Synopses & Reviews
In January 1969, one of the most promising young lieutenant colonels the US Army had ever seen touched down in Vietnam for his second tour of duty, which would turn out to be his most daring and legendary.andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;David H. Hackworth had just completed the writing of a tactical handbook for the Pentagon, and now he had been ordered to put his counterguerilla-fighting theories into action. He was given the morale-drained 4/39thand#8212;a battalion of poorly led draftees suffering the Army's highest casualty rate and considered its worst fighting battalion. Hackworth's hard-nosed, inventive and inspired leadership quickly turned the 4/39th into Vietnam's valiant and ferocious Hardcore Recondos.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;Drawing on interviews with soldiers from the Hardcore Battalion conducted over the past decade by his partner and coauthor, Eilhys England, Hackworth takes readers along on their sniper missions, ambush actions, helicopter strikes and inside the quagmire of command politics. With andlt;iandgt;Steel My Soldiers' Hearts, andlt;/iandgt;Hackworth places the brotherhood of the 4/39th into the pantheon of our nation's most heroic warriors.
Review
Harold G. Moore Lieutenant General (U.S. Army, Ret.), coauthor of andlt;Iandgt;We Were Soldiers Once...and Youngandlt;/Iandgt; A riveting, candid and hard-hitting combat narrative by one of the top few brilliant battlefield leaders in the history of the U.S. Army. Outstanding!
Review
andlt;Iandgt;The Washington Post Book Worldandlt;/Iandgt; An exceptional warrior...a soldier's soldier.
Review
Frederick W. Smith chairman, president and chief executive officer, FedEx Corporation Col. David Hackworth is a national treasure....If you are interested in leadership, character, values and commitment to mission, you need to read this book.
Review
andlt;Iandgt;The Philadelphia Inquirerandlt;/Iandgt; [Hackworth is] perhaps the best military leader this country has had since Patton.
About the Author
David H. Hackworth (Col., U.S. Army, Ret.) spent almost five years of combat duty in Vietnam, as well as twenty-five years in the service of our nationand#39;s defense. His previous two nonfiction books, andlt;iandgt;About Faceandlt;/iandgt; (available from Touchstone) and andlt;iandgt;Hazardous Duty,andlt;/iandgt; and his novel, andlt;iandgt;The Price of Honor,andlt;/iandgt;andlt;iandgt;The Price of Honor,andlt;/iandgt; were national bestsellers. Eilhys England produces feature films and writes with her partner and husband, David Hackworth. They live in Connecticut and Australia.
Table of Contents
andlt;Bandgt;Contentsandlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;PROLOGUEandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Debt of Honor andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;ONEandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;9th Infantry Division Headquarters, Dong Tam, Vietnam, 15 January 1969andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;TWOandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Fire Support Base Dizzy, Dinh Tuong, 31 January 1969andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;THREEandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Fire Support Base Dizzy, Dinh Tuong, 01 February 1969andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;FOURandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Fire Support Base Dizzy, Dinh Tuong, 04 February 1969andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;FIVEandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;My Dien, Plain of Reeds, 04 February 1969andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;SIXandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Fire Support Base Moore, 19 February 1969andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;SEVENandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Southwest of Fire Support Base Moore, 26 February 1969andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;EIGHTandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;On Toward Danger, 01 March 1969andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;NINEandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Fire Support Base Danger, 11 March 1969andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;TENandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Co Co Canal, 13 March 1969andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;ELEVENandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Sniper Control Center, 15 March 1969andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;TWELVEandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Thanh Hung, 23 March 1969andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;THIRTEENandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Kien Phong Province, 25 March 1969andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;FOURTEENandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Kien Phong Province, 25 March 1969andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;FIFTEENandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Dong Tam, 25 March 1969andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;SIXTEENandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Fire Support Base Danger, 05 April 1969andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;SEVENTEENandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Steam and#185;nand#185; Cream, Dong Tam, April 1969andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;EIGHTEENandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Giao Duc General Hospitalandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;NINETEENandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Fire Support Base Danger, 13 April 1969andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;TWENTYandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Fire Support Base Danger, 28 April 1969andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;TWENTY-ONEandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Dong Tam, 02 May 1969andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;TWENTY-TWOandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Cai Be, 06 May 1969andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;TWENTY-THREEandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Fire Support Base Danger, 18 May 1969andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;TWENTY-FOURandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Five Klicks North of Danger, 22 May 1969andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;TWENTY-FIVEandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Fire Support Base Danger, 25 May 1969andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;EPILOGUEandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Greenwich, Connecticut, 11 September 2001andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;AFTERWORDSandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;The Weakest Linkandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;GLOSSARYandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;ACKNOWLEDGMENTSandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;INDEXandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;