Ryan, speaking of him, I just met a person today at the library that says he thinks he still has his email address. Im hoping he will send it to me and ill share it with you if he does. Col. Hackworth was a Korean and Vietnam War vet. He does tons of work for the History Channel and is also a permanent resident of Texas, he lives I think to the north of Austin--the state capital. If I get his email address--I hope to have him visit this site.
Thanks for reminding me, I wasnt so sure. For a man his age--he sure still looks pretty young. My father was also a 3 war vet.
I dont know exact units my father served in when in the Aircorps/airforce. In ww2 he was in the 8th Airforce and was assigned to B-17s and flew over Germany several times. After ww2 ended--he applied for a transfer and was reassigned to the 5th Airforce which was based in japan. He then in 1950 and 51--saw service in Korea in a Weather Detachment. I think he was still with the 5th AF when he saw service in Nam, but im not sure.
Welcome to these forums and thanks for the info on him. As of today--I still havent had an email from the person who said he had the Cols email address--so I guess contacting him is back to square one--for now.
On the picture I have of Colonel Hackworth's ribbons, the WW2 Victory Medal is displayed..denoting service in WW2
That ribbon was for service DURING WWII. If he was in WWII, he'd have had a European campaign medal and an american campaign medal. You could have been a toilet scrubber at Ft. Benning and gotten the WWII victory medal. I think Hackworth went to Italy in 47, as MHN said, as a member of "Trust". He was kind of the gopher boy in his Co.
REALLY-I could clean latrines at Fort Benning and be awarded a WW2 Victory Medal!!! Oh, well now I can see why all the troops who fight at the front would hold some anger towards REMFs!!!
Well, you could during the war, but not now a days I actually did a litte reading and was wrong. Hack was actually in the Merchant Marines in WWII in the pacific as a very young man. That's where he got his victory medal. When he was old enough he went into the army, an was indeed in Italy in 47.
Hack's biography is posted on his website: http://www.hackworth.com/biography.html David H. Hackworth Biography Hack's military career as a sailor, soldier and a military correspondent has spanned nearly a dozen wars and conflicts, from the end of World War II to the recent meltdown in the ex-Yugoslavia. He enlisted in the merchant marine at age 14 and the U.S. Army at 15. In almost 26 years in the Army he spent over seven years in combat theaters, winning a battlefield commission in Korea to become that war's youngest Army captain. After almost five years in Vietnam Hack's cup runneth over. In 1971, as the Army's youngest colonel he spoke out on national television saying, "This is a bad war ... it can't be won we need to get out." In that interview, he also said that the North Vietnamese flag would fly over Saigon in four years -- a prediction that turned out to be right on target. He was the only senior officer to sound off about the insanity of the war. Understandably, Nixon and the Army weren't real happy with his shooting off his mouth. With all his many awards, Hack still considers the Combat Infantryman Badge and the United Nations Medal for Peace -- which he was presented for his anti-nuclear work in Australia -- his "highest awards. Hack is a regular guest on national radio and TV shows, and from 1990 to the end of 1996, he was Newsweek's contributing editor for defense. Besides his Newsweek cover stories and other reporting, he has been featured in magazines including People, Parade, Men's Journal, and has also been published in Playboy, Soldier of Fortune, Self and Modern Maturity. His column, Defending America, appears weekly in newspapers across America and on this site. During Desert Storm which Hack covered for Newsweek, he was the only correspondent to accurately predict the outcome of the Gulf War. He has won many national and international awards for his Newsweek reporting, including the George Washington Honor Medal for excellence in communications. Hack's books include The Vietnam Primer and the international best seller About Face, Hazardous Duty and The Price of Honor. His newest book, Steel My Soldiers' Heart's is now in the bookstores. Hack is an advocate of military reform and a believer that the big fire power -- "nuke-the-pukes" -- solution won't work anymore, but that doesn't mean war will go away. He sees big and little fights ahead and urges military reform. He believes passionately that "America needs a streamlined, hard hitting force for the 21st century" and beyond. Hack brings to his mission his unique experience acquired in almost 52 years of bouncing around hot and cold battlefields. He also brings an insider's view of the Pentagon and the military establishment made deadly current by input provided on a daily basis by serving warriors from around the globe. E-mail frequently brings him the word before the Pentagon gets it. [ 20 October 2002, 11:32 PM: Message edited by: Crapgame ]
