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Title: Steel My Soldiers' Hearts : The Hopeless to Hardcore Transformation of U.S. Army, 4th Battalion, 39th Infantry, Vietnam by David H. Hackworth ISBN: 0-7432-4613-6 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 06 May, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.72 (46 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: More Than A War Story.
Comment: COL Hackworth's focus on soldiering, even keeping the story line at grunt level, is entertaining and thought provoking on the necessity of good leadership. If you can read in-between the colorful writing of COL Hackworth, you will see the influence of his time in Vietnam with BG S.L. Marshall as an analyst of armed conflict. His applications of Observe, Orient, Decide & Act (OODA) loop cycle reduction to get inside of the decision matrix of his enemy is still relevant today in Afghanistan as it was in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. The transformation of 4/39 INF from soft core to Hardcore is worth company level officers and NCO's a read. It relevancy today is that for now and the foreseeable wars to come; it will be fought at the company level with the focus on small unit tactics and training.
COL Hackworth's notability as a writer with a public image sometimes "taints" his deep analytical ability and his true heart to train and lead soldiers. Forget about his public image, his colorful phrases, and his so-called "rhetoric" . . . the book in its raw essence has value to help prepare our soldier's for the type of war we will face. Many of men have written about combat for fame or fortune but few have chosen to pass on wisdom. This book is not another war story.
Rating: 5
Summary: We need more like Hackworth...
Comment: This is the story of the 4/39th (4th Battalion of the 39th Infantry Regiment) during their stay in the Mekong Delta in early 1969.
Lt. Colonel Hackworth is a proven combat soldier, having served in Korea as a Ranger, and later commanding a battalion of the 101st Airborne earlier in the Vietnam War. When he is named commander of the 4/39th, they are referred to as a "..." battalion by no other than the 9th Division commander, General Ewell. Hackworth's job was to whip these men into, if not a fearsome fighting force, at least a halfway competent one. Early in the book, the reader gets the impression that this is an insurmountable task. The men of 4/39th are portrayed as lazy, shiftless, leaderless, unwilling draftees who are little removed from the civilians they were, except for the (raggedy) uniforms they wear, and the (not well maintained) guns they carry. To turn this battalion into a force the VC feared and respected would take a miracle.
Lieutenant Colonel David Hackworth was that miracle.
Hackworth immediately sets about turning his battalion into a disciplined, knife-edge sharp unit, with competent and daring infantry leaders at every level on down to squad leader. His methods at first seem so petty and chicken----, that the men put out a bounty on his head! However, as the 4/39th begins to see results when they engage the enemy, and Hackworth's sincere concern for their welfare (he once searched the entire country for a pair of boots for a soldier who had an unusually small shoe size), the men quickly come to love and respect him.
As the 4/39th becomes the star battalion of the 9th Division, many upper-level commanders want to ride on its coattails to further advance their careers. Hackworth spits particularly lethal venom on a certain Col. Ira Hunt - the type of man who probably caused us to lose the war. Not only is Hunt incompetent as a combat commander, his extreme ambition causes him to micromanage those under him and is a shameless brown-noser to his superiors. Once when Hackworth's battalion went into combat, Hunt stuck himself in the thick of things, but instead of allowing Hackworth and the other leaders involved in the battle do their jobs, he countermanded sound orders and issued illogical ones which nearly led to a disaster. Later, Hunt had the audacity to ask Hackworth for a glowing recommendation for the "victory" Hunt had masterminded. Hunt's "victory" was about as much a victory as Lee's at Gettysburg.
Throughout the book, Hackworth calls by name those who served with him in the 4/39th, praising those who served well, but diplomatically gives pseudonyms to some of the soldiers who were less than capable under his command. Particularly gracious in my eyes is the way Hackworth lists full names of those men who perished under his command. This is in contrast to many memoirs which state simply, "we lost four men that day."
The reader gets the impression that Hackworth is one of a rare breed - not just brave under fire (he earned eight (8!!) Puple Hearts in his career) but tactically competent and a good enough teacher to show those under him how its done. Another officer I've read about who seemed cut from the same mold was Major Richard Winters, who is featured as an Airborne officer during WW2 in the 101st Airborne Division. Unfortunately, Hackworth's unwavering passion for what he felt was right led him to make numerous enemies within the military hierarchy, and even though he certainly had the brains and guts to make a senior general, he retired a full colonel.
All in all, this is one great read about war, and I highly recommend it.
Rating: 5
Summary: Hack Tells It Like It Is
Comment: Well written book.Good detailed accounts of Hack's experience with the Hardcore Recondos. He's not afraid to point out the shortcomings of his superiors and gives the reader insight to the problems and hardships his men faced during the Vietnam war.He shows us that by his own basic rules of soldier discipline , leadership skills , tactics, and common sense , he is able to take the fight to the enemy and turn around his unit.Hack gives us the truth and a better understanding of that war. Maybe it will prevent future military leaders from repeating the mistakes of the Vietnam War era. I have read several books about the Vietnam war and this book is the best one I've enjoyed reading. It is a hard one to put down after you have started reading it.
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Title: The Price of Honor by David H. Hackworth ISBN: 0425180646 Publisher: Berkley Pub Group Pub. Date: 05 September, 2001 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Hazardous Duty by David H. Hackworth ISBN: 0380727420 Publisher: Avon Pub. Date: 01 September, 1997 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: ABOUT FACE : THE ODYSSEY OF AN AMERICAN WARRIOR by David H. Hackworth ISBN: 0671695347 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 15 April, 1990 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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Title: Brave Men by David H. Hackworth ISBN: 0671865609 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 1993 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Special Men by Dennis Foley ISBN: 080410915X Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 31 July, 1994 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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