The FReeper Foxhole Revisits Task Force Ranger: Mogadishu, Somalia - (10/3/1993) - Oct. 1st, 2004

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The FReeper Foxhole Revisits

Task Force Ranger:
Mogadishu, Somalia

In 1993, the Rangers were once again called into harm's way in support of the United Nation's efforts to establish order in the African nation of Somalia. On 6 June, the U.N. Security Council...with U.S. sponsorship and approval...passed Resolution 837, calling for the apprehension "for prosecution, trial, and punishment" of those responsible for the ambush and death of twenty-four Pakistani U.N. peacekeepers and to use "all necessary measures" to install United Nations authority "throughout Somalia." It was determined that 'War Lord' Mohamed Farrah Aidid and his SNA were responsible for the ambush and a plan was developed to bring about his capture.

On June 17, an arrest order was issued by the United Nations and, as a result, Aidid went into hiding deep within Mogadishu. Efforts by U.N. units in country failed to capture him. U.N ambassador to Somalia, U.S. Admiral (Retired) Jonathan Howe, eventually requested 1st Special Operational Detachment-Delta...the premier three-squadron U.S. counter terrorism unit known as Delta Force to the public...to assist in Aidid's capture. President Clinton eventually approved the request to send in the specialized unit.

The U.S. deployed Task Force Ranger, a 450-man force composed of approximately sixty men from the one-hundred-and-fifty-man Squadron C of 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta; B Company (Reinforced), 3rd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment from; and support helicopters from the Army's 1st Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR)...the world's finest night fliers known as the "Night Stalkers."


Mohamed Farrah Aidid

Task Force Rangers' advance party arrived in Somalia on 26 August. The task force set up base on the shore of the Indian Ocean at the Mogadishu Airport on the far southern end of the city. The operation was to be conducted in three phases: Phase I, lasting until 30 August, was to get set up; Phase II, lasting until 7 September, would focus exclusively on locating and capturing Aidid; and Phase III...in the event Phase II failed, the focus would shift to Aidid's command structure with the intent of forcing the warlord to take a more active and open role with his forces.

In spite of a number of handicaps, Task Force Ranger attempted to seize and to maintain the initiative by planning and launching a number of raids that proved to be unsuccessful. On 7 September, the force moved to Phase III and expanded its target list to include six of Aidid's top lieutenants and staff. Despite some Ranger success, Aidid continued his defiance even as the task force attempted to track him down with additional ambushes and killings of U.N. forces.




The seventh and final mission of Task Force Ranger commenced at approximately 1300 on 3 October when a Somali agent passed word that a number of Aidid's lieutenants, including two of the six on the expanded target list...Muhammed Hassan Awale and Omar Salad Elmi...would be meeting later that afternoon.

The mark was in the vicinity of the Olympic Hotel...a white, five-story building that served as a landmark since it was one of the few large buildings left intact in the city. HawlwadigRoad, intersected by narrow dirt alleys, ran in front of the hotel and was one of the few paved roads in the city. Across Hawlwadig, one block north, was...what would turn out to be...the ultimate target house, a two-sectioned building with two stories in the front, three stories in the rear, and a flat roof on both. L-shaped, the structure had a small courtyard enclosed by a high stonewall.




Just three blocks to the west of the hotel was the Bakara Market...the most heavily armed region of Mogadishu. This area was known by soldiers as "the Black Sea" and was referred to as real "Indian country." The assault force was formidable and consisted of seventy-five Rangers and forty Delta soldiers onboard an air armada of sixteen helicopters. The Delta and Ranger assault force would be inserted by four MH-6 and six MH-60 Black Hawks with four AH-6J Little Birds providing close air support.

In that the target area was too confining and too dangerous to land helicopters to extract the prisoners..."precious packages"...and assault force, a fifty-two-man Ranger ground element...including some Delta operatives and Navy SEALs from SEAL Team Six...was to deploy from the airport in a twelve-vehicle convoy on a three-mile journey in direct support of the operation.


Michael Durant's helicopter heading out over Mogadishu on Oct. 3, 1993. Mike Goodale rode on this one.

The helicopters lifted off at 1532 after a thirty-seven minute delay. Taking a circuitous flight from their staging base just three miles away from the objective and moving low and fast over the ocean's breakers, the aircraft made a dash over the city, with the MH-6s carrying four Deltas, two to a side, on their external benches. Rapidly landing on Hawlwadig Road in a billowing swirl of rust-orange dust that created some significant visibility problems, a group of six helicopters, composed of four MH-6 Little Birds and two Black Hawks, inserted forty Delta soldiers on the road in front of the building. Simultaneously, sixty Rangers were inserted into the objective by 'fast-rope' to establish a security perimeter between the four corners of the target's city block.

The mission's "precious cargo," twenty-four prisoners, including the two primary men they had sought, had been quickly captured and the Ranger twelve-vehicle ground convoy was called at the twenty-minute mark to make its way to their location from their hold position approximately 200 meters from the objective. As the ground convoy picked up the prisoners in front of the building, enemy fire began to gain in intensity. A convoy of three vehicles was dispatched with an injured Ranger to make its way back to the airfield. The three vehicles came under such heavy fire that they barely made it.




The situation grew progressively worse at the objective around 1610 when the first Rocket Propelled Grenades...RPGs...were fired at circling helicopters. Finally, at 1620, the strategy paid off with a hit on the tail rotor of the lead assault Black Hawk, "Super 61" that brought it crashing down on the roof of a house located within a walled compound. The Black Hawk fell to earth on its left side, its top wedged against the remains of a wall in a narrow alley, its nose to the ground. Within, the pilot lay dead, the five others aboard lay injured.

Having rehearsed the possibility of an aircraft going down, the task force quickly implemented three contingency plans: provide cover with a nearby CSAR Black Hawk, Super 68, deploy the main body of Task Force Ranger from the objective to the crash site, and alert the Quick Reaction Force from the 10th Mountain Division to deploy from its location at the Somali National University to the Mogadishu Airport, from where it could launch to support CSAR missions.



On the ground at the objective, the Rangers on the perimeter began to move to the location of the downed Black Hawk with the Delta operatives doing the same soon after the transfer of the prisoners to the ground convoy. At the crash site, survivors were attempting to establish a defense while a Little Bird courageously set down in a nearby alley called Freedom Road to extract two survivors.

The first group of Rangers arrived at the crash site after completing a terrifying run of over three blocks with bullets boring down the alleys from every direction. Eight minutes after Super 61 going down, the CSAR Black Hawk, carrying fifteen members of a highly trained combat search-and-rescue unit was hovering over and fast-roping down to Freedom Road. Hit by an RPG and trailing a thin gray haze of smoke, the mortally wounded CSAR bird barely made its way back to the airfield three miles away where it crash landed.


The pilots and crew of Super 64.

As the remainder of the Rangers and Delta made their way to the Super 61 crash site, it was discovered that the remains of the pilot were trapped in his seat. The real problem became how to get the body out, for there appeared no easy way to reclaim it. Abandoning their aviation comrade was not an option for the Rangers or Delta as arriving groups expanded and fortified a security perimeter around the downed helicopter.

It did not take long for the situation to dramatically worsen when an RPG claimed that second victim less than twenty minutes after the first. Overhead, Super 64 had been directed to take Super 61's orbital spot over the target area when it, too, took an RPG round to the tail. Within minutes, the rotor failed and the aircraft plummeted impacting on top of a frail shack.

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The time was 1640 and Super 64 was down in a neighborhood called Wadigley, 1500 meters southwest of Super 61's location. The task force's ultimate nightmare had been realized and the American command-and-control system was stretched to the breaking point. One bird down was bad enough but Task Force Rangers' contingency plans could cover such an event. A second Black Hawk down, though, had never been seriously considered. Now that this improbability was a reality, the only task force elements available were already committed to battle.




The nine-vehicle ground convoy had yet to begin moving before Super 64 was shot down a mile south of the convoy's position. Orders directed the convoy to move to the Super 61 aircraft first to provide what assistance it could and then move on to Super 64. Incoming fire grew in intensity as the convoy struggled to find its way through the narrow, smoke- and lead-filled streets of the city. High overhead, the command-and-control bird tried to direct the movement of the wheeled vehicles...marked with large fluorescent-orange panels on top to assist identification. But communications delays and general confusion proved deadly and eventually, as the convoy continued to be pounded and sustain a growing number of casualties, it was reluctantly forced to halt its attempts and head back to the K4 Traffic Circle where they were met by a reaction force element and escorted to the relative safety of the airfield less than a mile beyond by 1730.

Hours earlier, the air commander had rejected the requests of his four MH-6 Little Bird copilots that they be inserted on the ground to defend the survivors of Super 64. Two additional requests to be inserted from Delta snipers Master Sergeant Gary Gordon and Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart were also denied. Finally, a third request by these two NCOs was approved after it was learned that a reaction force convoy, upon which the command's hopes had rested, had been forced to turn back.


Master Sergeant Gary I. Gordon

Upon hearing the news, Gordon, the team chief, expressed his satisfaction with the decision with a smile and a "thumbs up." Moving to the back of the aircraft with Shughart, they set about making their plans. Though the intent of the insertion was to have the two men...each armed with only his sniper rifle and a pistol...provide first aid, establish a defensive perimeter, and secure the site until the arrival of a rescue force, all concerned knew that death was awaiting the two Delta NCOs below in the streets of Mogadishu for no rescue force would arrive in time before the growing number of enemy personnel observed closing in on the crash site overwhelmed them. An eyewitness would later state, "Anyone in their right mind wouldn't have done what they did."

But Gordon and Shughart also knew that the four wounded men below would have no chance of survival without additional support. At a later ceremony, Master Sergeant Gordon's widow, Carmen, spoke of why she believed her husband did what he did. "Gary went back to save his fellow soldiers, not to die there. Gary was one hundred percent Ranger. He lived the Rangers' creed every day. He knew that he had a chance. He and Shughart wouldn't ever have gone out there trying to be heroes."


SFC Randall D. Shugart

The first insertion failed as debris and small arms fire made a landing difficult. Finding a second site in a small clearing approximately one hundred meters from Super 64, Goffena employed the blade wash of his Black Hawk as it hovered five feet above the ground to knock down a fence. Gordon tripped and fell as he ran for cover. Shughart, in his haste to disembark, forgot to disconnect his safety line and had to be cut free of the aircraft as it began to ascend.

The swirling debris, noise, and confusion of combat disoriented the two snipers. Crouched in the open field, Shughart motioned to Goffena their confusion as to which direction to move. The pilot brought his aircraft back down, leaned out the window, and pointed the way to Super 64 as one of his crew chiefs tossed a smoke grenade in the direction of Durant's bird. The last sight of the two intrepid soldiers as Super 62 lifted off to hover overhead with covering fires was of both men signaling a thumbs up as they began to fight their way under intense small arms fire through a dense maze of shanties and shacks to the downed Black Hawk.


Chief Warrant Officer Micheal Durant at the time of his capture in Mogadishu.

In the wreckage of Super 64, all four crewmen had survived the crash. Durant, knocked out by the impact, regained consciousness to find the femur of his right leg broken and a large sheet of tin punched through his shattered windshield and draped over him. Frank had his left tibia broken. Both pilots had sustained back injuries. Unable to move, Durant secured his German MP-5K 9-mm rifle and prepared to defend himself from his seat as the copilot crawled from the wreckage out the opposite side.



Just as Frank moved out of his view, Durant was surprised and relieved by the arrival of Gordon and Shughart. Undoubtedly, a rescue team had arrived and their trial by fire would soon be over. Calmly reaching in, the two Delta men gently lifted and carried the injured pilot outside of the right side of the aircraft to a nearby tree. Behind him, the front end of his aircraft was wedged tightly against a tin wall, which the pilot covered with his weapon. Staff Sergeant William Cleveland, nearly comatose and covered in blood from the waist down was placed near Durant.




Gordon and Shughart moved to the left side of the chopper to extract the remaining crew chief, Staff Sergeant Thomas J. Field. Frank, having exited the cockpit from his left seat, joined the two Delta sergeants engaging the approaching militia and defending the exposed side of the downed helicopter.

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Unknown to any of the six men at the site, Maier and Jones were once again on the ground with their Little Bird, personal weapons drawn, only one hundred and ten meters or so away. Having done what they could for Wolcott and his crew at the first crash site, they had set down to see what they could do for Durant and his men. Goffena circled above, observing Gordon and Shughart moving about the site and realized that the two Delta men would not be able to move the wounded men the distance necessary to link up with Star 41. Reluctantly, after a five-minute wait and a brief by Goffena of the crew's condition, Maier and Jones, fuel running precariously low, were forced to lift off to refuel.




Fate intervened again twenty minutes into Super 64's fight when Super 62 took an RPG round in the cockpit that knocked out the copilot and amputated the door gunner's leg. With the windshield knocked out, the right side of the aircraft blown apart, and the number-two engine destroyed, Goffena was still able to miraculously nurse Super 62 back in the direction of the airfield. Unable to make it to the flight line, he skillfully conducted a controlled crash landing in the dock areas, undoubtedly saving the lives of his crew.

With their air cover gone, Gordon and Shughart were on their own, facing an overwhelming number of Somali militia advancing on the wreckage of Super 64. Automatic weapons of the defending Americans covered all approaches to the downed aircraft and a multitude of Somali bodies littered the entire area.




But time-and luck-were soon to run out on the gallant defenders. An exchange of gunfire brought a shout of anger and pain from Shughart on the far side of the wreck. Durant never heard from him again.

Moments later, Gordon moved to the right side of the aircraft, searching for ammunition and asking the dazed, confused, and painfully wounded pilot if there were any weapons onboard. Searching the interior, Gordon returned with the crew chiefs' M-16s in hand.



Reality...and probably a sense of hopelessness...finally struck the wounded warrant officer when the sergeant asked him what the support frequency was on the survival radio. With a sickening and nauseous feeling, Durant realized that such a question only meant one thing: the two Delta men had arrived at the site on their own, with no other support. There were no other rescue team members!

Following Durant's brief explanation of procedure, Gordon established radio contact, requesting immediate help. The reply, as it had been before his insertion, was that a reaction force was en route to their location. With that, the Delta sniper gathered his weapons and moved back around to the left side of the aircraft to engage the advancing militia.



Out of ammunition, Gordon returned once again to the wreckage, looking for anything to fight with, only to find very little. Gordon handed a loaded CAR-15 automatic rifle to Durant, whose own 9-mm weapon was either out of ammunition or jammed. Telling him "Good luck," Gordon made his way back to the far side armed only with a pistol.

At the nose end of the aircraft, Durant observed two Somalis trying to climb over. A short burst from the automatic rifle caused them to quickly disappear. Another Somali tried to crawl over the wall. Durant shot him, as he did a second man trying to crawl around a corner. Off in the distance, less than a mile and a half to the south, Durant could hear the throaty roar of .50-caliber machineguns as Struecker's rescue convoy tried to deploy from the vicinity of the American compound.



Without warning, there was a hail of small arms fire on the left side of the Black Hawk, lasting for nearly two minutes, as a force of over a dozen concealed men focused their concentrated fires on the one remaining defender on the left side. Gordon's shout of pain was soon followed by silence.

The crowd surged across the clearing, descending on the four Americans who lay before them on the exposed side of the Black Hawk, one of whom was still alive, shouting and waving his arms as the mob grabbed his limbs, struggling to tear his and the other three bodies into pieces. Within a short time, the lifeless bodies of the Americans were being joyfully paraded and drug naked through the streets.



On the far side of the aircraft, his weapon empty, and a loaded pistol strapped to his side but forgotten, Durant placed the rifle across his chest, folded his hands over it, and waited to die. The crowd rushed around the tail of the aircraft, assailing Durant and the body of his crew chief lying beside him.

High above, the cameras aboard the surveillance helicopters recorded images of "indigenous personnel moving around all over the crash site." Nearly two hours after the aircraft had gone down, the fierce and deadly battle for Super 64 was over, all defenders and crew dead with the exception of Chief Warrant Officer 3 Durant, whose life would be spared to serve as a hostage and whose eleven days of captivity, pain, and affliction, were just commencing.



The casualties continued to mount in the vicinity of Super 61. Efforts were attempted to consolidate separate elements scattered at four locations around the perimeter but any attempt at movement in the open was met with staggering bursts of fire. No one was moving. It was nearly 1700 and the fight had "only" been ongoing for an hour and fifteen minutes, yet during that time two Black Hawks had been shot down, two others had been seriously crippled, a lost and misdirected convoy was being severely mauled, and a dismounted rescue force was scattered about, itself needing to be rescued. It seemed as though the situation could only grow progressively worse as the ninety-nine man force found itself cut off, surrounded, running low on ammunition, no water, and darkness falling with no night vision devices on hand.



From New Port, a facility a few miles up the coast from the airfield, a major Quick Reaction Force (QRF) of 425 men led by 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division and augmented by Pakistani M-48 Tanks and Malaysian Armored Personnel Carriers was finally able to deploy at 2324 after a number of unsuccessful attempts by smaller elements. Strung out in a convoy of seventy vehicles and hit within five minutes of its departure, the relief force slugged its way through any obstacles and enemy fire, inflicting and taking casualties along the way. The ferocity of the ambushes increased dramatically as the two-mile long convoy neared the Black Sea neighborhood.



At a release point, the convoy split into the two main 10th Mountain companies. A Company continued to move north to the Super 61 crash site where they were finally able to establish link up with the embattled Rangers at 0155. C Company moved west to the Super 64 site where they made a sweep of the wreckage but found no survivors or bodies.

Despite the linkup, it would be another four hours before the pilot's body in Super 61 could be extracted. Even then, the nightmare of the engagement was not over for many had to remain dismounted for lack of vehicle space, once again braving intense enemy fires as they made their way back down the dawning streets of "Mog."



Officially, the raid of 3 October...which came to be known by many of the participants as "Black" or "Bloody Sunday" and the "Battle of the Black Sea," and by those in Somalia as "Ma-alinti Rangers," "The Day of the Rangers"...came to a close around 0700 on 4 October with the return of the final Task Force Ranger and Quick Reaction Force (QRF) elements. Thus had ended the fiercest ground combat for American forces since Vietnam.

Additional Sources:

inquirer.philly.com
www.globalsecurity.org
www.somf.org
www.specialoperations.com
www.theunionleader.com
allafrica.com
www-cgsc.army.mil
www.ciriello.com
news.bbc.co.uk
www.eccentricamerica.net
www.qmmuseum.lee.army.mil
The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Task Force Ranger: Mogadishu, Somalia - (10/3/1993) - Oct. 3rd, 2003

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The Battle of Mogadishu is known today in Somalia as Ma-alinti Rangers, or the Day of the Rangers. It pitted the world's most sophisticated military power against a mob of civilians and Somalian irregulars. It was the biggest single firefight involving American soldiers since the Vietnam War.




Theirs is a story of well-laid plans gone awry, of tragic blunders, of skillful soldiering, heroism, and occasional cowardice. The portrait reveals a military force that underestimated its enemy. The assault was launched into the most dangerous part of Mogadishu in daylight, even though the Ranger and Delta forces were trained and equipped primarily to work in darkness - where their night-vision devices can afford a decisive advantage. Commanders who thought it unlikely that Somalis could shoot down helicopters saw five shot down (three limped back to base before crash-landing). Ground rescue convoys were blocked for hours by barricades and ambushes - leaving at least five U.S. soldiers to die awaiting rescue, including two Delta sergeants who were posthumously awarded Medals of Honor.




The American soldiers were so confident of a quick victory that they neglected to take night-vision devices and water, both sorely needed later. Carefully defined rules of engagement, calling for soldiers to fire only on Somalis who aimed weapons at them, were quickly discarded in the heat of the fight. Most soldiers interviewed said that through most of the fight they fired on crowds and eventually at anyone and anything they saw.


Somalis drag a Ranger's body through the streets of Mogadishu

Animosity between the elite Delta units and the Ranger infantry forces effectively created two separate ground-force commanders, who for at least part of the battle were no longer speaking to each other. Delta commandos took accidental fire on several occasions from the younger Rangers. Poor coordination between commanders in the air and a ground convoy sent vehicles meandering through a maelstrom of fire, resulting in the deaths of five soldiers and one Somalian prisoner.




Official U.S. estimates of Somalian casualties at the time numbered 350 dead and 500 injured. Somalian clan leaders made claims of more than 1,000 deaths. The United Nations placed the number of dead at ``between 300 to 500.'' Doctors and intellectuals in Mogadishu not aligned with the feuding clans say that 500 dead is probably accurate. The Task Force Ranger commander, Maj. Gen. William F. Garrison, testifying before the Senate, said that if his men had put any more ammunition into the city ``we would have sunk it.''




Most of the Rangers who fought were only a few years out of high school. These young men were shocked to find themselves bleeding on the dirt streets of an obscure African capital for a cause so unessential that President Clinton called off their mission the day after the fight.




In strictly military terms, Mogadishu was a success. The targets of that day's raid - two obscure clan leaders named Omar Salad and Mohamed Hassan Awale - were apprehended. But the awful price of those arrests came as a shock to a young president, who felt as misled as John F. Kennedy after the Bay of Pigs. It led to the resignation of Defense Secretary Les Aspin and destroyed the career of Gen. Garrison, who in a handwritten letter to Clinton accepted full responsibility. It aborted a hopeful and unprecedented United Nations effort to salvage an impoverished and hungry nation lost in anarchy and civil war.

Mark Bowden, November 16, 1997

[snippy_about_it]

Remember Them ALL for they are
the Soldiers of the Clouds

SGT Lorenzo Ruiz
B co 3/75th Rangers


SGT Casey Joyce,
B co 3/75th Rangers


SPC James Cavaco
B co 3/75th Rangers


PFC Richard Kowalewski
B co 3/75th Rangers


CPL James Smith
B co 3/75th Rangers


SGT Dominick Pilla
B co 3/75th Rangers


MSG Gary Gordon
MOH Recipient


SFC Randy Shughart
MOH Recipient


MSG Timothy Martin


SFC Matthew Rierson


SFC Earl Fillmore


CWO Cliff Wolcott
Pilot of Super 61


CWO Raymond Frank
Copilot of Super 64


CWO Donovan Briley
Copilot Super 61


SSG William Cleveland
Crew Chief Super 64


SSG Thomas Field
Crew chief on Super 64


SSG Daniel Busch
Super 61


PFC James Martin
10th Mountain


SGT Cornell Houston
10th Mountain

18 soldiers lost their lives in the largest firefight since the Vietnam War,
and a 19th soldier was also shot and killed the next morning after the main battle.
Besides these men who died, there were 73 men wounded.
30 of them were Rangers
One third of Bravo Company 3/75th Ranger Regt. had been wounded or killed.

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[SAMWolf]

Army Declares "Black Hawk Down" 'Authentic'

By Linda D. Kozaryn
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 16, 2001 -- When Jerry Bruckheimer met with Gen. John M. Keane at the Pentagon, the Hollywood film producer told the Army vice chief of staff he planned to make a movie about the Army's 1993 battle in Mogadishu, Somalia.

At the Jan. 15 premiere here of "Black Hawk Down," Keane recalled: "He came into my office and said, 'General, I'm going to make a movie that you and your Army will be proud of.' He did that, so we thank him for it."

Bruckheimer's film, slated for national release Jan. 18, is based on Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Mark Bowden's book, "Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War." Both tell what happened when Army Rangers and Special Forces soldiers conducted a raid in Mogadishu on Oct. 3, 1993. The 18-hour battle against Somali militia loyal to warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid killed 19 American soldiers and more than 1,000 Somalis.

Keane, whose military career includes command of the XVIII Airborne Corps, the Army's largest warfighting organization, said "Black Hawk Down" is an "authentic" and "graphic" portrayal of war.

"I don't think it's a movie you necessarily enjoy," he noted. "It's a movie -- particularly for those who have fought in a war -- that you experience."

The film accurately captures what it's like for soldiers in "the crucible," the general said. Whether in Somalia or Afghanistan, he explained, that's where soldiers on the ground "need one another to survive and to defeat an enemy." It's where "you have to call on your inner strength and overcome your natural fears."

Keane, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki and Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were among the top brass at the debut. Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and other civilian defense leaders also viewed the screening.

Army Secretary Thomas White gave the film a "thumbs up" and praised its "tag line," "Leave no man behind." This pledge, he noted, is appropriate both for the movie and the soldiers who serve today across the world and particularly in Afghanistan.

"It's been appropriate for the entire 226 years of the United States Army's history," White said. "We have certainly seen that spirit of heroism many times in the past few months."

The movie is based on actual events, but some liberties had to be taken, such as compositing characters. Nevertheless, White told the audience, "the values portrayed here are absolutely authentic. They represent the core Army ethic of courage and selfless service.

"I'm proud to say that same courage and selfless service can be seen today in Afghanistan and wherever American soldiers serve around the world in some 100 different countries."

Along with Bruckheimer, the Hollywood contingent included director Ridley Scott and actor Josh Hartnett, who plays Army Staff Sgt. Matt Eversmann.

Bruckheimer, whose credits also include "Pearl Harbor" and "Top Gun," said he chose to make "Black Hawk Down" to "set the record straight" and to change an impression created by the press.

"This was a very heroic mission for these young men," he said. "They don't set policy, they enforce it. They went in there and did an amazing job.

"I read Mark's book before it was published back in 1997 and thought it was an extraordinary tale of courage and bravery and heroism about these young men who fought so valiantly," he said. "The press labeled it a debacle. We wanted to set the record straight."

The producer introduced Eversmann, now a sergeant first class, and several other soldiers in the audience who participated in the Mogadishu raid. Eversmann, whose platoon was the first to reach the first of two downed Black Hawks, said he believed the producer had accomplished his mission.

"It's not a biography and it's not a documentary," he said. "It depicts the actions of soldiers very authentically, probably as realistically as we could expect without a real combat photographer on the ground during the battle."

But it's also a product of Hollywood," Eversmann noted. "There are some things that were done for the sake of filmmaking, and I understand that. So barring some of those little idiosyncracies, you look at the scenery, that's very authentic. You look at the way soldiers behaved, how they're outfitted, that's very authentic. The actions they take are very authentic. You put it all together -- I tell you, they did an unbelievable job."

Chief Warrant Officer Rodney 'Sam' Shamp of the Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, piloted Black Hawk 'Supersix Seven' during the raid. He also lauded the film.

"From a human standpoint, it was absolutely fantastic," he said. "I believe they did an excellent job of capturing the emotions, the feelings and the camaraderie that comes from combat and the professionalism that existed.

"From a military standpoint," he added, "you never want to show absolutely everything the military does and how they do it, but the portrayal of what we did was quite excellent from a tactical standpoint."

Army Sgt. 1st Class Jeff McLaughlin, another soldier who was in Mogadishu that day, agreed that Bruckheimer told it like it was. McLaughlin, a member of the 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Benning, Ga., verified the film's accuracy and said he's glad the film was made.

"It was pretty realistic," said the noncommissioned officer, who's just returned from Afghanistan. "There was a timing sequence that wasn't exactly right, but other than that and a few small, what I call 'Hollywoodisms,' it was really accurate. They did a good job.

"A lot of courageous things went on that day," McLaughlin concluded. "It's good that the public gets to see what some of those things were."

[SAMWolf]

Good Night Snippy.

[snippy_about_it]

Good night Sam.

[Iris7]

I don't like the Somalia story. Sending good men into one of the toughest neighborhoods in the world to serve a United Nations arrest warrant! (Vomit.) Then don't even give them any backup.

Anything you want in Somalia a few bucks will buy. Just put a million bucks on Aidid's head and his mother would bring his head in the next day. Instead get the lads killed. It is sad that the person responsible has not been brought to justice.

[E.G.C.]

Good morning and everyone at the foxhole.

I'm going to go to the hosiptal to try and get some flu shots today. They have a supply of 300. We also had a little bit of thunder and lightning but little rain. Computer and phone were unplugged yesterday after turning off the computer

[The Mayor]

October 1, 2004

Lifting A Burden

Read: Genesis 45:1-15

Do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me. —Genesis 45:5

Bible In One Year: Isaiah 11-13; Ephesians 4

---

It was the last weekend of the 1964 baseball season. Bill Valentine was umpiring a game between the Detroit Tigers and the New York Yankees.

Dave Wickersham was pitching for Detroit, and he had 19 victories for the season. One more would be a sign of stardom. But it wasn't to be.

After a close play, Wickersham tapped the umpire on the shoulder to ask for a time-out. Touching an umpire is against the rules, so Valentine tossed Wickersham from the game—depriving him of his chance for a 20-win season.

For the next 39 years, Valentine lived with a gnawing regret for booting the pitcher in that split-second decision. But he doesn't carry that regret anymore. Last year, Wickersham wrote the umpire a note, telling him he was right in his decision and that he held no hard feelings. That note lifted a weight from Valentine's shoulders.

In Genesis 45, Joseph lifted a burden of guilt from his brothers, who had sold him into slavery—something far more serious than a simple misunderstanding. Yet he was willing to forgive them.

Is there someone who needs to hear a forgiving word from you that would lift a burden of regret? —Dave Branon

Let me forget the hurt and pain
Found along life's way;
Let me remember kindnesses
Given day by day. —Berry

Ground filled with the roots of bitterness needs to be plowed by the grace of God.

[alfa6]

Grettings All, so many things to sy, so little time.

HI MANNNA!!!

We are expecting t-storms this afternoon E.G.C here in Kansas City.

Perhaps if the Rangers and Delta lads had had a flight of these on call things might have turned out better.



Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[E.G.C.]

We have a slight chance of storms here too but the severe weatehr is expected to stay in North-Central Oklahoma.

[manna]

Present!

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone! TGIF!!

[Professional Engineer]

Good morning ladies. It's Friday!

Friday Foxhole FReeper Flag-o-gram.

Today's Foxhole flag is from

See your flag here! FReepmail me today.

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning PE!!

Love the graphic today! That's me all over!! LOL

How's our baby today??

[SAMWolf]

It is sad that the person responsible has not been brought to justice.

Not just not brought to justice but never even really held accountable at all. :-(

[SAMWolf]

Morning E.G.C.

Good luck on getting a flu shot.

Cool and cloudy here this morning.