Veteran’s Day was originally known as Armistice Day, marking the end of World War I on November 11th.
So perhaps it was fitting that a baby born on Armistice Day in 1930 would be destined for an illustrious military career,
David Hackworth joined the Army shortly after World War II, and was decorated for his service in the Korean War.
By the late 1960s Hackworth had become the youngest Army colonel in Vietnam.
He helped form what became known as Tiger Force.
After the war Hackworth became a journalist and author, and in 2002 wrote a book about the ragtag battalion he was sent to lead in 1969. He called the book Steel My Soldiers’ Hearts. He and I talked about the book that spring, including his wife’s essential role in writing it.
So here now, from 2002, Col. David Hackworth.
David Hackworth died in 2005 at age 74. He’s buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
