"In 1995, Roger Charles, Secretary Treasurer of SFTT, got a tip that Admiral Jeremy Boorda, then Chief of Naval Operations, was wearing Vietnam combat decorations to which he was not entitled.

Roger researched the information for more than a year, and when he became convinced the reports were true he passed the information on to David Hackworth, founder of SFTT, and, at that time, military correspondent for Newsweek.

An appointment was set up between Newsweek editors and Boorda to ask him why he was wearing two Combat Vs standing for “valor” when there was no record he was entitled to these decorations. In the military, wearing an unauthorized decoration is a severe breach of military protocol. Instead of attending the meeting Boorda went home for lunch and committed suicide. This was in May, 1996.

Several events followed quickly. Hackworth’s formerly appreciative editors at Newsweek couldn’t get away from the story or Hackworth fast enough. Roger Charles lost his job with the National Security News Service. Next, Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr., former Chief of Naval Operations and Vietnam veteran, plus John Dalton, Secretary of the Navy, led the drive to the spin the story and claim “a ribbon authorized in a combat area carries with it the V.”

What came later was even uglier, and it has taken two years for the truth to come to the top. First a story was circulated that Hackworth was wearing the Ranger tab to which he was not entitled. This was the subject of a long segment which ran on CBS. Then CNN interviewed Hack who insisted, “I never wore a medal the Army did not give to me. When the decoration was questioned I took it off immediately.”

Hackworth had pleaded with the networks for time to secure the records which would prove his assertions, but the segments were aired anyway. Waiting and learning the truth might ruin a good story. Besides, the anniversary of Boorda’s suicide was approaching. Since Hackworth is this nation’s most highly decorated living veteran, these attacks on his integrity were very damaging.

Finally, Hackworth requested the Department of the Army to review all his medals and decorations to verify their validity. After a long wait, in January, 1998, the listing of awards was received. The Ranger Tab in question had been issued to Hackorth, but it had been an ERROR BY THE ARMY.

During this Army review it was discovered that Hackworth was entitled to a TENTH silver star which he had never claimed.

Almost no newspaper or television network printed the press release which detailed the results of the Army review. Lawyers were able to persuade CBS to admit their story had been erroneous, but there was never a retraction.

Last September the Boorda family petition the Board for Corrections of Naval Records to change the record to show Boorda had been entitled to wear the Combat Vs. Their petition had the supportof Dalton and Zumwalt, both of whom placed letters in the Boorda file.

On Friday, July 2, the three civilians who make up the Boad ruled that the official record would remain unaltered and continue to show that Boorda had not earned the Combat Vs."

I, of course, asked for permission to reprint this story, and received the following response:
"Woody, tell yer yes. I am delighted. The more the story gets out and Hack and Roger get some salve on their wounds, the better. Neither man, incidentally, knew this story was coming.
Wilma"