Hackworth was a blowhard and a hack (no pun intended). He’s the last thing the Army needs right now.
When I signed into Airborne school years and years ago, there was a photo of him in the S-1 holding all of his Purple Hearts.
Years later, I was at the Army War College. I got to meet men who had served with him in Vietnam. The reports weren't good.
I then met a E-8 who had Hackworth in his unit as a "reporter" during the first Gulf War. He was hardly tough guy his books would have you believe.
A George S. Patton, Matthew B. Ridgeway, or Curtis LeMay would be nice too.
(I know, LeMay was USAF, but technically, he was US Army Air Corps first...)
You 'pal' are a f***ing idiot. Hack was one of the Army's most decorated warriors ... he started as an enlisted man and moved up thru the ranks. He distinguished himself as a warrior and a combat leader in Korea & Vietnam. The troops he led would follow him anywhere ... he was a leader who led from the front.
If he said the Vietnam War was unwinnable in 1971, he was full of baloney. Together with the South Vietnamese, we won the war a year and a half later. But then we walked away and left the South Vietnamese to their fate.
He said the Army didn’t need APCs and could ride on the backs of tanks. A bit of a problem when you get to turbine powered vehicles.
He sure as hell served his country through much more combat exposure than the average blowhard like you and I
He was eccentric
Hell he saw combat and fought back in his 70s in Port au Prince while there covering the story
Not many can say that
No hero is perfect