camp to knock the $hit off, but she didn't now did she? and the lower ranks are getting busted for it, as they should, but there should be repercussions for those a big higher than PFC ya know? RIP Hack.

[keat]

HOW THE VIETNAM WAR AFFECTED ME by David Hackworth John F. Kerry

The Vietnam War scarred me more severely than any of the eight Purple Hearts I'd received during almost eight years of combat. Up to Vietnam, I'd always been a Don Quixote-like idealist who believed that those who served our country as professional military officers did so only from the point of view of DUTY, HONOR, AND COUNTRY. But during Vietnam I finally got a look inside the inner circle of the Army's top brass -- and witnessed corruption and evil so great it broke my heart and arklighted my belief system.

In Vietnam, I also discovered that most of those at the top were concerned only with themselves, and few senior leaders understood the nature of the war or had a clue about the impossible mission with which they had tasked their soldiers. Most generals and colonels were there only to get combat command assignments and the right glory medals that would punch their ticket. Few cared about their men or the mission, most cared only about clawing their way up the promotion ladder. All but the brain-dead among them knew that it was a bad, unwinnable war that had no military objective; yet not one serving general stood tall and told the American people this truth. Instead, they just went-along-to-get-along, lining up our young men to become the pulverized filler for bodybags.

After observing this obscenity first-hand in the trenches of Vietnam for almost five years, I told the American people -- while in uniform and from Vietnam -- that the war was not winnable, they were being lied to and we should get out now. This act caused a General William Westmoreland-led counter-attack to destroy my credibility. The generals and their synchophants employed every dirty trick in their slimey attempt to silence me (for details, see About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior, Simon & Schuster 1989). They had to prove that I was wrong and they were right, and in so doing they violated every principle that makes America a free land.

Disgusted with the US Army and disillusioned with my country, which my forefathers had settled in 1622, I went to Australia in self-exile. There, I made a new life and tried to forget Vietnam, but I couldn't shake that nightmare. It wouldn't go away not only because of bad dreams but also because Westmoreland and his followers launched a deceptive campaign of disinformation to rewrite the history of the Vietnam War. Their propaganda insisted that we lost the war not because of their poor leadership, but because of: THE PEACENIKS, THE COMMIE PRESS AND THE WEAK-KNEED POLITICIANS. They started the lie: "We won all the battles, but THEY lost the war."

I knew this was a lie, and this lie is what caused me to write About Face so that present and future generations would know and learn from the truth. Since About Face was published and I began my new career as a defense reporter, I sadly discovered that most of today's senior military leaders' values are frighteningly similar to these generals of the Vietnam era who sold their men and their country down the bloody drain. Most of the present crop of senior leadership are all into ME, ME, ME -- which explains the Somalias, Haitis, and Bosnias (for more details see Hazardous Duty, William Morrow 1996).

For most of the 2.5 million Americans who fought there, Vietnam was a bad trip. For me, it became the launching pad of the journey I'm still on today -- to do everything in my power not to let that sort of bloodbath happen again.

Vietnam gave me a new mission: To speak the truth and not let my children or your children or our country be doomed to repeat the horror, the waste and the futility of Vietnam.

Thus began my crusade to wake up the American people.

[Da Bilge Troll]

I had some disagreements with the guy but not about his support of the soldier - they have lost a great advocate.

[brazzaville]

Good morning.

I stand corrected on the awards issue.

Michael Frazier

[ozzymandus]

My Aunt went to mexico for cancer treatments years ago. She died anyway, of course, but my Uncle was one of those health-food nuts who thought peach-pit treatments (remember Layatrille, or whatever it was?)

As far as Hackworth, well, RIP. I can't say I thought well of him in the last few years.

[LisaFab]

RIP Colonel.

[keat]

Col. Hackworth (correctly) was displeased with the conduct of the VietNam war...

Replace Hackworth and Vietnam with any other leader, Washington, Grant, Lee, Patton, McArthur... or war and the statement is true. Difference is the great leaders did not admit defeat during thier respective duties or committ treason in uniform.

[ScreamingFist]

If you're gonna post it, post it all

Biography David "Hack" H. Hackworth's

Retired US Army Colonel David "Hack" H. Hackworth's military career as a sailor, soldier and a military correspondent has spanned nearly a dozen wars and conflicts, from the end of World War II to the recent meltdown in the ex-Yugoslavia.

He enlisted in the merchant marine at age 14 and the U.S. Army at 15. In almost 26 years in the Army he spent over seven years in combat theaters, winning a battlefield commission in Korea to become that war's youngest Army captain.

David Hackworth & his wife Eilhys England Hackworth

About Defending America Hack's Featured Article

After almost five years in Vietnam Hack's cup runneth over. In 1971, as the Army's youngest colonel he spoke out on national television saying, "This is a bad war ... it can't be won we need to get out." In that interview, he also said that the North Vietnamese flag would fly over Saigon in four years -- a prediction that turned out to be right on target. He was the only senior officer to sound off about the insanity of the war. Understandably, Nixon and the Army weren't real happy with his shooting off his mouth.

With all his many awards, Hack still considers the Combat Infantryman Badge and the United Nations Medal for Peace -- which he was presented for his anti-nuclear work in Australia -- his "highest awards.

Hack is a regular guest on national radio and TV shows, and from 1990 to the end of 1996, he was Newsweek's contributing editor for defense. Besides his Newsweek cover stories and other reporting, he has been featured in magazines including People, Parade, Men's Journal, and has also been published in Playboy, Soldier of Fortune, Self and Modern Maturity. His column, Defending America, appears weekly in newspapers across America and on this site.

During Desert Storm which Hack covered for Newsweek, he was the only correspondent to accurately predict the outcome of the Gulf War. He has won many national and international awards for his Newsweek reporting, including the George Washington Honor Medal for excellence in communications.

Hack's books include The Vietnam Primer and the international best seller About Face, Hazardous Duty and The Price of Honor. His newest book, Steel My Soldiers' Heart's, a best seller from coast to coast, is now in the bookstores.

Hack is an advocate of military reform and a believer that the big fire power -- "nuke-the-pukes" -- solution won't work anymore, but that doesn't mean war will go away. He sees big and little fights ahead and urges military reform. He believes passionately that "America needs a streamlined, hard hitting force for the 21st century" and beyond. Hack brings to his mission his unique experience acquired in almost 52 years of bouncing around hot and cold battlefields. He also brings an insider's view of the Pentagon and the military establishment made deadly current by input provided on a daily basis by serving warriors from around the globe. E-mail frequently brings him the word before the Pentagon gets it.

[Stingray51]

Hack didn't bat a thousand in terms of being correct on every issue or seeing the big picture, but he fought hard for the American fighting man, the very heart of our nation, and that, along with his own military service of course, makes him a great man in my book.

[wideawake]

Yes, Hack went after Boorda and then it was learned that Hack himself had an unearned ribbon (medal) on his own website which he subsequently took down.

These accusations were made about Hackworth in 1996, before he had a website. And they were proven to be false.

His campaign against Boorda was disgraceful.

I agree.

It was motivated by his own unresolved anger against the brass who punished him during Vietnam for airing hsi dirty laundry on TV.

[WinOne4TheGipper]

Well, if the DUmmies want to start grilling a FReeper on this fairly mild remark (which I don't agree with, btw), perhaps they should remember the skeletons in their own closet? Warning: The following link will take you to a very disturbing thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=1726149&mesg_id=1726149&page=

[Doctor Stochastic]

Like for Steve McQueen, inter alia. On the other hand, a dying man may eat anything.

[Billthedrill]

Hand salute. Now is not the time to air our differences. RIP, Colonel.

[thag]

Is Colonel David Hunt related to Mike Hunt?

(Porky's where the waitress has a phone call for Mike Hunt...anybody seen Mike Hunt?)

OK, maybe ya hadda be there....

[wideawake]

If you're gonna post it, post it all

I posted all the relevant details.

I apologize for forgetting his groundbreaking articles in Modern Maturity magazine and his stunning Peace Award from the UN for being a no-nukes protest organizer in Sydney.

[Eagles6]

Korea and Vietnam.

[FreedomCalls]

Col Hackworth's web site:

http://www.sftt.org/main.cfm

[ScreamingFist]

I apologize for forgetting his groundbreaking articles in Modern Maturity magazine and his stunning Peace Award from the UN for being a no-nukes protest organizer in Sydney.

LOL, that came off a little harsher than I intended, trying to post and listen to streaming audio on a 56K modem, all at the same time. Apologies.