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Steel My Soldiers' Hearts: The Hopeless to Hardcore Transformation of the U.S. Army, 4th Battalion, 39th Infantry, Vietnam | 
 enlarge | Authors: David H. Hackworth, Eilhys England
Publisher: Rugged Land
Category: Book
List Price: $27.95
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $27.94 (100%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  67 reviews
Sales Rank: 313362
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 512
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 5.9 x 1.6
ISBN: 1590710029
Dewey Decimal Number: 959.704342092
EAN: 9781590710029
ASIN: 1590710029
Publication Date: May 17, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: The book is clean but may have highlights.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
Steel My Soldiers' Hearts is retired Colonel David Hackworth's account of his tour of duty in Vietnam commanding the 4/39th, an infantry battalion operating south of Saigon in the Mekong River delta. Poorly led (the previous commander had based the battalion in the middle of a mine field), with frightfully high casualties (40 percent during the six months prior to Hackworth's arrival), and fighting in the most dangerous of terrain, the 4/39th was a dispirited and demoralized group when Hackworth assumed command in January, 1969. Upon arrival, Hackworth fired many of the senior officers and then put the 4/39th through "Combat 101," which made him so unpopular that at one point Hackworth was warned of a bounty some of his men had put out on him. Over the next five months, however, Hackworth would transform the 4/39 from "hopeless to hardcore," dramatically reverse the casualty rate, score some spectacular victories over the Viet Cong, and earn the undying respect of his troops. Here's a gung ho and earthy firsthand account of the Vietnam War that fans of We Were Soldiers Once... will appreciate. --Harry C. Edwards
Product Description
Colonel David H. Hackworth, one of America's most decorated soldiers, lays bare his most daring and legendary tour of duty.
1966
With a full year of Vietnam combat and five months of in-country intense after-action analysis under his pistol belt, Hackworth pens the classic tactical handbook the Vietnam Primer with military historian Samuel Marshall. In a radical shift from the World War II-era tactics then employed in Vietnam, Hackworth stresses the necessity of using disciplined, small units of well-trained men to best fight the hit-and-run warfare of the elusive Viet Cong. "Out G'ing the G," he called his tactics.
1969
Hackworth's expertise lands him back in Vietnam. The Army's message is clear-put up, or shut up. Given the "hopeless," morale-drained 4/39th-an infantry battalion of poorly led draftees with one of the Army's worst casualty rates-Hackworth leads from up front and finds the best in every one of his grunts. Together, they take a page from the VC, write their own book, and become the meanest in the Mekong Delta-the Hardcore Recondos.
2002
With the U.S. again facing elusive insurgent foes-and the hit-and-run tactics of the international terror networks we're presently up against-the 4/39th Hardcore Battalion's successes provide hard-won lessons-learned that are more applicable now than ever.
A tour de force of frontline combat action, Steel My Soldiers' Hearts takes readers alongside sniper missions, into grunt ambush actions, above fields of fire with hard-hitting helicopter strikes, and inside the quagmire of command politics. Hackworth graduates the Mekong Delta brotherhood into the pantheon of our nation's most heroic warriors.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 62 more reviews...
 Forced to read, glad I was! November 18, 2008
I had this book assigned to be read in a history class of mine during college. At first I was wary of reading it, as I was not much into reading at the time. Once I started, however, I could not put it down!
This book is deffinitly ranked in my top 10 favorites of all time. I was unaware of many aspects of the Vietnam War, but this book sets you down right in the middle of it.
A truly magnificent read of how a Vietnam Colonel was put in charge of a ragtag infantry unit that didn't seem to care about anything. Hackworth's disipline and strategy are unparalleled, and the ways he goes about turning his men from mushy hopeless wannabe soilders into the hardest of the hardcore is and amazing accomplishment.
Recommended for anyone who has interest in the United States involvement in Vietnam, to any war buff that would love to add one of the greatest war stories of all time to their collection, or to the weekend reader that is looking for something new and awe-inspiring to add to their collection.
Dynamic July 24, 2008
The most informative military related book I have read. Certainly changed my view on a few things.
So much to be learned from this book! July 9, 2008
This book id a goldmine of knowledge of counterinsurgency warfare. If you are a officer in training such as I the afterword carries advice that i have spent many days and hours getting from vets. for those of you wanting to learn to "out "G" the "G"(uerilla)" suck in all this book has to offer.
hopeless to HACK-worthy June 27, 2008
This book is much like 12'O Clock High except with Vietnam War infantry instead on WWII bomber crewmen. LtCol Hackworth is called back to Vietnam to remold a hardluck battalion into an effective unit. The men rebuke but are soon won over. Hack never says-"Consider yourselves already dead." Like Gergory Peck said in 12 0'Clock High but the results are the same. Any leader, regardless of occupation, should find this book a leadership tool. It is also a very good read.
At Least Someone In Vietnam Knew What They Were Doing August 9, 2007
Serving as my introduction to the work of Colonel Hackworth, "Steel My Soldiers' Hearts" could have hardly delivered any more encouragement to read the rest of his books. Having served as a columnist and media commentator for years have honed Hackworth's writing skills, and the synergy provided by his co-writer wife combine to produce a narrative that "Grabs you by the nose and kicks you in the pants," as Patton would have said. Documenting the Colonel's takeover of a hardluck unit and its transformation into hardcore killers in matter of months, the book covers daily engagements with a fierce enemy, and pulls no punches as Hackworth describes various generals, captains, and sundry brass as "idiots" or far more colorful terms. Hackworth himself dispatches about a dozen VC over the course of the book, and he dispassionately describes the wounds he himself receives, taking his eighth purple heart on this tour of duty. In short, David Hackworth is a writer and a warrior of the highest caliber.
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