European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 21, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                 lieutenant colonel in 1966, David Hackworth Center was awarded nine decorations Tor valor. Here former army chief of staff Gen. Harold k. Johnson makes the presentation As mrs Hackworth looks on. The conflict was Tulilo. They Kepi it to themselves meanwhile. 58.000 americans died Lor no Good  born in 1931. Hackworth was descended from along line of military men some of whom had bought in the revolutionary War he was orphaned at 5 months and reared by a grandmother who regaled him with stones about his family s wartime exploits. By age 15. Hackworth had become a Lough Street smart kid More interested in surfing on the Beach at Santa Monica than in excelling at school Hackworth used phony id papers to finagle his Way Mlo the Arm and eventually was assigned to a division on the italian yugoslavian Border when the korean War broke out in 1950. He won a Battlefield commission and was chosen to command an All Volunteer unit known As the wolfhound raiders. In a pattern thai would repeat in self in future years. Hackworth drove his men to the limits he shrieked orders bullied them to fight harder and. Finally earned their loyalty he also infuriated higher ups by ignoring regulations and speaking his mind if his men wanted to Bonc steaks warm clothes and More reliable weapons. Hackworth would Stop at nothing to meet their needs he became a Champion scrounge learning to beg. Borrow or steal supplies wherever he could gel them even if it meant breaking every Rule in the Book All the while Hackworth s Macho legend grew. In one korean skirmish he killed More than 100 chinese soldiers. During another Battle he was shot in the head but refused to Slop fighting to saved innumerable soldiers from dying in subzero temperatures in less than three years of combat he collected three purple hearts. When the korean conflict ended Hackworth was a highly decorated Captain Over the next 15 years he commanded troops in Germany and the United slates alter several years however the peacetime army drove him up the Wall. Hackworth hungered Lor combat and had no stomach for the bureaucrats who were proliferating at the Pentagon it did t take much to realize that there wore a lol of people working their Way to the top who had absolutely no Long term interest in the army  he says people became careerists they weren t interested in serving their Nalion they become so super ambitious they lost sight of what it s All about " by 1961. Hackworth had become a major Long before America escalated the War in Indochina to had seen Brief duty there with u s. Special forces the experience showed him How ill equipped u s troops were to fight a guerrilla War and he resolved to become an expert in Jungle combat Over the  few years. Hackworth pored Over the writings of Mao tse Tung. Che Guevara and other guerrilla commanders eventually he Trolo the Vietnam primer a classic manual on Uncle combat thai is still in use today. His big Opportunity came in april 1965. When Hack Worth led the first Gro up of u s based paratroopers into Vietnam. To was ready to fight a now kind of War. Ono that relied More on stealth. Surprise and cunning than  troop movements Hackworth was Ablo to test his theories when to was Given command of several elite units including some crack airborne troops on several occasions to says we d  Hern thu viol Cong at their own game we d used their bag of tricks to fight them on the  most notably the Young commander led a helicopter unil that was later immortalized in the Novie apocalypse wow. His Black Hawk air cavalry brigade featured butlers playing reveille pills wearing civil War Campaign hats and crossed swords painted on each helicopter. We were a wild  to says there was nobody quite like us he says despite these exploits Hack Orth became disenchanted with the War Effort the conflict was nol winnable. He says bul few wanted to admit it by 1970, Hackworth s Faith in his superiors had evaporated. To reacted angrily to the american bombing of Cambodia and threatened to take his  boys to Canada if u s. Commanders persisted Iri talking about the use of nuclear weapons in Vietnam. Hackworth had married an array nurse from whom he was later divorced finally something snapped. Sensing that his Days in Vietnam were numbered Hackworth Bogan challenging every Rule in the Book. Were his troops lonely for the girls at Home Hackworth set up a Massage parlor and bordello thai Kepi the men Happy were heroin addicted soldiers under his command facing discharges for bad conduct Hackworth arranged to have non addicted soldiers take urine tests for Hern so Long As the men agreed to get prompt treatment to this Day Hackworth defends his actions i ran a clean whorehouse