Army brass let Hackworth retire despite host of alleged misdeeds 10/31/2003
At a motel outside Washington a redheaded woman clad only in a robe opened her door one morning to two men. They had a simple request: Get your boyfriend. Her boyfriend, Col. David Hackworth, appeared shirtless from the back of the motel room. The two men, from the Army's Criminal Investigation Command, told the colonel that he was to report …

Ex-officer may face justice for atrocities 10/31/2003
Three decades after an Army platoon repeatedly executed unarmed civilians and prisoners in Vietnam, a military lawyer has recommended the unit's former commander be brought up on a war-crime charge. In what would be an unprecedented event, retired Maj. James Hawkins could face a military court-martial regarding his actions commanding a platoon known as Tiger Force that killed …

Witness to Vietnam atrocities never knew about investigation 11/8/2003
Dennis Stout was a soldier caught between the ethics of his job and surviving in an unforgiving Army. As a military journalist, he watched platoon soldiers force 35 women and children into a pasture in the heart of Vietnam s Central Highlands.

Tiger Force documents elude Army investigators 12/31/2003
(This article was published on Dec. 30, 2003) WASHINGTON - The Army is unable to find crucial records of some of the worst atrocities by an elite platoon in Vietnam, casting doubts on whether the American public will ever know the extent of the unit s actions 36 years ago. Officials have searched U.S. record centers for documents about Tiger …

Investigators will question ex-GIs about killing spree 2/15/2004
In a case that has reached the top levels of the Pentagon, military investigators will begin interviewing former soldiers of an elite platoon accused of slaughtering scores of unarmed civilians in the Vietnam War. The Army will begin meeting with witnesses as part an ongoing review under the direction of acting Army Secretary Les Brownlee, who was asked to look

Tiger Force answers still elusive 3/12/2004
For 37 years former Army journalist Dennis Stout has waited for answers - and justice - after witnessing members of an elite platoon in Vietnam kill unarmed civilians. The Army conducted a major probe in the 1970s but buried the results and did not charge anyone. After The Blade exposed the atrocities in October, the Army began reviewing its case again - even …

Unit's founder says he didn't know of atrocities 3/28/2004
A day after enemy soldiers had nearly overrun his base camp, the commander of one of the most battered and bloodied battalions in Vietnam prepped his elite platoon to hunt down their attackers. In a 1966 pep talk laced with obscenities, the commander said he wanted 40 "hard charging" men, and anyone who couldn't be "hard charging" would be kicked …

Blade wins Pulitzer: Series exposing Vietnam atrocities earns top honor 4/6/2004
Three Blade reporters won the Pulitzer Prize - journalism's highest honor - yesterday for uncovering the atrocities of an elite U.S. Army fighting unit in the Vietnam War that killed unarmed civilians and children during a seven-month rampage. Michael D. Sallah, Mitch Weiss, and Joe Mahr received the investigative reporting prize for their series - "Buried Secrets, Brutal Truths."

Local vet puts focus on recent good deeds 5/2/2004
The Toledo Rotary members grew silent as Fred Grimm tried to compose himself. Standing to address the luncheon crowd of 220 last week, the Vietnam veteran choked back tears as he recalled how difficult it was to read in The Blade about the atrocities committed by an elite Army platoon.

Kerry's candidacy opens war wounds 6/2/2004
In a packed Senate committee room more than three decades ago, John Kerry, a gangly 27-year-old war hero with mop-top hair, recounted the horrors of the Vietnam War -- unspeakable atrocities to which fellow veterans had admitted. Rapes. Tortures. Beheadings. That appearance would help define John Forbes Kerry in 1971 as an overnight celebrity - landing him national TV