Julie Sherman was only a child when Army Col. David H. Hackworth roundly criticized U.S. military policy in Vietnam during a nationally-televised interview.
Yet it was Sherman, 31, whom Hackworth chose to coauthor his bestselling autobiography, ”About Face” (Simon & Schuster, $24.95).
”Women can`t know combat, but David wanted a woman to write his story because he wanted it to be accessible to everyone,” says Sherman, a 1980 graduate of Northwestern University.
Hackworth, widely regarded as the most decorated living soldier, began his distinguished career during the Korean War. A model and freethinking soldier, he took on the toughest battle assignments and earned rapid promotions.
Hackworth became disillusioned with the military during the Vietnam War. He vented his anger in a 1971 ABC-TV ”Issues and Answers” interview, criticizing the Army for failing to devise a ”realistic strategic plan”
against the Viet Cong. A short time later, Hackworth retired and moved to Australia, where he became a successful businessman and peace activist.
Three years after receiving a bachelor`s degree in film, Sherman was hired by an Australian production company to write a documentary about Hackworth. The project fizzled, but Hackworth was so impressed with Sherman`s work, he asked her to coauthor his life story.
”In the beginning I knew nothing,” recalls Sherman. ”The Vietnam War was only a little box (television) that showed the casualty list. No one in my family was touched by war.”
But she says she relished the challenge of exploring unfamiliar terrain. She also was intrigued by Hackworth. ”I was interested in finding the truth about him as a person,” she says.
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Two years into the five-year, 875-page project, Sherman and Hackworth, 58, discovered a mutual attraction; they fell in love and began living together.
Sherman says the book has helped restore Hackworth`s pride in his accomplishments. ”He`s a wonderful leader and a trainer of men,” explains Sherman. ”He wants to share his vision of what the military can be.”
The experience also has transformed Sherman. In college, she marched in protest of the draft. Now she believes ”everyone, including women, should serve their country.” (Though women can do so without serving in combat, she adds.)
Her military skepticism, however, remains intact. ”Not all wars are just wars and the American people, not the military, have to decide what is a just war.”