Posted on 05/10/2005 2:58:43 AM PDT by leadpenny
TIJUANA, Mexico - Retired Army Col. David Hackworth, a controversial columnist who began the Tiger Force unit that later committed a string of atrocities in Vietnam, died this week. He was 74.
~snip~
As a 15-year-old orphan in Southern California, Mr. Hackworth joined the Army at the end of World War II, surviving four battle wounds in Korea. His heroics earned him a Silver Star, a battlefield commission to second lieutenant, and his own commando unit.
A decade later, he would use his commando experience to form Tiger Force in November, 1965. In a war where traditional units were sitting ducks for Communist guerrilla fighters, the unit's aim was to "out-guerrilla" the Communists by sending smaller teams on longer missions to hunt the enemy.
He would later stump the unit as a model for fighting guerrilla wars, but he suffered complaints from some platoon members that he was more interested in collecting medals than protecting his men.
Colonel Hackworth, then a major, was promoted out of Vietnam in June, 1966 - 11 months before the unit's first documented war crime. From May to November, 1967, some soldiers turned their rifles on hundreds of unarmed men, women, and children in what became the longest-known string of war crimes by a battle unit in Vietnam.
The atrocities spawned the longest war crimes investigation of that era - 4 1/2 years - but the results were hidden by the Army until The Blade revealed them in a 2003 series "Buried Secrets, Brutal Truths." The Army has since opened a rare, ongoing review of the case.
Colonel Hackworth told The Blade last year that he never knew about the atrocities committed by members of a unit he once called "my boys."
He had to deal with his own misdeeds in Vietnam.
(Excerpt) Read more at toledoblade.com ...
I didn't always agree with Col. Hackworth, but is this really how the AP introduces and obit about one of America's most decorated soldiers in all of history?
Shameful.
George Washington, who was the first leader of the US Army that had a platoon commit atrocities in Vietnam....
"The Toledo Blade" is continuing to beat their chest over the Pulitzer they won for their series a few years ago.
FWIW, I despise Hackworth, always did, always will.
Amen to that.
The Pulitzers ain't what they once were. Too many given out for false stories in the last decade or so.
He received 9 Silver Stars. Nine!
Rest in peace, Hack.
He had a website where he, in effect, bragged about his awards and decorations. I spent 21 years in the Army and learned to never trust anyone who talked about their awards and/or their efficiency reports. You receive an award - wear it and shut up about it.
Yeah, I lived in Toledo for a few months. Quit reading the blade after a couple of weeks. One of the most leftist local newspapers I've ever seen.
Amen to that.
John Kerry.
col. Hackworth was a wonderful soldier, a brave man doing his country's bidding set by JFK, LBJ and Robert McNamara. But Robert McNamara was against it . . . Robert McNamara was against it . . . Robert McNamara was against it,
I think there was a time when Hackworth was in line for a star, but something happened that ensured he was going to go no higher in rank, and he knew it. From then on he was a a bitter 06 who wouldn't go quietly. If hadn't found Boorda to blow out of the water, it would have been someone else. Somebody was going down.
If he hadn't found . . .
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.