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David Haskell Hackworth (November 11, 1930 – May 4, 2005) also known as Hack, was a prominent military journalist and a former United States Army colonel who was decorated in both the Korean War and Vietnam War. Hackworth is known for his role in the creation and command of Tiger Force, a military unit which was formed in South Vietnam to apply guerrilla warfare tactics against Viet Cong guerrilla fighters.

Hackworth is also known for his accusation in 1996 that Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Boorda was wearing two unauthorized service ribbon devices on two of his uniform's awards denoting valor in combat. Although Admiral Boorda had served off the coast of Vietnam in the 1960s and believed he was authorized to wear the two wartime decorations for meritorious service, he did not meet the Navy's requirements. Boorda committed suicide during Hackworth's investigation.

Early life and education

Hackworth was born in Ocean Park, California (now part of Santa Monica), on November 11, 1930, the son of Leroy E. Hackworth and Lorette (Kensly) Hackworth.^[1] His parents both died before he was a year old, and his brother, sister, and he were raised by Ida Stedman, their paternal grandmother. The family had to rely on government aid during the Great Depression, and his grandmother, who had been married to a Colorado gold miner, brought them up on tales of her Old West experiences and her Revolutionary War ancestors. While attending school in Santa Monica, Hackworth and a friend earned money by shining the shoes of soldiers stationed at bases in the area. Imbued with a sense of adventure, at age 14, Hackworth lied about his age and paid a transient to pose as his father so he could claim to be old enough to join the Merchant Marine with parental consent.

Military career

Hackworth served aboard ship in the South Pacific Ocean as a member of the Merchant Marine in 1945, at the end of World War II.^[2] He returned home to California, but decided to join the United States Army, and in 1946, he used his false Merchant Marine documents to enlist for three years.^[2] After completing his initial training, he was assigned to postwar occupation duty as a rifleman in the 351st Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division. Based in Trieste, his unit was part of Trieste United States Troops. While serving in Trieste, Hackworth earned his General Educational Development high-school equivalency diploma.

Korean War

Hackworth fought in Korea with the 25th Reconnaissance Company and the 27th Infantry (Wolfhound) Regiment of the 25th Infantry Division. He gained a battlefield commission as a second lieutenant in 1951 and was awarded three Silver Stars for heroism and three Purple Hearts. After a successful raid on Hill 1062 and battlefield promotion to first lieutenant, the commander of the 27th Infantry Regiment offered Hackworth command of a new volunteer raider unit. Hackworth created the 27th Wolfhound Raiders and led them from August to November 1951. He subsequently volunteered for a second tour in Korea, this time with the 40th Infantry Division. Hackworth was promoted to the rank of captain.^[3]

Demobilized after the Armistice Agreement in Korea, Hackworth became bored with civilian life after two years of college{{citation needed|date=July 2015}} and re-entered the U.S. Army in 1956 as a captain.

Interwar service

When Hackworth returned to active duty, the expanding Cold War substantially changed the structure of the army from what he had known. Initially posted to 77th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion in Manhattan Beach, California, Hackworth was eventually assigned to Germany, initially in staff roles, but returning to infantry in the early 1960s as a company commander under Colonel Glover S. Johns. He was involved in a number of fire drills around the Berlin Crisis of 1961. He recounted his experiences with the Soviet guard and his views on military history in his book About Face.

After completing an associate of arts degree at Los Angeles Harbor College,^[4] and completing additional courses at several other colleges, in 1964, Hackworth graduated from Austin Peay State University with a bachelor of science degree in history, after which he attended the Command and General Staff College.^[5]^[6]

Vietnam service

When President John F. Kennedy announced that a large advisory team was being sent to South Vietnam, Hackworth immediately volunteered for service. His request was denied, on the grounds that he had too much frontline experience, and that others who had seen less fighting (or none) should have an opportunity to acquire experience in combat.^[7]

In 1965, he deployed to Vietnam as a major. He served as an operations officer and battalion commander in the 101st Airborne Division. In November 1965, he founded the platoon-sized unit Tiger Force to "outguerrilla the guerrillas".^[8] Initially, Tiger Force was a highly decorated small unit in Vietnam which suffered heavy casualties^[9] and was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. However, after Hackworth was promoted out of Vietnam, the unit began a string of atrocities and war crimes, with U.S. Army investigative records and interviews by The Toledo Blade estimating the unit eventually killed hundreds of noncombatants.^[10] Hackworth has stated he did not know about the atrocities and does not know what caused the unit to spiral out of control.^[10]

Hackworth quickly developed a reputation as an eccentric but effective soldier, becoming a public figure in several books authored by General S. L. A. "Slam" Marshall. Following a stateside tour at the Pentagon and promotion to lieutenant colonel, Hackworth co-wrote The Vietnam Primer with Marshall after returning to Vietnam in the winter of 1966–67 on an Army-sponsored tour with the famous historian and commentator. The book advised counter-insurgency fighters to adopt some of the guerrilla tactics used by Mao Zedong, Che Guevara, and Ho Chi Minh. Hackworth described the strategy as "out-G-ing the G." His personal and professional relationship with Marshall soured as Hackworth became suspicious of his methods and motivation.^[11]

However, both his assignment with "Slam" Marshall and his time on staff duty at the Pentagon soured Hackworth on the Vietnam War. One aspect of the latter required him to publicly defend the U.S. position on the war in a speaking tour. Even with his reservations concerning the conflict, he refused to resign, feeling it was his duty as a field grade officer to wage the campaign as best he could.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}}

Hackworth was assigned to a training battalion at Fort Lewis, Washington, and then returned to Vietnam to lead elements of the 9th Infantry Division, turning his theories about guerrilla warfare and how to counter it into practice with the 4/39 Infantry in the Mekong Delta, an underperforming unit made up largely of conscripts which Hackworth transformed into the counter-insurgent "Hardcore" Battalion (Recondo) from January to late May 1969.

Hackworth next served as a senior military adviser to the South Vietnamese. His view that the U.S. Army was not learning from its mistakes, and that South Vietnamese ARVN officers were essentially corrupt, created friction with Army leadership.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}}

In early 1971, Hackworth was promoted to the rank of colonel, and received orders to attend the Army War College, an indication that he was being groomed for the general officer ranks. He had declined a previous opportunity to go to the War College, and turned down this one, as well, indicating his lack of interest in becoming a general and demonstrating his discontent with the war and the Army's leaders.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}}

Hackworth's dissatisfaction ultimately culminated in a television interview with ABC. On June 27, 1971, he appeared on the program Issues and Answers and strongly criticized U.S. commanders in Vietnam, said the war could not be won, and called for U.S. withdrawal. The interview enraged senior U.S. Army officers at the Pentagon.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}} He soon found himself ostracized in the defense establishment.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}}

He subsequently retired as a colonel. Senior Army leaders investigated Hackworth, who avoided them for several weeks. He was nearly court-martialed for various allegations during his Vietnam service, such as running a brothel, running gambling houses, and exploiting his position for personal profit by manipulating the scrip in which soldiers were paid and the limited U.S. currency available in the war zone. Ultimately, Secretary of the Army Robert Froehlke opted not to press charges, deciding that Hackworth's career accomplishments outweighed his supposed misdeeds, and that prosecuting an outspoken war hero would result in unneeded bad publicity for the Army.^[12]

At about the time he retired, Hackworth was divorced. In an effort to rebuild his life,{{citation needed|date=July 2015}} Hackworth moved to Australia.

Business activity

Settling on the Australian Gold Coast near Brisbane, Hackworth soon made a fortune through profitable real estate investing, a lucrative duck farm, and a popular restaurant called Scaramouche. He was also active in the Australian antinuclear movement.

Writing career

Hackworth returned to the U.S. in the mid-1980s and began working as a contributing editor on defense issues for Newsweek. He also made regular television appearances to discuss various military-related topics, and the shortcomings of the military. His commentary on the psychological effects of post-traumatic stress disorder, based on his own experiences in overcoming it, resonated with disabled veterans.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}}

In the mid-1990s, Hackworth investigated Admiral Jeremy Michael Boorda, then Chief of Naval Operations. Hackworth, through his Newsweek articles, questioned Boorda's longtime wearing of two bronze "valor pins"^[13] (in the Navy, the "V" device was worn on certain decorations to denote valor in combat or direct combat participation with the enemy) on his Navy Commendation Medal and Navy Achievement Medal service ribbons, generating much controversy. Boorda committed suicide before he could be interviewed by Hackworth, who had received at least one Army Commendation Medal and other decorations with the "V" device from the U.S. Army in the Vietnam War (in the Army, the "V" device denoted valor in combat only). The Navy reviewed the matter and determined afterwards that the two "Combat Distinguishing Devices" (Combat "V"'s) that Boorda had worn on two of his uniform service ribbons since the Vietnam War and until almost a year before Hackworth's and Newsweek's intervention, were both unauthorized despite the fact Boorda and some others serving on Boorda's destroyer had been given verbal authorization for the devices by Admiral Elmo Zumwalt during the war.

Hackworth's last assignment in a combat/conflict zone was with Newsweek during the initial deployment of US forces into Bosnia and Herzegovina in February 1996. Hackworth joined 3-5 CAV of the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division near the disputed village of Brcko. Hackworth interviewed a number of officers and enlisted soldiers, reinforcing his historical tenure as a seasoned combat veteran of previous wars and as a well-known and respected journalist.

Hackworth appeared on countless televisions and radio talk shows and formed his own website, Soldiers for the Truth, continuing to be the self-proclaimed voice of the "grunts" (ground troops) until his death.

King Features Syndicate distributed Hackworth's weekly column "Defending America". Many of his columns discussed the War on Terrorism and the Iraq War and were concerned with the policies of the American leadership in conducting the wars, as well as the conditions of the soldiers serving. Hackworth continued the column until his death from bladder cancer in May 2005. Associates believe that his cancer was caused by exposure to Agent Blue^[14] (a defoliant used in Vietnam), and are lobbying the United States government to have the substance labelled a known carcinogen like the more famous Agent Orange.

Hackworth died on May 4, 2005, at the age of 74 in Tijuana, Mexico, as he was searching for alternative treatments for his bladder cancer.^[15] He is survived by his wife, Eilhys England, a stepdaughter, and four children from his two previous marriages. His remains were interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

Military decorations and awards

Hackworth earned over 90 U.S. and foreign military awards, and frequently wore a CIB lapel pin on his civilian sport jackets.

Ranger tab issue

In response to Hackworth's investigation of Admiral Boorda, CNN and the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather questioned the accuracy of Hackworth's own military decorations.^[17]^[18] In particular, the reports accused Hackworth of claiming a Ranger Tab to which he was not entitled and an extra Distinguished Flying Cross listed on his website. Hackworth threatened to sue CBS and requested a formal audit of his military records. In response to the military audit, the executive producer of CBS News sent a letter to Hackworth that stated:^[19]

As far as we are concerned, the Army audit makes clear that you did not at any time wear or claim any military honor not actually issued by the U.S. Army, based on its official records, including the service record you signed and dated. At the same time, CBS continues to believe that our reports did not state or imply that you knowingly wore or claimed decorations not issued by the U.S. Army and that any such inference drawn from the reports would be mistaken.

Similarly, we do not believe our reports in any way equated your conduct with that of the late Admiral Boorda's. Indeed, as we believe we made clear in our reports, by all accounts you are a man who has shown extraordinary heroism in your service to our country, and has deservedly been awarded many of the nation's most coveted awards for valor.}}

In 2002, Hackworth was asked about the controversy in an interview with Proceedings. In the interview, he stated:^[20]

Let me tell you how the regulation reads now. To rate a Ranger Tab, you had to have been awarded the Combat Infantry Badge (CIB) while a member of the 8th Ranger Company. But I got my CIB with Company G, 27th Infantry Regiment. Thus, the 1951 award of the tab did not meet the 1980s criteria. I take all the blame.

All the guys in the 27th Raiders got the Ranger Tab, but they were not Rangers. When the Boorda story exploded, people were looking for chinks in my armor. So I'm a defrocked Ranger. As it turned out, though, in the Army's vetting of my record, they found I had ten Silver Stars, not nine.}}

Works

Hackworth was also a founder of Soldiers for the Truth, an advocacy group focused on military reform, both in terms of capability and treatment of personnel.

See also

References

1. ^{{cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.com/ |title=Dave Haskell Hackworth in the U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 |date=May 4, 2005 |website=Ancestry.com |publisher=Ancestry.com, LLC |location=Provo, UT |access-date=December 6, 2017 |subscription=yes}}
2. ^¹{{cite book |last=Lieberman |first=Joseph, Senator |date=May 26, 2005 |title=Congressional Record: Remarks on the Death of Colonel David Hackworth |url=https://books.google.de/books?id=vWBxXUEZ13EC&pg=PA1273&lpg=PA1273 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=US Government Printing Office |page=11535}}
3. ^¹See David Hackworth, About Face.
4. ^Hackworth, David, About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior, 1990, pp. 324–25
5. ^Hackworth, David [https://books.google.com/books?id=H2ofpCdu4boC&pg=PA448 About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior], 1990, pp. 448–49
6. ^Austin Peay State University, Author, columnist, commentator David Hackworth to speak June 5, May 20, 2002
7. ^David Hackworth, [https://books.google.com/books?id=H2ofpCdu4boC&pg=PA416&dq=david+hackworth+%22too+much+combat+experience,+the+guys+at+Personnel+said.%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=sDXLVLOtK4TooASmnoDIBQ&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=david%20hackworth%20%22too%20much%20combat%20experience%2C%20the%20guys%20at%20Personnel%20said.%22&f=false About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior], 1990, p. 416
8. ^Sallah and Weiss, Tiger Force, 13–14, 23, 224.
9. ^Mahr, "Unit's founder"
10. ^¹"Unit's founder says he didn't know of atrocities," The Toledo Blade, March 28, 2004, accessed October 25, 2015. Part of The Blade's coverage of Tiger Force which won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting.
11. ^{{cite book | last = Hackworth | first = David | title = The Odyssey of an American Warrior | date = March 1989 | pages = 582–86}}
12. ^{{cite news | url = http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/SRTIGERFORCE/403280375 | title = Army brass let Hackworth retire despite host of alleged misdeeds | last = Mahr | first = Joe | date = October 31, 2003 | work = Toledo Blade | accessdate = 2009-04-12}}
13. ^Newsweek, Beneath the Waves, 5/26/96
14. ^{{cite web | author = Hackworth, Ellis England | title = Bells for a Fallen Hero | publisher = Soldiers for the Truth website | url = http://www.sftt.org/}}
15. ^https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/may/09/guardianobituaries.usa1
16. ^¹²³⁴⁵⁶⁷⁸⁹¹⁰¹¹¹²¹³¹⁴¹⁵¹⁶¹⁷¹⁸¹⁹²⁰²¹²²²³²⁴²⁵²⁶²⁷²⁸²⁹³⁰³¹³²³³³⁴³⁵³⁶{{cite web|title=Military Awards|url=http://www.hackworth.com/awards.html|website=Hackworth.com|accessdate=May 30, 2007|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005221638/http://www.hackworth.com/awards.html|archivedate=October 5, 2017}}
17. ^{{cite news | accessdate = May 27, 2008 | url = http://www.cnn.com/US/9705/16/hackworth/ | first = Jamie | last = McIntyre | title = Hackworth says error doesn't compare to Boorda suicide case | publisher = CNN | date = May 16, 1997}}
18. ^{{cite news | accessdate = May 27, 2008 | url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04EFDE1238F935A25756C0A961958260 | title = Accuser on Admiral's Medals Faces Scrutiny About His Own | first = Philip | last = Shenon | work = The New York Times | date = May 16, 1997}}
19. ^{{cite web | accessdate = May 27, 2008 | url = http://www.hackworth.com/CBS_1.html | title = Hack's Medal Flap with CBS | publisher = Hackworth.com}}
20. ^{{cite interview | accessdate = 2008-05-27 | url = http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,NI_Hackworth_1202,00.html | title = Look Truth Right in the Eye | first = Col David H. | last = Hackworth | interviewer = Fred L. Schultz and Gordon Keiser | work = Proceedings | date = December 2002 | publisher = Military.com}}

External links