"Great American heroes."
In an era when Americans are easily taken in by of those who pretend to be heroes, we do a grave injustice to real heroes like Colonel Hackworth.
That's most clear when we compare his heroism to the heroism of some of our other "American heroes." John Wayne is an "American hero" to many. The same with Rudy Juliani, George Bush, and Ronald Reagan. So are a host of military officers who've been awarded medals for valor that they earned based on the fact that they "led" men into battle when all they really did was "send" men into battle. Those men are introduced as heroes but those men aren't "heroes" the way Hackworth was. Hackworth is probably the most decorated soldier that ever served this country and he earned most of those medals the hard way; he took personal risks, volunteered for deadly hazardous duties and exposed himself to enemy fire countless times.
Early on the Army recognized his value as a soldier and an officer. He was the youngest Colonel in the Army and was virtually assured of early promotion to the rank of general when he made the same mistake that others made who correctly named the mess that was Vietnam; he spoke out against the war and the policies of the clowns who were running it. In the Nixon era, as in today's Bush era, failure to adhere to the party line was intolerable.
The man who had EARNED the nation's second highest award for valor TWICE, the nations third highest award for valor TEN times, had earned EIGHT purple hearts, and knew more about countering the tactics of the NVA and the VC than probably any other military expert, was drummed out of the Army. Not because what he said was untrue, but because what he said was so painfully true that it couldn't be tolerated by the lying and corrupt egos in power and their lackeys.
I like to think that Hackworth did it because it was the right thing to do. Not the "right thing" for the politicians or the military brass who were toadying up to the politicians and were getting the promotions that allowed them to rise to the top levels of the military, but the right thing for his country. And, maybe just as importantly in my view, the right thing for the men who were dying and suffering for a worthless cause in Vietnam.
Those miserable few were his men. Unlike most officers of his rank he hadn't made his bones by sending them to fight and die and then arranging for the awards for "valor" that would launch a military career, he'd made his bones by leading those men in battle and fighting with them. Those men weren't names to him, they were faces, faces he'd seen in pain, and death, and suffering. Faces he'd seen make sacrifices and bear their share of the pain and grief of war, and then, too often, die. Faces of men he'd loved like family, maybe even more than the family he'd never really had. And, maybe partly because of that or maybe just because of the kind of man he was, he was a dangerous threat to the "see no evil" military elite and the "greatest nation in the world can do no wrong" civilians at home.
One of the amazing aspects of Hackworth's fall from grace is that the top brass were so distanced from the realities of men who FIGHT in battle that they failed to recognize that Hackworth was a tremendous threat to THEM. They must have expected that he'd "play ball," the way they did when the choice was to speak the truth and suffer the consequences or grease their way to the top, but they didn't understand the character of the man they'd placed on the fast track as the poster child of the war. Or maybe Hackworth was just too patriotic, too trusting and too naive, but in any event the train wreck that ensued when he spoke the truth was complete.
The man who'd done more intense fighting in Vietnam than almost any other living man, the man who'd distinguished himself numerous times in terms of valor and his ability to lead, the man who was recognized as a great expert in terms of countering the enemy, that man was drummed out of the army. Totally, completely and unceremoneously dumped, the same way Shinseki and a few others who gave honest assessments regarding the "showered with flowers" bullshit of the Bush idiots would later be "honored" by the Bush people who pushed them into early retirement. And in sharp contrast to the treatment of CIA director George Tenant who was honored with the nation's highest civilian award by President Bush after he was forced out of power by the debacle that had led to 9/11.
But Hackworth was a man of talent, the kind of man we desperately needed in the military. He gave back all of his medals, moved to Australia and became wealthy in business. A decade later he came home and he's been doing what he did when he spoke out against the policies of the Vietnam War for many years; he's been a voice of truth to protect our young men and women who are once again doing the fighting, bleeding and dying for all of us.
When the great American "hero" John Wayne died we all heard about the "Duke" and the news showed us clips of him charging into the enemy, unfazed by fake bullets. When Reagan died we all heard over and over how he was a "hero" to so many Americans. How brave were Rudy and George Bush depicted following 9/11 when they rallied America in the face of that "great tragedy" and we were told we needed heroes to bolster our morale and control our fears? And we all know how many times we've heard that Bush is too "tough" to be pushed around. After all, real heroes say things like "bring em on."
But when Colonel Hackworth died there was barely a whisper.
And on this board where "patriotism" and the obligation to support the "American soldiers" are often trotted out like trick ponies to stifle criticism and create a righteous sense of indignation toward those who don't play ball, the man who may have been the greatest warrior this country has ever sent to fight for America, the man who took an amazing number of terrible risks for America and amazingly survived, the man who gave up his career because he told a truth that we needed to hear from a man like that, the man who was discarded by his own government for telling the truth but who never gave up his patriotism or his love for his fellow soldiers, that man has died and only Scott felt the need to comment.
I would like to live in a country populated by people like Hackworth. People with the courage to fight but the compassion to understand the cost of fighting and the wisdom to refrain from fighting unless absolutely necessary. People with the courage to stand against the tide and speak the truth. People who understood the difference between the real deal and a phoney, Madison Avenue creation. In a land where John Wayne, Juliani, and Bush are viewed as heroes, however, and Colonel Hackworth is a footnote, that seems like a foolish dream. Ed |
