About Face: The Odyssey of an American WarriorCalled “everything a twentieth century war memoir could possibly be” by The New York Times, this national bestseller by Colonel David H. Hackworth presents a vivid and powerful portrait of a life of patriotism. From age fifteen to forty David Hackworth devoted himself to the US Army and fast became a living legend. In 1971, however, he appeared on television to decry the doomed war effort in Vietnam. With About Face, he has written what many Vietnam veterans have called the most important book of their generation. From Korea to Berlin, from the Cuban missile crisis to Vietnam, Hackworth’s story is that of an exemplary patriot, played out against the backdrop of the changing fortunes of America and the American military. It is also a stunning indictment of the Pentagon’s fundamental misunderstanding of the Vietnam conflict and of the bureaucracy of self-interest that fueled the war. |
Contents
BROWN SHOES | 32 |
HIT AND RUN | 48 |
THE WOLFHOUNDS | 59 |
BY THE DIRECTION OF THE PRESIDENT | 113 |
THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN | 144 |
HILL 400 | 178 |
THEY DONT HAVE COBWEBS IN KOREA | 201 |
DONT LOOK BACK | 224 |
TIMS TRAVELING TROUBLE | 461 |
THE YEAR OF THE HORSE | 500 |
BOX SEAT | 547 |
CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS | 587 |
DEATH ROW | 625 |
HARDCORE | 646 |
BORN TO LOSE | 707 |
A LAW UNTO HIMSELF | 739 |
BLACK SHOES | 286 |
THIS AINT THE ARMY MR JONES | 334 |
THE VANGUARDS | 358 |
SCREAMING EAGLES | 427 |
ISSUES AND ANSWERS | 775 |
A HANDFUL OF ASHES | 784 |
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Common terms and phrases
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