Editing David Hackworth (section)

==Military career==
Imbued with a sense of adventure, at age 14, Hackworth lied about his age and paid a transient to pose as his father so he could claim to be old enough to join the [[United States Merchant Marine]] with parental consent.<ref name="King" /><ref name="Irish" />
In 1945 he served aboard a Merchant Marine ship in the [[South Pacific Ocean]] during the final months of [[World War II]].<ref name=Lieberman>{{cite book |last=Lieberman |first=Joseph, Senator |date=May 26, 2005 |title=Congressional Record: Remarks on the Death of Colonel David Hackworth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vWBxXUEZ13EC&pg=PA1273 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=US Government Printing Office |page=11535|isbn=9780160889400 }}</ref>  After he returned home to California he decided to join the [[United States Army]]. In 1946, he used his Merchant Marine documents to enlist for three years.<ref name="Lieberman"/> After completing his initial training, he was assigned to post-war occupation duty as a rifleman in the [[351st Infantry Regiment (United States)|351st Infantry Regiment]], [[88th Infantry Division (United States)|88th Infantry Division]].  Based in [[Trieste]], his unit was part of [[Trieste United States Troops]]. While serving in Trieste, Hackworth earned his [[General Educational Development]] high-school equivalency diploma.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hackworth|first= David|title=About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior|year= 1990|page= 217|publisher=Avid Reader Press |isbn=978-1982144043}}</ref>

===Korea===
Hackworth fought  with the 25th Reconnaissance Company and the [[27th Infantry Regiment (United States)|27th Infantry (Wolfhound) Regiment]] of the [[25th Infantry Division (United States)|25th Infantry Division]] during the [[Korean War]]. He gained a [[battlefield commission]] as a [[second lieutenant]] in 1951 and was awarded three [[Silver Stars]] for heroism and three [[Purple Heart]]s. After a successful raid on Hill 1062 and battlefield promotion to first lieutenant, the commander of the 27th Infantry Regiment offered Hackworth command of a new volunteer raider unit. Hackworth created the 27th Wolfhound Raiders and led them from August to November 1951. He subsequently volunteered for a second tour in Korea, this time with the [[40th Infantry Division (United States)|40th Infantry Division]]. Hackworth was promoted to the rank of [[Captain (US Army)|captain]].<ref name="About_Face">''See'' David Hackworth, ''About Face''.</ref>

===Cold War===
{{external media | width = 210px | float = left | headerimage= | video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?7378-1/face-odyssey-american-warrior ''Booknotes'' interview with Hackworth on ''About Face'', May 7, 1989], [[C-SPAN]]}}
Hackworth was demobilized after the [[Korean Armistice Agreement]] in 1954. But he quickly became bored with civilian life, so after two years of college he re-joined the U.S. Army as a captain in 1956.

When Hackworth returned to active duty, the [[Cold War]] substantially changed the structure of the army from what he had known. Initially posted to 77th [[Anti-aircraft warfare|Antiaircraft Artillery]] [[Battalion]] in [[Manhattan Beach, California]], Hackworth was eventually assigned to [[Germany]], initially in staff roles, but returning to [[infantry]] in the early 1960s as a company commander under Colonel Glover S. Johns. He was involved in a number of fire drills around the [[Berlin Crisis of 1961]]. He recounted his experiences with the Soviet guard and his views on military history in his book ''About Face''.

After completing an [[associate of arts]] degree at [[Los Angeles Harbor College]],<ref>Hackworth pp. 324–25</ref> and completing additional courses at several other colleges, in 1964, Hackworth graduated from [[Austin Peay State University]] with a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in [[history]], after which he attended the [[United States Army Command and General Staff College|Command and General Staff College]].<ref>Hackworth pp. 448–49</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.apsu.edu/news/author-columnist-commentator-david-hackworth-speak-june-5|title=Author, columnist, commentator David Hackworth to speak June 5|publisher=[[Austin Peay State University]]|access-date=April 5, 2013|archive-date=October 11, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151011232633/http://www.apsu.edu/news/author-columnist-commentator-david-hackworth-speak-june-5}}, May 20, 2002</ref>

===Vietnam ===
When President [[John F. Kennedy]] announced that a large advisory team was being sent to [[South Vietnam]], Hackworth immediately volunteered for service. His request was denied, on the grounds that he had too much frontline experience, and that others who had seen less fighting (or none) should have an opportunity to acquire experience in combat.<ref>David Hackworth, [https://books.google.com/books?id=H2ofpCdu4boC&dq=david+hackworth+%22too+much+combat+experience%2C+the+guys+at+Personnel+said.%22&pg=PA416 ''About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior''], 1990, p. 416</ref>

In 1965, he deployed to Vietnam at the rank of [[Major (United States)|Major]], serving as an [[Operations (military staff)|operations officer]] and battalion commander in the [[101st Airborne Division]]. In November 1965, Hackworth founded a platoon-sized unit designated as [[Tiger Force]] to "out guerrilla the guerrillas".<ref>Sallah and Weiss, ''Tiger Force'', 13–14, 23, 224.</ref> <!-- Tiger Force (Recon) --> The unit carried out [[long-range reconnaissance patrol]] duties, suffering heavy casualties; it was eventually awarded the [[Presidential Unit Citation (United States)|Presidential Unit Citation]].<ref>Mahr, "[http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/SRTIGERFORCE/40328015 Unit's founder] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100107233127/http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F99999999%2FSRTIGERFORCE%2F40328015 |date=January 7, 2010 }}"</ref> However, after Hackworth was promoted out of Vietnam, the unit committed a series of [[United States war crimes|war crimes]], with U.S. Army investigative records estimating that Tiger Force soldiers killed hundreds of noncombatants. Hackworth later stated in an interview with the ''[[The Blade (Toledo, Ohio)|Toledo Blade]]'' that he was unaware of the war crimes the unit carried out and refused to speculate on why they occurred.<ref name="toledoblade.com">{{Cite web|first=Joe|last=Mahr|title=Unit's founder says he didn't know of atrocities|url=https://www.toledoblade.com/special-tiger-force/2004/03/28/Unit-s-founder-says-he-didn-t-know-of-atrocities.html|publisher=[[The Blade (Toledo, Ohio)|Toledo Blade]]|date=March 28, 2004|access-date=January 6, 2023}}</ref>

Hackworth quickly developed a reputation as an eccentric but effective soldier, becoming a public figure in several books authored by General [[S. L. A. Marshall|S. L. A. "Slam" Marshall]]. Following a stateside tour at [[the Pentagon]] and promotion to [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]], Hackworth co-wrote ''The Vietnam Primer'' with Marshall after returning to Vietnam in the winter of 1966–67 on an Army-sponsored tour with the famous historian and commentator. The book advised [[counter-insurgency]] fighters to adopt some of the guerrilla tactics used by [[Mao Zedong]], [[Che Guevara]], and [[Ho Chi Minh]]. Hackworth described the strategy as "out-G-ing the G." His personal and professional relationship with Marshall soured as Hackworth became suspicious of his methods and motivation.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite book |first1=Julie |last1=Sherman |date=April 15, 1990 |title=About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior |publisher=Touchstone |location=California |isbn=0671695347}}</ref>

However, both his assignment with "Slam" Marshall and his time on staff duty at the Pentagon soured Hackworth on the [[Vietnam War]]. One aspect of the latter required him to publicly defend the U.S. position on the war in a speaking tour. Even with his reservations concerning the conflict, he refused to resign, feeling it was his duty as a field grade officer to wage the campaign as best he could.<ref name=autogenerated1 />

[[File:Fire Support Base Danger March 1969.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Fire Support Base Danger, Dinh Tuong Province, March 1969: This fire support base was the 4-39th Infantry Battalion headquarters when Hackworth took command of that unit.]]
Hackworth was assigned to a training battalion at [[Fort Lewis (Washington)|Fort Lewis]], Washington, and then returned to Vietnam to lead elements of the [[9th Infantry Division (United States)|9th Infantry Division]], turning his theories about guerrilla warfare and how to counter it into practice with the 4th Battalion, [[39th Infantry Regiment (United States)|39th Infantry Regiment]] (4-39 Infantry) in the [[Mekong Delta]], an underperforming unit made up largely of conscripts which Hackworth transformed into the counter-insurgent "Hardcore" Battalion (Recondo) from January to late May 1969.

Hackworth next served as a senior military adviser to the [[ARVN]], the South Vietnamese army. His view that the U.S. Army was not learning from its mistakes, and that ARVN officers were essentially corrupt and ineffective, created friction with Army leadership.<ref name=autogenerated1 />

In early 1971, Hackworth was promoted to the rank of [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]] and received orders to attend the [[United States Army War College|Army War College]], an indication that he was being groomed for the general officer ranks. He had declined a previous opportunity to go to the War College, and turned down this one, as well, indicating his lack of interest in becoming a general and demonstrating his discontent with the war and the Army's leaders.<ref name=autogenerated1 />

===Criticism===
Hackworth's dissatisfaction ultimately culminated in a television interview with [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]. On June 27, 1971, he appeared on the program ''[[Issues and Answers]]'' and strongly criticized U.S. commanders in Vietnam, said the war could not be won and called for U.S. withdrawal. The interview enraged senior U.S. Army officers at the Pentagon.<ref name=autogenerated1 />

He subsequently retired as a colonel.  Senior Army leaders investigated Hackworth, who avoided them for several weeks.  He was nearly [[court-martial]]ed for various allegations during his Vietnam service, such as running a brothel, running gambling houses, and exploiting his position for personal profit by manipulating the [[scrip]] in which soldiers were paid and the limited U.S. currency available in the war zone. Ultimately, Secretary of the Army [[Robert Frederick Froehlke|Robert Froehlke]] opted not to press charges, deciding that Hackworth's career accomplishments outweighed his supposed misdeeds and that prosecuting an outspoken war hero would result in unneeded bad publicity for the Army.<ref name="blade-retirement">{{cite news
  | url        = http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/SRTIGERFORCE/403280375
  | title      = Army brass let Hackworth retire despite host of alleged misdeeds
  | last       = Mahr
  | first      = Joe
  | date       = October 31, 2003
  | work       = Toledo Blade
  | access-date = April 12, 2009
}}</ref>