Military Reformer-Writer David Hackworth Dies
 

From the Associated Press:

"Retired Army Col. David Hackworth, a decorated Vietnam Verteran who spoke out against the war and later became a journalist and an advocate for military reform, has died, his wife said Thursday. He was 74".

"Hackworth died Wednesday in Tijuana, Mexico, where he was being treated for bladder cancer."

"A Newsweek correspondent during the Gulf War, Hackworth worked in recent years as a syndicated columnist for King Features, often criticizing the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq war."

""Most combat vets pick their fights carefully. They look at theier scars, remember the madness and are always mindful of the fallout," Hackworth wrote in February. "That's not the case in Washington, where the White House and the Pentagon are run by civilians who have never sweated it out on a battlefield.""

"Hackworth ignited a national debate last year when he reported that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld used a machine to sign condolence letters sent to the families of fallen soldiers. Rumsfeld later promised to sign each letter by hand."

""Hack never lost his focus," said Roger Charles, presisdent of Soldiers for the Truth, a California-based veterans group that Hackworth chaired. "That focus was on the young kids that our country sends to bleed and die on our behalf. Everything he did in his retirement was to try to give them a better chance to win and to come home. That's one hell of a legacy.""

"Hackworth served four tours of duty in Vietnam and was one of the first senior officers to speak out publicly against the Vietnam War. He was nearly court-martialed before he retired from the military in 1971 and gave up his medals in protest."

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I've been following Hack's writings for over a decade now, and will miss him. He lived and breathed the support of our troops that the Pentagon gives lip service to. He served his country long and well.

I was surprised not to see a thread already started for him. Is he unknown to most of the forum members here?

Sorry, didn't know him...

I heard about the stink about Rumsfeld signing condolance letters with a machine, though.

4 tours in Vietnam? I would gladly buy that guy a drink. Shit, He should have been an adviser to the government about how to run the military.

/start threadjack
In Tijuana getting treated for cancer? Please, ladies and gentlemen, stay away from the "Mexican Cancer Cure". Look for Evidence Based medicine when deciding on the proper course of treatment. I like to think that if the American oncologist said "Sorry, get your affairs in order" I would do just that instead of running to a witch-doctor south of the border.
/ end threadjack

Finally, to give back your medals in protest is probably the most severe form of protest a soldier can make. It sounds like he put his money where his mouth was. We should keep his wishes, and not 'give them back' posthumously. Do not cite the awards in a eulogy, nor carve them in the gravemarker.

I met him on many occassions (he wasn't that adept wiht a computer) during my stint at Newsweek... Nice man and good guy.., and definitely was a character, not sure how much character he really had though....

While it's not nice to speak ill of the dead... He was an old man - but I do remember about him leaving Newsweek under a bit of a cloud...

http://www.cnn.com/US/9605/17/boorda.8p/

because of this story that was in the works.

I hope he does find his peace...

I remember the Boorda suicide. Hack was scheduled to have an interview with him, but Boorda put an end to that propect. I am in no position to judge the man, but that is a pretty extreme response if the ribbons he wore were a simple mistake.

There was much discussion and much brouhaha that Hack was harassing Boorda and had made him a target.. Now Boorda wasn't a popular dude because he went to PC over the whole Tailhook fiasco - -but...

Eh -- Hack was a hero once...

Rest in peace

And still is to many of our young soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was one of their few means of truth telling that they were not allowed to do for themselves. Truth's like being sent to Iraq without "mission required" equipment that could have saved their lives. He fought the Pentagon to provide for these kids. That's a hero in my mind.

Hackworth.com has an obit on him for anyone that is curious about this man.

As well as here, I hang at the forums over at Soldiers for the Truth (sftt.org), which was Hackworth's site. It was and is a pretty good place to get no-bullshit info on the war. Hackworth was no dove; he didn't question the justification for the Iraq war so much as the way it was being planned and fought, and how incompetence in the high ranks could lead to disaster for the grunts.

Some interesting characters over on the forums, too; mostly vets, some soldiers currently serving, some from the right, some from the left, and nearly all extremely cynical about the people who purport to represent them.

I read Hackworth's columns on the website, and he was pretty good at digging up dirt. Don't know if his background was spotless or not, but he was a good gadfly for our bloated military, and for that I'm grateful.

Ayup. From what I know about him, he was a major cowboy in Korea and Nam. He claims good NCO's kept his ass alive. And he did his best to keep his kids in Viet Nam alive.

Then he spent the rest of his life fighting for our kids during war time. Whatever faults the man had, I will always respect him for that.