Army Col. David Hackworth dies at age 74

During World War II the 15-year-old Hackworth lied about his age to fight in Italy. During Vietnam he designed and implemented unconventional warfare tactics -- and wrote the Vietnam Primer, considered by many to be the leading book on guerrilla warfare tactics inVietnam. Wounded eight times (until his death he carried a bullet from the Vietnam War in his leg), he racked up enough medals, he said, to declare himself the "Army's Most Decorated Soldier" -- though he admitted the U.S. Army has no such title.

He's also well known for calling Donald Rumsfeld an "Asshole" whose bad planning mired U.S. troops in an ugly guerrilla Conflict in Iraq.

He campaigned hard to document the dire fate of U.S. troops in Iraq. He started two web sites Soldiers for the truth as well as his own personal web site.

He wrote a widely quoted column headlined "Stuck in the Quicksand" in early April 2003-- just as the tide seemed to turn and the pace of victory picked up again. Though he is a colonel by rank, Hackworth was counted among the so-called "television generals" the administration blasted after Baghdad fell, and many conservative admirers turned against him.

Of course, 2 years later, he was proved to be completely correct.