David Hackworth, Vietnam vet and military analyst, dies at 74
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — 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, has died, his wife said Thursday. He was 74.
…
Hackworth, a syndicated columnist for King Features, advocated a streamlined military and improved conditions for troops. He wrote several books including The Vietnam Primer, About Face, and Hazardous Duty.

“Hack never lost his focus,” said Roger Charles, president of Soldiers for the Truth, a California-based veterans group for which Hackworth served as chairman. “That focus was on the young kids that our country sends to bleed and die on our behalf. Everything he did in his retirement was to try to give them a better chance to win and to come home. That’s one hell of a legacy.”

Hackworth had been a highly credible and relentless reality check on the Bush administration’s ill-conceived adventure in Iraq. He knew a lot about the realities of military operations. He also knew a great deal about the cynical political grandstanding that all too often accompanies the march to war, especially when the men sending kids off to die were the sort who had pulled every string available to their rich and privileged families to avoid having to step in harm’s way themselves.

Hack, thanks for all you did in support of our soldiers. We miss you already….

[THX: Cody Barstow of Mojo City News.]