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About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior

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[Sadly for all of us, Col David Hackworth died shortly after I wrote this review. Nothing about him or my review of his works needs revision. Hack - we will miss you! Hack - RIP, Mike H, LTC, MI, USA 1970-1996].

Say what you want about Hackworth - you can't deny him his valor or experiences in the Army. "Hack" continues to thrive on controversy - one who is not afraid to stir the pot. This book was his first view on the public stage after his Vietnam exit from the Army.

As a young officer - I first read this book in the career stage of my commission - as a Major - and came away with mixed feelings about his views and attitudes. Hackworth's Vietnam experience - like that of John Kerry's, was a defining point of his life. Both came away from that service determined to change the way government uses the military. Kerry became an anti-military cynic; Hackworth lashed out at the systems' waste and stupidity - in an attempt to make the system better.

During war, Hack would be a leader one would wish to serve under. In peacetime - like so many other warriors - he'd be a disaster in the mindless training environment of a peacetime army. Like a fire extinguisher - keep under glass until an emergency demands his use.

The book is deliberately written to stir controversy. This IS Hackworth and what he is all about. Step on a few important toes to save good soldiers - this IS and always was his intent. When he drifts to politics - watch out! He has no friends in either political party.

If you have never served - and are thinking of signing up - maybe this will give you pause. If the world awaits you as a grand adventure - do what he did - and wear the uniform proudly for a majority of your adult life. At the least - Hackworth made me stop and think along the way. My latter years in uniform were constant battles against mind numbing stupidity and for care and protection of our countries' most valuable assets - the men and women who served under my leadership. I have learned much from this soldier. Buy and read the book. You will come away a changed person.

Hackworth is the warriors warrior. BTDT (been there done that) is his motto. I was so inspired by this book I could hardly put it down. At first glance you think, this is about a thousand pages too long. But as the story of Hacks life unfolds you find yourself wishing for more! His metal in combat is unequaled and his actions speak for themselves. His list of achievements says it all, over 110 military decorations. But his humility cannot be disputed. The man is not a braggart, he is a truth teller. He tells the story of an American soldier from the trenches, where the fighting and dying took place. His passion will bring tears to your eyes as he reveals himself cradling the lifeless bodies of the men who died under his command in the Korean War and then risking his own life years later in Vietnam to rescue young soldiers caught in a harrowing cross fire. Hack is a 100% genuine American Hero, without doubt one the best soldiers our country has ever produced. (Too bad he's not a Joint Chief)

This book is definitely worth the read. I highly recommend it.

A juvenile delinquent, Hackworth, flees from his confinement and joins the Merchant Marine. Later, he pays off a wino to sign a fraudulent affidavit, as Hackworth's "father" (he was an orphan), that allows him to enter the Army at the age of fifteen. This is the beginning of this book, which ends with this man, now a Colonel, venting condemnation of America's tactics in Vietnam in the press, and his subsequent persecution by Army investigators, in a harrowing, white-knuckle ending.
A man is lucky to find his calling, and Hackworth was born to be a warrior. In a way, this book is an inspiration. It makes one want to be as good in one's profession as Hackworth was in his. And no matter what one's occupation is, one can identify with Hackworth's frustration with and anger at the "perfumed princes" who rose to the top in the Army he knew, and whos' equivalents exist in every field of endeavor. Don't you know people who don't give a grape-skin about the higher goals of their profession, and who live only to feed their ambition? Reading this book is like sitting down and listening to somebody who knows the score.

Two main themes came out of "About Face" for me. The first is that it is an excellent "how-to" manual on practical leadership in the military. All of the lessons pounded into me as an Officer Cadet are shown here. Know you soldiers, care for them, lead by example, don't get them to do what you wouldn't..., the list goes on. In my opinion, this book, or at least large parts of it, should be required reading in every Officer training establishment that seeks to produce real commanders. As I read it, lights came on in my head as I began to understand some of the points I had missed in my training as a cadet. I believe it has been of some benefit to my performance as an Army Officer. For any cadets or junior officers out there, read this book.

The second theme is the way in which he describes an Army sinking into the morass so common of militaries in peacetime. The most worrying thing for me was the parallels I could see happening in my own Army. An easing of standards in recruitment and basic training, decisions being made based on politics and finance, rather than on realities, increasing bureaucratisation and micromanagement, etc, etc, etc. Things seem to be the same all over. Unfortunately, neither Col Hackworth nor I can give any easy answers.

Overall, an excellent book,that should provoke a few thoughts.

About Face is an odessey to read. Like battle itself, it is full of pages of sheer terror separated by long passages of nervous boredom as Hackworth sought to find some identity apart from battle. The Army made him a man, and as long as there were wars to fight he honored "his mother" the military with an almost unbelieveable string of courageous achievements in battle. But when the time to kill was over, Hackworth lost himself, as he more or less admits. He candidly admits not only his many adultries but his fundamental inability to honor his wife and children. He admits constant theft, and tolerated any immorality that would help his unit. Through two thirds of the book you want to enlist to be a stud like Hack. In the last pages you want to slap him in the face for betraying the Army. He was a law unto himself (as the title to the penultimate chapter confesses), both as a maverick in the Pentagon or as the quasi-warlord of a fire base in Vietnam. Many, including Hack, have suggested that he was the model of Colonel Kurtz in Coppola's Apocalypse Now. Whether or not this is true, the comparison is chillingly apt, only Hackworth may be more frightening. Hackworth was genuinely patriotic, undeniably courageous and damn effective in killing Chinese in Korea and Vietcong. But this same warrior spirit refused to bow to any moral principal except his own concept of loyalty to and conern for his troops. "The horror, horror." He saw clearly that guerrilla warfare required a guerilla-style response from the Army (a lesson of continuing significance in modern political battles like Afganistan), and he clearly understood the political nature of the Vietnam War. But the moral relativism of his "platoon-as-tribe" principles could not be extended to a wider audience precisely because they were unprincipled. Hackworth's tactical advice is still needed, and his war stories are as good as they get. But he unwittingly embodies the horror and paradox of the modern warrior: To serve the highest principles of man, such as freedom and justice, while destroying men, and perhaps himself, in the process.

Mr. Hackworth, like so many before him, learned and through his book has tried to teach the most valuable lessons a military member can possess; LEADERSHIP and ORGANIZATIONAL REALITY. The Army is like an alcoholic trying to teach his/her child no to drink; all the while holding a beer in his/her hand. Many lessons for life can be found reading this work. The politicians are unfortunately finding their way into every sector of our lives and in Hackworth's account, this unfortunate reality has only resulted in the deaths and ruin of many fine soldiers. I commend both the book and the man; a must read for anyone interested in joining or learning about the military.

This isn't a mere bio, it's a walk thru Dave Hackworth's life...minefields (physical and mental). He seemingly holds back nothing. Parts drag...post war duty in Germany...but that's Army life. It's not as on the edge as his recollections of combat, but that's the way it was.
His writings on Korea alone make this a must read.
But it keeps going, giving you his evolving perspective on what was and wasn't happening in Vietnam. He calls a spade a spade.
There is a little overlap (not much), but I would read this first, then Steel My Soldier's Hearts. Then, look at his webpage and Soldiers for the Truth. He's squarely on the side of the dogface soldier for whom few speak for fear of their career. If I could chose the man to lead my Sons into war, it would be Hack.

I first heard of Colonel Hackworth when I was a cadet at the United States Coast Guard Academy, where he came and gave a guest lecture during my sophomore year. After hearing him talk, I had to go out and get his book.

"About Face" is, quite simply, the best book I've ever read...again and again. Colonel Hackworth's no-nonsense approach to leadership is tried-and-true, and what makes each point hit home is that he has learned everything through real life experience. The stories that he tells in this book are not just entertaining. They tell a lot about the life of a soldier; they tell a lot about a military hierarchy and how it should work (as opposed to how it works now); they tell us what really happened in Vietnam and how the U.S. Government "black balled" Colonel Hackworth in order to quell public disatisfaction with the war in Vietnam. He doesn't just make this book a bitch session....he offers his expert opinion as a soldier and a leader about how to correct what is happening to our fighting forces. He offers comparisons to leaders of the past and insight into the leaders of the future...and the future of our military leaders looks bleak.

Lastly, this book isn't just about being a military leader and telling war stories. This book is a must read for anybody that is in charge of anything or anyone. Many of the points he makes in his book apply "across the board". Being a leader is a skill as well as a science. Learn from the best, because "those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it".

This is one of those books I keep reading, time and again. The writing style is engrossing and addictive and you will find yourself drawn into his life, clearly drawn along a detailed backdrop of the cold war.

I first picked this book up as a young US soldier serving in Germany and it opened my eyes up to a lot of the good and bad in the Army. I completely recommend it to any soldier of any rank to read and learn from Hack's mistakes and glories. I later read it again as a college student studying history and again (and again and again) as a teacher.

In my opinion, this is the best of his books and it goes beyond "just" a war memoire. The pain, hurt, love, betrayal and so many other feelings come out in the book and the passion is what makes it addictive. The attention to detail and the "big picture" is clear as well.

The Good Colonel just passed on to the Big O Club in the Sky today. None the less he has left a great legacy in this book. To call it one hell of a story would be an understatement of the 1st degree. It is a classic story of a poor hard scrabble kid who goes out and finds himself a home in the US Army. Hack was really one of the lucky ones who found a place where he could really excel. I found myself actually feeling sorry for the Enemy and some of his idiotic Superior Commanders. He must of been a hand full is all that I can say.