Comments on: David Hackworth’s Legacy

By: The Pale Scot

The Pale Scot — Tue, 13 May 2008 14:48:55 +0000

Chesty was a Marine, Hack was a soldier (U.S. Army)

By: Anderson

Anderson — Mon, 05 May 2008 14:10:04 +0000

I propose "most heavily decorated."

By: Jim Bartoli

Jim Bartoli — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:32:29 +0000

Chesty Puller is credited with more decorations than Hackworth.

By: William d'Inger

William d'Inger — Sun, 04 May 2008 18:10:42 +0000

Gasp, A Bushie who despises combat vets... what a shocker!

That's so childish. When you have nothing germane to add to the conversation (which in your case is 99% of the time) you just hurl nugatory blather in (I presume) the hope that it will make you relevant somehow.

I neither support nor despise combat veterans on their service experience alone. I judge them the same way as I do anyone else, i.e., on the basis of their character insofar as it is known to me. I would recommend the same to you.

By: Dennis Neylon

Dennis Neylon — Sun, 04 May 2008 10:00:23 +0000

Hackworth's "Story" on Boorda was part of a campaign to run him out because Boorda ran roughshod over the much of the senior officer corps who thought, for reasons unknown, that he was "bad" for the Navy. Boorda, who rose up from enlisted ranks, actually believed in enlisted personnel being the backbone of the Navy -- not the self-inflated officer corps. Boorda was a breath of fresh air and the officer cadre couldn't handle it. Days before Hackworth's last straw, Navy Times published a long anonymous letter for a senior anonymous officer that thoroughly trashed Boorda and his policies. Boorda was far from unstable, but was under a lot of stress.

By: anjin-san

anjin-san — Sun, 04 May 2008 04:16:44 +0000

In my opinion, someone like that is not a hero but an egotist.

Gasp, A Bushie who despises combat vets... what a shocker!

By: Mithras

Mithras — Sat, 03 May 2008 18:41:13 +0000

A smart guy, but insecure. It's obvious from his book About Face.

By: William d'Inger

William d'Inger — Sat, 03 May 2008 15:00:41 +0000

Yes, the Boorda thing was a sordid affair, but if Boorda was that mentally unstable, it's probably best to not have him as CNO.

That doesn't excuse Hackworth for exaggeration. I suspect his inflated opinion of himself is what drove him to garner all those decorations in the first place. In my opinion, someone like that is not a hero but an egotist.

By: Rodney Peloquin

Rodney Peloquin — Sat, 03 May 2008 14:36:15 +0000

Admiral Jeremy M. Boorda was the current Chief of Naval Operations in 1996 when Hackworth went after him on the wearing of two low to mid level 'admimistrative' awards to which Hackworth claimed he was not authorized to wear. Admiral Boorda subsequently shot himself at home on May 16th. It was a strange and petty issue for the self-righteous journalist to go after.

By: Colonel David Hackworth: An Appreciation

Colonel David Hackworth: An Appreciation — Sat, 03 May 2008 14:30:00 +0000

[...] click here to read more at Kiko’s House, here for a contrarian view of Hackworth by James Joyner at Outside the Beltway, and here for A [...]

By: Mithras

Mithras — Sat, 03 May 2008 12:33:45 +0000

Funny, given Hackworth's views on people who were awarded decorations undeservedly. I think one officer he went after killed himself.