Colonel Hackworth Was Right…And Wrong, by Michael Duane

One of my military heroes is a guy named David Hackworth. Hack was a legend in the U.S. Army, and had he wished, I believe he could have worn 4 stars on his helmet. He was possibly the most gifted warfighter in Vietnam and one of the most, if not THE most, decorated Army officer in that war. Hack knew how to fight the NVA and VC, but his methods, although wildly successful, were not the doctrine of the U.S. Army as a whole, and he was entirely unsuccessful at convincing the Pentagon leadership to alter course.

Hack became disgruntled when it became apparent that the current strategy could lead nowhere except defeat. He appeared on an ABC program called Issues and Answers on June 27, 1971, where he stated his opinions and called for U.S. withdrawal. Hack was rightly sacked for doing so and he knew that would be the result of his decision to speak up. My point is that decisions have consequences and there is nothing brave or admirable about doing something that is consequence free.

Which brings me to the Olympics…..These entitled clowns that are overseas criticizing the U.S. on foreign soil while representing the U.S.A. certainly have every right to say what they want, but they are not immune from the consequences of saying what they want. The First Amendment protects all of us from the U.S. Government placing restrictions on our speech as a matter of law, it does not protect any of us from lawful restrictions on speech placed on us by any other entity such as our employer, a sponsor, the military, or another organization, and it definitely does not immunize any of us from criticism.

In that spirit I have criticized every athlete on Team U.S.A. who treated the world to one of their entitled outbursts, and I sincerely hope all who engaged in those outbursts lose and lose bigly. They are supposed to represent and celebrate the United States, not represent themselves and certainly not tear us down to the press, and if they cannot do that they should avoid the temptation to make this about their need to virtue signal, and SHUT UP.

Hess’ coach, he would have been on a bus to the airport within an hour of completing his interview as a consequence and as an example. These children are not brave, they are entitled, and they are stupid. America deserves better from them.

Mike is a retired veteran of both the Army and Navy. Mike served in the 101st ABN and 172 LIB, and flew C-130’s and the E-6. He was a member of Antarctic Development Squadron 6, TACAMO, and VR-55 and VR-54. He served in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom and is currently a pilot at Fedex Express.