Rating: 
Summary: Read the book. Judge for yourself
Review: The man is amazing. Yet there have been many like him that have gone without recognition. Don't take that as a negative in anyway. Hackworth represents what is good in the military. I trust guys like him far more than I would ever trust Generals and Admirals who dance with the politicians on a daily basis. Give me the guy from the trenches anyday to cut through the BS and tell how it is and how it was. "Issues and Answers" and the events following shows exactly how political the military is. The truth hurts. Trust Hackworth's assessment? You bet.Suggested reading: Hackworth's "Hazardous Duty"
Rating:
Summary: A MUST READ BOOK
Review: Colonel David Hackworth has written an autobiography that is just absolutely fabulous. He is America's most decorated living soldier and was the youngest full Colonel in Vietnam. While serving in Vietnam he had possibly the only sector that the viet cong could not move at will in. In 1971 he broke the cardinal rule and went on national TV, as a Colonel, and said we could not win the war if we kept fighting the same way. He was completely disguted at the progress of the war and the leadership. He left the army and moved to Austraila where he still lives today and is an outspoken critic of US military forces. This book is his story. From his childhood, through his lying about his age and fighting in Korea, the peacetime army, the war in Vietnam and beyond. This is a must read book for anyone who is interested about the US military, US history or the Vietnan War. Buy this book and prepare to stand in awe of one of the greatest warriors in the history of military forces. Hear his story and ponder his opinions. It is well worth it.
Rating:
Summary: WELL WORTH THE READ
Review: Excellent wartime memoirs. Not only do we get good "war stories" but we get them from the prespective of a rather respected individual. The book is well written, moves well and makes some wonderful observations. I must admit to enjoying the first three fourths of the book better than the last where Col. Hackworth gets just a bit whinny in chewing over old bones and (justifiable) complaints about the army/politics of the late
Vietnam era. It is a shame we did not have more individuals in leadership positions of Col. Hackworth's abilities when we needed them. Hey Col. Let's have more "how it was" and a little less "where on the road to ruin and hell now and......." We get enough of that stuff from that little whimp Ollie. All in all I enjoyed the book and highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Tough as Nails; Writes Well, Too.
Review: Hackworth's blood and guts account of his many years in the US Army begins with one of the most dramatic personal battle narratives ever recorded, his day of destiny in Korea where he survived all manner of trouble and emerged a decorated hero. He won a battlefield commission in Korea, remained in the peacetime Army, served in the Berlin crisis of 1961 and then rose to Colonel as an army commander in Vietnam. His was a rich and crowded career, and makes for terrific reading. Among the many highlights are his squad's fateful attack on a hill in Korea, taken at appalling cost, his struggle to remain sane and productive during the stultefying peacetime year; a fascinating stint accompanying Gen. S.L.A. Marshall on an observation tour throughout the entire Vietnam theater and a subsequent command (and transformation) of a potentially mutinous unit of soldiers in Dinh Tuong Province. Few soldiers who have such a fascinating life history, and in the Vietnam context, only Neil Sheehan's biography of John Paul Vann rivals this epic.
Rating:
Summary: Read This Book
Review: If you are an American, you have to read this book. Two things this book left me with......(1) we as citizens have No Right to critisize those who serve our Country; we are in no way qualified to even suggest an opinion. (2) Col. Hackworth LIVED his life and what a life.
As the wife of a Vietnam Veteran I wish David Hackworth Peace and Comfort during this part of his life as an American Citizen.
Thank You for your service.
Rating:
Summary: This books Rocks
Review: Col Hackworth is one of the greatest soldiers to don the uniform. Unfortunately, the politics of his era forced an early out (read for details!). He was a great leader who never asked for more than he was willing to give himself. An excellent read...long, but gripping the entire time!
Rating: 
Summary: I feel his pain and would like to give him some more as well
Review: Memoirs of Dave Hackworth, otherwise known as "Hack." He was a real jerk that went off on the Army. He went off on them for good reasons, based on experiences in Korea and Vietnam, but I found him to be just as guilty as the things he was criticizing. Ended up quitting the army and being chased by the Army in an attempt to smear him. How they failed at this is one of the greatest arguments proving the Army's lack of ability to carry through on an objective. I could not recomend this book based on the author's persistent foul language and basic crude nature. I learned a lot about Korea and Vietnam wars but was hindered from enjoying the book fully because of the author.
Rating: 
Summary: Liked the Book Better than I Liked the Author
Review: This is a very good book for anyone who is interested enough in the military and its shortcomings to commit the time it takes to get through this very long effort. The Vietnam portions were much better than the rest of the book. As much as I liked much of the book, I was turned off by Hackworth's massive ego. His attitude seems to be that he knows so much more than anyone else that whatever he does is justified and anyone who disagrees with him is stupid, or a coward. For example: 1. His leaking information to journalists in Vietnam about Cambodia; 2. His showboating a risky troop march back to camp when his men didn't get the first wave of helicopters and the best heroes' welcome there; 3. And ultimately his "Issues and Answers" rant against the army while still an officer, all seemed to me to be examples of poor judgment, or even much worse, by a guy so in love with his own opinion that there was never room for any reflection. So, I don't love Hackworth as much as he does (even though I greatly admire his abilities as a warrior and a charismatic troop leader), but what does that have to do with a book review? Just this: his ego led to this book being longer than it should have been to be a great book and he never had room for any other views, which might have been interesting. Still, a lot of it is very good reading. I think I just liked the book better than I liked the author.
Rating:
Summary: Great warrior spins his story.
Review: At first, one is impressed with Hackworth. That persists. But then, as this overly long autobiography progresses, you begin to sense that he is spinning the story a bit, shading things to make his case look a bit stronger. Hackworth downplays the sloppiness of his command in Vietnam,and emphasizes his moral courage in taking an anti-war stance. Perhaps this is true, but it reads as a self-serving gloss. The story he tells is by turns fascinating and too long. His interest in his own partying and sometimes dopey opinions on the world is emphasized to the deteriment of his story. Instead of a man with something to tell, a story, we also have a man with something to say, a political viewpoint that is tendentious, boring, and somewhat disingenuous. But if you turn to his discussion of his service in Italy, and his Korean War service, you see the grit and intelligence of the man, what made him a good soldier. So, if you can skim the parts where Hackworth spouts off, and read his story, you will be reading the tale of one of America's greatest warriors. The rest is uninteresting. It is true that men and women who have suffered for their nation have a right to have their opinions heard. But, given that their views range from Hackworth to Senator Bob Kerrey. and from erudite to crude, it is not always true that their opinions have merit. With Hackworth, that is too often the case, although he is a great warrior and has a real story to tell.
Rating:
Summary: Col David Hackworth needs to read this book more than anyone
Review: The bitter irony is that when you compare "About Face" to Hackworth's later works, he is devoid of solutions; only geopolitical whining and cynicism. What happened to the Hackworth who wrote the masterpiece "Guerrilla Battalion" for U.S. Army Infantry magazine in the early 1970s? The point of Hackworth in "About Face" is not to just criticize, but to make things better. The Hack of today in sftt.org and his later books is devoid of the constructive criticism ending in constructive actions we can take today. Try writing him today with a problem/solution and you will be hard pressed to get him or his staff to pay attention to it, they are more excited about bashing the "Clintonistas" or the "Purple Princes" than solving Soldier-level technotactical problems and this is sad. I love the Hack of the 1950s, 60s and 70s who was an innovator and problem solver in the Army Airborne and with the 9th ID in Vietnam. He needs to read his own book and return to this perspective and stop letting bitterness over how his career was wronged by Army politics make him advocate desperate returns to the allegedly "good ole days" panaceas and outfits he's never served in that are even more vain and hide-bound as a means to trash the Army which is rooted in the Citizen-Soldiery of America. He is alive, isn't he? There are 100,000+ DEAD Americans who never made the rank of Colonel still left behind or who died in Southeast Asia who never got to come home ALIVE and write a best-selling book. Be thankful for that. The Army is only as good as the American people themselves are; trying to build a warrior class apart from these people and these values will only result in military failure from arrogance and inflexibility created by false comradery. The hard-drinking Army that Hack loves is who failed him in Korea by not spending time studying war and dominating the debate so we didn't buy into such silliness as atomic weapons dropped from planes keeping North Koreans and North Vietnamese from gobbling up their neighbors. Longing for loud-mouths who yell and scream and not think and innovate in anticipation of the next war will not meet the challenges of the 21st century. The Hack who wrote for Infantry magazine in the 70s and led men with creativity in Vietnam is who we need today, can we find him?
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