[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Col. David Hackworth dead (Page 1 of 3)
Posted: 5/5/2005 10:01:46 AM EDT
| ......at age 74, per CNN. He had bladder cancer. |
|
He had a heck of a life. I've read About Face and Steel My Soldiers' Hearts. I think he did a lot of good along the way. He was always for the frontline grunt carrying a rifle. He got so caught up in bucking the system that he couldn't see anything right done by the Pentagon, but he did make us think about issues affecting the military. RIP, Hack. 
|
|
Despite being despised by the vast majority of posters around here..... I like'd Hack, always have, read all his books including the Vietnam Primer which he personally sent me a copy of, very sorry to see him pass. As noted in the link above Hack cared for those on the ground, the trigger-pullers and always fought to see they got the best support, equipment and material available. RIP, Mike |
Pretty much the way I saw him. |
|
I always remembered a line from "About Face" when he was working in the Pentagon around the time the military was procuring the M16. During a conversation with a senior officer discussing the shortcomings of the then troublesome rifle the senior officer told him to "...keep quiet and buy Colt Industries". |
I agree, I read his first book and at one time thought him to be quite an icon. He seemed to have lost whatever it was he had in the past. Since 1996 or so, I have had nothing but contempt for the man. As he was a fellow veteran, I will say RIP. |
|
He was the most decorated living ve.t at one time, his own admission, - the MOH. Hang on I'll get his book out, let's see, blah,blah, 25 years in the military 110 medals, so says the back cover. Looks like he was there from 66-71 off and on, 101st, 9th Div and some advisory stuff with ARVN and staff assignments ect. |
To buy Colt stock would be a smart move in the 1960s, esp. in the light of the M16's teething troubles soon being cleared up and the eventual adoption of the Stoner system by the majority of First World militaries around the world...... 
|
From reading his book About Face, he put together an unconventional unit that used night vision scopes and guerrilla tactics to hunt down the VC in the Delta area of south Vietnam. This is just remembering from his book I read when I was 16 or so, about 15 years ago. I think his overall unit was the 25th infantry. His real glory days were in Korea, when he rose from EM to captain very rapidly. He joined the Army at a very young age after WWII, was deployed on the Italian-Yugoslavian border. |
+1 RIP, and God's comfort to his family. The old warrior lived a long life and fought to the end. |
amen, brother! 
|
Of course that's true. The point he was making in the book was that nobody cared about the guy who was ending up with a POS rifle. They only cared about getting their tickets punched and moving up the ladder, not rocking the boat. He was well intentioned then, it always puzzled me where he went off the rails and became the media whore he ended up. That line always stuck in my mind because it totaly summed it up. |
|
He was one hell of a soldier . Those who have NOT read up on his career as a soldier should STFU with the negative comments. His opinions as a reporter later on - thats different. But he was a better man while leading as an officer then MOST of todays senior officers. He gave a shit about his men and got the job done. RIP Hack. |
|
There are some "cutting edge," or "quack" treatments for cancer that you can get in mexico that still have years of trials ahead of them before they are approved for use in the USA, or that have already been rejected, by the FDA. Back in the '80's it was peach pit extract. Guess that never panned out. I never rejoice in anyone's death. I was appalled at the glee people here expressed when Sarah Brady got cancer. I was not a fan of Hackworth of late. |
|
R.I.P., Hack As a young man he earned the right to say anything he pleased as an old man. I didn't always agree with what he said, but I don't think he would really care what any anonymous poster on the internet might say about him... edit: +1 J_Smith. keyboard kommandoes=  |