"If you find yourself in a fair fight, you didn't plan your mission properly” is just one of the quotes attributed to one of America’s finest warriors, the late Colonel David H. Hackworth. Hackworth, who liked to be called ‘Hack’, was the kind of soldier that all serving in our military should emulate. He set the standard that everyone from the lowliest Private to a four star general should strive for.
For those who are unfamiliar with ‘Hack’, he was a United States Army officer who was highly decorated in both the Korean War and Vietnam. He was the youngest U.S. colonel commanding troops in Vietnam at the time of his promotion, and was described by General Creighton Abrams who commanded all US military operations from 1968 to 1972 in Vietnam, as "the best battalion commander I ever saw in the United States Army". Abrams commanded a tank battalion during World War II, and his unit was the first to enter the besieged town of Bastogne to help relieve the “Battered Bastards of Bastogne”, the members of the 101st Airborne Division who had been surrounded by the troops of Nazi Germany. So Abrams knew a little about soldiering himself.
At the age of fourteen Hack lied about his age and paid someone to pose as his father so he could claim to be old enough to join the United States Merchant Marine. In 1945 during the final months of World War II he served aboard a Merchant Marine ship in the South Pacific. Afterwards he returned home to California where he decided to join the United States Army.
He served in combat during the Korean War where he gained a battlefield commission, and was awarded three Silver Stars and three Purple Hearts, testifying to his leadership and courage under fire.
Hack went on to serve multiple tours of duty in Vietnam, adding many more rows to the chest full of ribbons he earned for his heroism in combat. Included among his military decorations earned in Vietnam was the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second highest award for courage under fire. He later added an Oak Leaf Cluster to his DSC indicating a second award, as well as many other awards for valor and for combat wounds received. Hack was a genuine American military hero, though he never cared about how many medals he wore on his chest.
In 1971 Hack was promoted to the rank of full colonel and received orders to attend the Army War College, which was a prerequisite for anyone being groomed for a general’s star. He had previously turned down an opportunity to go to the War College, and turned down this second offer as well. Hack wasn’t interested in pinning a star onto his shirt collar and joining the exclusive club of Flag Officers. Particularly since Hack was highly critical of the military’s leadership in Vietnam. Criticism which nearly got him court-martialed.
Hack went on to publish the book ‘About Face, an Odyssey of an America Warrior’ in 1989, a reflection on his many years of dedicated military service to this nation, as well as some criticism directed towards the military leadership in Vietnam, which he referred to as the “Perfumed Princes”. Certainly not intended as a compliment.
So what does Colonel David H. Hackworth have to do with our military nowadays? Hack is the epitome of what wins wars. When the Democrats are more concerned about ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ in the military, Hack was worried about killing the enemy and protecting this country.
That is what we need now more than anything in today’s very dangerous world. Warfighters who are ready, willing, and able to commit carnage against the enemies of our country. Not just give PowerPoint presentations and declare that “our diversity is our strength”. I’m pretty certain that Hack would reply “Bull-hockey”! Or something to that effect anyway.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is of the same warrior mindset as Colonel David Hackworth. I found it particularly interesting when not long ago SECDEF Hegseth remarked, “We won World War II with seven four star generals. Today we have forty-four, four star generals. We don't need more bureaucracy at the top, we need more war fighters empowered at the bottom”. Hack, who passed away back in 2005 after a battle with cancer and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, would have been proud.
It is long past time to end the Democrat’s propensity for using our military as a social experimentation laboratory. We don’t need lowered standards to accommodate individuals of either gender. If anything, we need to heighten the standards to make it even more rigorous and difficult to make it into our Combat Arms and Special Operations units.
Social experimentation does not win wars, killing the enemy wins wars. America needs more people with the mindset of Hack and Pete Hegseth in our Armed Forces, and less tinkering by the social justice warriors in the Democrat Party.