Hack
Hack...
proudest of his eight Purple Hearts and his Combat Infantryman’s Badge.
Although he was a great combat leader and military theorist, he is best known and remembered by legions as holding most dear the welfare of the individual soldier. Hack was open and outspoken, a trait that effectively ended his army career in 1970 when he publicly denounced, not the war in Vietnam, but the way it was being fought. For the next four decades he made his mark by trying to expose ineptitude in the military and the political process by which it is controlled.
Many of us veterans did not agree with everything Hack attempted to do in later years but there is no doubt that his consuming interest was always the "grunt" out in the field. I had the pleasure of communicating with Hack over the years and the autographed copy of his Vietnam "after action report", The Vietnam Primer that he sent to me is a prized piece in my signed book collection. Hack will be missed.
 | Thanks to a post by Mike over at Bunker Mulligan I sadly noted the passing of one of America's truly great and most decorated soldiers Col. David Hackworth. Hack, as he was known to his troops, lied about his age to enlist in the army during WWII and later gained a battlefield commission during the Korean War and was a legend in Vietnam. He was put in for the Medal of Honor three times; the last application is currently under review at the Pentagon. He was twice awarded the Army’s second highest honor for valor, the Distinguished Service Cross, along with 10 Silver Stars and eight Bronze Stars. When asked about his many awards, he always said he was |
Although he was a great combat leader and military theorist, he is best known and remembered by legions as holding most dear the welfare of the individual soldier. Hack was open and outspoken, a trait that effectively ended his army career in 1970 when he publicly denounced, not the war in Vietnam, but the way it was being fought. For the next four decades he made his mark by trying to expose ineptitude in the military and the political process by which it is controlled.
Many of us veterans did not agree with everything Hack attempted to do in later years but there is no doubt that his consuming interest was always the "grunt" out in the field. I had the pleasure of communicating with Hack over the years and the autographed copy of his Vietnam "after action report", The Vietnam Primer that he sent to me is a prized piece in my signed book collection. Hack will be missed.
