DATE: Friday, May 16, 1997                  TAG: 9705160657

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY SUSANNE M. SCHAFER, ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: WASHINGTON                        LENGTH:   68 lines

VOCAL CRITIC OF BOORDA WORE FALSE DECORATIONS HACKWORTH WAS NOT A RANGER, AND HE CLAIMED ONE TOO MANY MEDALS.

Retired Army Col. David Hackworth, a journalist who questioned whether Adm. Jeremy ``Mike'' Boorda earned all his medals, also had decorations that he apparently didn't earn, CNN and CBS reported Thursday.

Hackworth was scheduled to interview Boorda, the Navy's top admiral, on the day Boorda committed suicide one year ago today.

CNN reported that Hackworth's wearing of the awards may have been an honest mistake. Ironically, Boorda made the same argument before he died.

Boorda, 56, committed suicide less than two hours after he learned that reporters from Newsweek magazine would be questioning him about two pins on ribbon decorations that he had worn. He left notes lamenting the coming disclosure that he had improperly worn the two bronze ``V'' pins, which normally are awarded for valor in combat.

Hackworth was one of the reporters Boorda expected to see. Hackworth has often described himself as one of America's most decorated living veterans.

Hackworth was a columnist for Newsweek at the time, and often wrote scathing criticisms of the military. He wrote another shortly after Boorda's death called ``Why Medals Matter.''

``It is simply unthinkable an experienced officer would wear decorations he is not entitled to, awards that others bled for. There is no greater disgrace,'' he wrote.

Hackworth, now a syndicated columnist for King Features, told CNN that he recently found out that he was not entitled to a ``Ranger'' tag, which is worn on the shoulder of a uniform. Normally, it indicates that the wearer has completed one of the Army's toughest training courses, a rigorous entry to one of the service's most elite groups.

Also, Hackworth told CNN he found that the Army had given him two ``Distinguished Flying Cross'' medals, when he had earned only one.

Hackworth had listed the medals on his personal Internet page but has removed them, he told CNN.

``The minute I found that the qualification didn't pertain to me, I zapped it,'' Hackworth was quoted as saying, contending that there was no comparison of his situation with Boorda's.

``One guy was wearing valor awards he wasn't entitled to wear. . . . I was wearing tabs I was entitled to wear according to the Army's regulations at the time,'' Hackworth told CNN.

Hackworth said he was a member of a unit in Korea that the Army mistakenly allowed to wear the Ranger tab. CBS Evening News said Vietnam veteran Terry Roderick, who raised the questions that led to Hackworth's removing the awards from his Internet page, pointed out that the unit Hackworth served with in Korea was not a Ranger outfit.

Hackworth said he also served with the 8th Army Ranger company, but Charles Pitts, who was the first sergeant of that unit, told CBS he ``never knew him.''

A call placed to Hackworth's telephone in New York was not answered.

Hackworth was known to have riled many in uniform with his commentaries on the military, as well as his criticism of Boorda.

An Army official, asked whether the service had done a search of Hackworth's medals, said it had not.

``He's retired. There was no reason to,'' said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The official noted that the Army makes no distinction about which individual is ``the most decorated.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos

Adm. ``Mike'' Boorda, above, committed suicide one year ago today.

Hackworth was to interview him that day. KEYWORDS: U.S. NAVY SUICIDE

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