The Story Of Sergeant Hack

By Nita McKinney


Sergeant Hack was born in a certain town in Kentucky, but he later moved to Louisville after a few years. During the year 1957, he applied for the Coast Guard of the United States at a very young age of seventeen. There he served for about four years. In 1964, he joined the Army and volunteered himself for Ranger Preparation. He passed through several recruiters until he finally reached Fort Benning, GA, particularly in the Ranger Department. In 1965, he was put on track for his Ranger School Preparation. He was designated to serve at Eglin Air Force Base, FL as the Harbor Craft Boatswain.

In two years, for about 21 long days and one month, he supported around twenty preparation cycles for Ranger School. Though, he was still praying that he might start his own training as well. But because of the essential needs of the Army, his dream ended second place. He stayed in the Army and served loyally and began preparing the young soldiers to be deployed in Vietnam for battle.

In his 24 months of support in Ranger training, he was not able to complete it and never wore a Ranger Tab. He was disappointed that he never got his most desired class date and never got the opportunity to earn his Tab. Still, he realized the essence of his training responsibilities and became proud of his two years duty with the brigade.

He was assigned as the sergeant of Big Red One when he entered the First Infantry Division in Lai Khe, Vietnam. He also received an award called Purple Heart due to the combat wounds he obtained in 1968 that finally ended his journey in the military. He obtained a lot of injuries for two different events.

He stayed the whole year in a certain hospital in United States that is designated for the Army and was put on hold for medical reasons for another three years. Upon his recovery, he was designated as the recruiter for the towns Akron, Cuyahoga Falls also in Tallmadge, Ohio. He got a recognition nationwide as the top recruiter.

His distinctive recruiting tools will include a shirt, a custom jeep and a custom painted Corvette. This made him the number one recruiter from the years 1969 to 1973. The jeep that he used is still on display at a museum in Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

After many years that followed his retirement, he served in Hudson Township Police Department. He was also assigned in the Summit County Sheriff Department. He ended his police career as a Chief of Police in Sebring, Ohio.

In 1985, he started the US Wings with his beloved wife. It is a company that is operated by the family which is based on Boston Heights. They supplied Bomber jackets and some aviation gears to several armed forces division.

He was given various awards and recognition later on. Sergeant Hack was awarded as a Veteran of the Foreign Wars in the US, the First Infantry Division, Ohio Association of Chief of Police and a Lifetime Beneficiary of the 101st Division. He was also given the the Vietnam Service Award, Purple Heart and the Army Recruiter Emblem. Congressman Steven La Tourette also held a ceremony for him in Ohio where he received honors.




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