The other day I was feeling kind of shitty and I had some time to kill, so I do what I usually do when I'm stuck in my office and running low on motivation: I browsed the vast wasteland of the internet looking for some new material from one of my heroes.
COL David Hackworth--in case you didn't know--was an amazing man. To me, a modern-day Leonidas. I won't waste words recounting his legend. If you aren't familiar with his exploits, you should get familiar--QUICK. If this doesn't interest you I will kindly ask you to leave this blog and never return.
He died not too long ago, and when he passed on to Valhalla this country lost one of its most ardent defenders. He not only believed in this country, he was one of the few men left who could honestly say that he would gladly die for it (and he came close many, many times). More importantly, after he had retired from the uniformed service as a career enlisted man and officer, he continued this defense with his pen, writing constantly about the criminal conduct of our failed current administration and the resulting quagmire that our military is presently dealing with in Iraq.
He was there for the soldier--always. He posted their thoughts for the world to see, and was their champion. Prior to his career as a journalist, he led them front the front. Bottom line: he cared when so few do not. Because of this, he was effective in the face of our military's most disastrous features: ego, fear and bureaucracy. Few would be able to carry his torch--fewer still would care enough to do so.
Despite the fact that it is several years belated, I wanted to thank "Hack" for all that he was, all that he achieved. The best tribute I can think of is to hang some of my favorite quotes, so here they are for you to ponder:
(1) "Sweat in training saves blood on the battlefield."
(2) "...the very core of leadership has always been to set the example and let soldiers see that their leaders care about them, share the same risks and conditions.... The best way to get this message across is by living as the troops do, leading from up front, and always, always setting the example: first up, last to eat and last to lie down."
(3) "War is hell, but real combat is a motherfucker."
(4) "One enemy is never enough, two is far too many."
Goodbye Hack, you left some mighty big boots.
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