Black
Hawk Down
Table of Contents
Who's Who
Where are they now?
Timeline
Book Reviews
Movie Updates
Night
Stalkers
Memorial Wall
Quotes
Memorial Poems
Guest Book
Speeches
Ranger Memorial
Hall of Honor
Articles
Ranger Gregg
Gould
Jeff Raycher
Poems
Heroes
Our Loss
BlackHawk Down
Toy Soldiers
Brothers to the end
Tommy
To his Comrades
In Memorium
Unfortunate Losses
Not for fame
In
Honor of Fallen
Night Stalkers
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A battle that changed the world, Black Hawk Down will
alter how we look at the modern battlefield and the respect we
have for those who fight on it. The story sends you from anger
to tears, from laughter to quiet moments alone. It is the
power of the personal accounts and the research of the author
that brings the 1993 battle into your heart.
Mark Bowden is not a military expert, but his
manner and style of reporting earned him the respect of some
family members and the people he interviewed. Thus the book
becomes the combatants story told through a single author. A
book not built on finger pointing or blame, yet is well aware
of all of the issues. At the end of the book the author looks
at many of the issues and dedicates it to the people who
fought the good fight. That dedication was forged starting on
his first interview, and has developed into a book for
generations.
"'Unfortunate Losses' have names", is a
phrase most Special Operations Forces will remember. A SOF
Banquet not all that long ago had one of the Medal of Honor
recipients' wife sitting in the audience. She was introduced
during one of the speeches which quickly followed with
applause. Many of the members bowed their heads in recognition
of the brave warrior. When you finish Black Hawk Down, your
head will bow in memory and respect for all Task Force Ranger
members.
It is that aspect that makes this book nearly
required reading for all SOF and anybody who sets his sights
on trying out for any of these units. If this book has a flaw,
it misses a few accounts of bravery and heroism only known to
a tiny fraternity whose common bond is uncommon valor.
NSDQ
"Your
account of the events in Mogadishu on October 3, 1993 is an
inspirational and
evocative retelling of one of the most significant military
operations of the past 10 years. Though there is heroism and
professionalism
aplenty, you also bring out the errors and missed opportunities
that contributed to the unfortunate outcome of the mission.
Both senior leaders and young soldiers can learn much from
this compelling story. . . . Black Hawk Down will occupy an
honored place in my personal library."
-General Henry H. Shelton,
Chairman, Joint
Chiefs of Staff
"The
October 3 Battle of the Mogadishu Bekara Market was the most
intense ground combat engagement fought by U.S. Forces since
the Vietnam War. Mark Bowden has done an artful piece of work
in capturing the heroism and dedication of the members of Task
Force Ranger amid the chaos of a close-in and personal
fight."
-General Wayne Downing, US Army (ret),
(who at the time of the
October,
1993 battle was commander in
chief
US Special Operations Command)
"Mark
Bowden's Black Hawk Down is superb both as journalism and
as literature. Not only has Bowden produced one of the finest
pieces of investigative journalism of our time, but his vital,
vibrant descriptions of this heroic yet tragic day in American
military history place the reader and all of his senses in the
midst of the chaotic action. One can not only see the heroism
and death and fear and tragedy, but can feel, hear, smell, and
even taste it, both from the American and Somali points of
view."
-L.H. "Bucky" Burruss, Lt. Col.
(ret),
U.S. Army, &
Author of Mike Force,
A Mission for Delta
and Clash of Steel
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