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.

[BIGLOOK]

Godspeed, Colonel.

[No Surrender No Retreat]

Did hackworth ever cause klintoon and croonies and problems? I cannot recall him doing so. I commend him for his service as a soldier to our country, but disagree with his politics in aiding and abetting the left wing idiots. Col Hackworth RIP. NSNR

[EBH]

RIP Colonel Hackworth,

Thank you for giving us the gift to be able to disagree with you or anyone else,

Thank you for giving us the gift to be able to worship as one see's,

Thank you for giving of yourself to watch America's back,

Thank you for keeping us free.

[DB]

It had ended before he gave the pictures to the media.

[rip033]

A true American... Thanks Hack for your service. I will miss you...

[FreeReign]

Did hackworth ever cause klintoon and croonies and problems? I cannot recall him doing so.

I recall that Hackworth was anti Clinton during the late 90's. I'll remember him for that.

RIP Col.

[kabar]

Where is the hard data showing that medical treatments for cancer in Mexico are superior to those in the US? Can you cite information/data to compare survival rates?

The information you cite concerning natural medicine and physician/hospital errors are interesting but not germane. You contend that the AMA/FDA are supressing "treatments that work," which is why Americans are going to Mexico. Unless you can provide real data as I indicated above, your contention is baseless.

Australia is about the best place in the world to be diagnosed with cancer, according to new figures which show Australia and the US have the highest 5-year relative survival rates, among the limited number of countries for which these data are available.

Dynamic team of VM providers helps medical center earn highest survival rate worldwide for pancreatic cancer patients.

[Proangel]

During my Army Years at Fort Bragg(1974 - 1977) he was the most admired officer amongst the troops.

RIP Sir.

[nonliberal]

Is it your opinion that the behavior of the soldiers at Abu Ghraib should have continued?

Yes. One did not go to Abu Ghraib unless you were caught shooting at American troops or planting IED's. We should have just killed the ba$+@rds and none of this would have happened.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you for the ping! I lift all the loved ones up to God in prayer asking for His peace and blessing as they deal with Col Hackworth's homegoing.

[Tribune7]

Did hackworth ever cause klintoon and croonies and problems? I cannot recall him doing so.

IIRC, he was critical of the Clintons.

[PzLdr]

Creighton Abrams was Georgie Patton's favorite and best tank battalion commander, the CO of the spearhead that relieved Bastogne, and the creator of the military strategy that bought Nixon time for Vietnamization, and kept the NVA off balance while it was initiated.He was MACV CG when I was in 'Nam, and I was honored to serve under him. Any officer who is compared favorably to Creighton Abrams is, IMHO, an officer of exceptional talent. And that is one of the few things I agree with Col. Hackworth about. But this is not the day to share my opinion of Col. Hackworth.

[Finalapproach29er]

God bless an American warrior.

He showed up.

[Centurion2000]

I'm glad he served and can honor that; I just have to ask one question. Why was he getting medical treatment in MEXICO of all places ???

[Squantos]

HUA !

[Finalapproach29er]

When I think of medicine in Mexico, I think of that Roach Motel commercial:

"They check in...but they don't check out!"

[texasflower]

Rest in peace.

[Jack Deth]

Hack served his country well and honorably. A solid Cold Warrior, though his politics took an odd skew towards the end. His autobiographical "About Face" is still a superb read.

At Ease, soldier.

Well Done.

Jack.

[elli1]

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.''

Wow. I'm underwhelmed. Here's a little refresher on VN war history:

Nov 1960--Kennedy elected

1961--400 US 'advisors' in VietNam

1962--1200 US 'advisors' in VietNam

1963 15,000 US personnel in VietNam; Kennedy assassinated; LBJohnson assumes presidency

1964--23,000 US troops in VietNam; Johnson elected

1965--200,000 US troops in VietNam

1966--400,000 US troops in VietNam

1967--almost 500,000 US troops in VietNam

1968--540,000 US troops in VietNam; Nixon elected

1969--480,000 US troops in VietNam

1970--280,000 US troops in VietNam

1971--Hackworth gazes into his crystal ball & declares that VN war 'can't be won' and that the US 'need[s] to get out'

1971--140,000 US troop in VietNam

[Flux Capacitor]

Hackworth was an interesting guy, to say the least. Sorry to hear he's gone. RIP, sir.

-Dan