Col. David Hackworth, veterans advocate, has died

[Modem Butterfly]

Retired Army Col. David Hackworth, a decorated Vietnam veteran who spoke out against the war and later became a journalist and an advocate for military reform, died Wednesday in Mexico, where he was receiving treatment for bladder cancer, his wife said. He was 74.

"He died in my arms yesterday morning," his wife, Eilhys England, said Thursday.

Hackworth, a syndicated columnist for King Features, advocated a streamlined military and improved conditions for troops.


http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/connecticut/ny-bc-ct--obit-hackworth0505may05,0,4511774.story?coll=ny-region-apconnecticut

My partner served during the last Gulf war and was a big admirer of Hackworth. Hack rose from an enlisted man to a Colonel. He was an outspoken critic of American foreign policy in Vietnam, and later under the Bush administration. He was a soldier's soldier, and always had the grunt's best interests at heart. He will be missed.

[bluestateguy]

1. Oh dear

He was a sharp guy, and a true patriot.

[eleny]

2. Aw jeez!

:cry:

[IrateCitizen]

3. Godspeed, Hack...

He certainly was the consummate "soldier's soldier". And he will be sorely missed.

[rockymountaindem]

4. That's very sad.

I saw him on TV sometimes and he always struck me as a good person.

[underpants]

5. RIP Soldier

:patriot:

[KittyWampus]

6. Thanks Colonel! Safe Journey Into The Light.

[hobbit709]

7. He'll be missed

He told the truth about how our grunts are being shortchanged by the chickenhawks in charge.

[Wilber_Stool]

8. Hack was probably

the least expendable player in the big show. His loss will leave a very big hole. I don't know of anyone who will be able to fill it.

[IrateCitizen]

9. Stan Goff is the only one who can come close... (n/t)

[billbuckhead]

10. One of the last real patriots.

:patriot:

[LdyGuique]

11. I came to knowing about him late

I've been reading DefenseWatch and Soldiers for the Truth for less than a year; however, I've respected his opinion pieces and have agreed with him most of the time.

[frylock]

12. damn..

what a terrible loss. If you haven't read it, everyone should check out his rant on Ollie North, the drugstore marine.

Source: Playboy, June 1994 v41 n6 p90(5).

Title: Drugstore marine. (Oliver North) Author: David Hackworth

Abstract: North's career shows an undeniable streak of deceit and misuse of the trust of colleagues and the American public. His most significant betrayal was engineering the trade of arms to Iran for US hostages. North would become a threat if he were to succeed in a bid for the Senate.

Subjects: Political corruption - Cases People: North, Oliver L. - Moral and ethical aspects Gov Agncy: United States. Marine Corps - Officials and employees

Electronic Collection: A15456160 RN: A15456160

Full Text COPYRIGHT Playboy 1994

LET ME TRY to describe Oliver North in a few fast bursts. He's a jackass. He is so preposterous that there is a temptation to laugh at him. He's smarmy, a flatter, a brownnoser. He's also a twisted impostor, a drugstore Marine with an apparent compulsion to bullshit just about all the time. But while he tries to fool people with his fantasies, he is also very easy to fool. He boasts that he was an can-do guy when he was in the White House, but the record spells no-can-do. North did terible damage to the U.S. until he was caught. One thread runs through his performance--getting conned. The Iranians conned him, the contras conned him, the crooked arms dealers conned him and even Manuel Antonio Noriega conned him.

North is also one of the most dangerous men in America today. I've talked with him only once, by telephone on Michael Jackson's radio talk show on KABC in Los Angeles. I had done my homework and wasn't surprised when North put on his usual act. By the time I debated him I had talked with dozens of Marines and soldiers who knew him, as well as with former National security Coucil staff colleagues. I had seen him on countless TV shows, had read about him in several books and hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles. "Does Oliver North Tell the Truth?" was the title of a June 1993 investigation in Reader's Digest. The writer, Rachel Wildavsky, presents a watertight case, providing names and dates and plenty of reasons why the answer to the headline is no. My own sources confirmed or amplified what Wildavsky reports: North "could not be believed--even under oath." One of his former colleagues is quoted as saying North "had trouble distinguishing between what was true and what he wished to be true."

In almost 50 years of being around soldiers, I have bumped into my fair share of bullshitters, but Ollie would have to take the first-place ribbon. His record shows that he is totally untrustworthy.

During the radio show I asked him to clarify a few of the contradictory stories he was told about himself. North bobbed and weaved and said that if we could get together he would explain everything. I don't want to go near the guy, and he can't make facts disappear by trying to flatter me. At the end of the show he said, "I'm under posttraumatic stress disorder from this interview." The fact is that North is the sort of guy who cringes at the truth.


<more>

http://www.airborne-ranger.com/ranger/wannabees/OllieNorth.html

[radar]

13. He wrote articles that were like a cold shower

...To the "hot for war" gung-ho chickenhawks.

A couple I liked...

1st about the draft & how rah rah types claim "drafted soldiers are a bad idea."
Hackworth: Uncle Sam Will Soon Want Your Kids
October 4, 2004
http://www.military.com/Opinions/0,,Hackworth_100404,00.html

2nd about the lack of vehicle protection - "...go to war with the army we have - not the army we want..."
Hackworth: The Death Wagons of Iraq
June 16, 2004
http://www.military.com/Resources/ResourceFileView?file=Hackworth_061604.htm

[Clyde_dubyaD40]

14. Our country is not as strong as it was when he was alive. RIP Sir!

[bullwinkle428]

15. R.I.P., Colonel...

...you clearly were someone that always believed that "Support the Troops" should more than just an empty cliche (cough*chickenhawk Rethugs*cough)... :toast: :patriot: