My dad had an old 45 record that played the song “Old Soldiers Never Die (They Just Fade Away).” I hadn’t thought of that song in years—until I read that Col. David Hackworth passed away.
I have devoted so much of my later life crusading to save soldiers from uncaring generals and politicians and bureaucrats, who tend so easily to view these kids—who are rarely their own flesh and blood—as abstract pawns in a virtual game of chess, because I was there. I stood and was counted, and I will never forget the pain when I signed KIA letters in Korea and Vietnam. I would choke up as I signed them—I could see the boys’ faces, their cocky smiles, their muddy soldier suits. Each signing reinforced the awesome responsibility I carried as a leader to be as protective as possible about the young lives entrusted to me.
David Hackworth, November 22, 2005, “With Deepest Sympathy,” the column that revealed Donald Rumsfeld had been using a machine to sign letters of condolence to soldiers’ families.
A decorated combat veteran in a career that started in World War II when he was 14 and lied about his age to enlist; to Vietnam, where he proved that adopting the enemy’s guerilla-style tactics was more effective than traditional fighting methods, Hackworth never shied away from from a fight. Political battles were no exception.
“Major General Kurt Anderson, commander of the Joint Task Force in Saudi Arabia, implied in a New York Times interview his hands were tied because our forces are in Saudi Arabia. He said “We do not own this country. We are here living on the facilities they have provided us. That sets up certain constraints that our security measures must operate within.”
What a load of crap! U.S. commanders are responsible for the security of their soldiers wherever they are.”
David Hackworth, June 30, 1996, “Our Troops Were Left to Hang Out to Die“
When Army brass threatened to court-martial him in 1971—one of their most highly decorated officers—for his public criticism of the Vietnam War, he gave up his medals in protest. He lived as an expatriate for several years until he came back to the U.S. to fight another endless war, this one on behalf of U.S. soldiers.
“But here we are in Iraq after 15 bloody months still welding steel plate onto Humvees. Sure, our soldiers gain a tad more protection, but it also turns the vehicles into rollover queens because it shifts their center of gravity.”
David Hackworth, June 6, 2004, “Death Wagons of Iraq“
Col. Hackworth’s relentless Pentagon prodding was borne from knowing better than anyone what our guys needed on and off the battlefield, and it was his life’s mission to make sure the Army brass knew it, too.
“Sure, the U.S. military brilliantly won the tactical war in Iraq with “shock and awe,” but no amount of spin can shift the reality that it has been losing the early innings of the occupation phase. The generals so eager to court-martial colonels for doing their jobs should be court-martialed themselves for not doing their duty and confronting SecDef Donald Rumsfeld before we invaded Iraq.”
David Hackworth, November 10, 2003, “Fire the ‘Perfumed Princes’ Now“
Unlike the “Perfumed Princes” too busy promoting their careers to do right by our soldiers, Col. Hackworth never stopped fighting for the guys fighting for us.
“Taking care of the troops means a lot more than serving up a few slices of turkey on Christmas Day and flying VIPs into isolated camps, desert air bases and steaming aircraft carriers to mouth meaningless platitudes.
Looking after the troops means making sure they’re prepared and trained for the right kind of combat, the right wars, with the right leadership and the best fighting gear money can buy. It means preserving their strength, not bleeding them on worthless missions.”David Hackworth, December 9, 1997, “The Proud, the Few and the Misused”
Col. Hackworth did not fade away. He died fighting two fronts: his war against the Perfumed Princes and his last battle, against bladder cancer. He fired a final salvo at the Princes two days before his death on May 4, 2005.
“Of course, I know your own reputation as a straight shooter who shares our concern for the troops. But frankly, general, some of your flunkies are blowing smoke—and lots of it—up your cammie trousers.”
David Hackworth, May 2, 2005, “Another Open Letter to Lt. General John E. Sattler“
Goodbye Col. Hackworth; you were a great man.