Posted on 08/22/2002 6:16:23 PM PDT by freethinkingman
After watching BlackHawk Down over the weekend I feel the need to post this essay.
I am going to attempt to relate how deeply I felt during and after the film , feelings of pride, hatred, anger, and much sorrow.
First lets cover the Anger:
Toward the end of the “build-up” portion of the movie you know where they introduce all of the characters and place them in a time and place, The General briefs the men on the mission. A daylight mission in which Blackhawks and Little Birds would be used to capture some of Aidid’s top lieutenants and bring them back to the base via Humvees.
It is at this point that the General mentions that he had requested Armored troop vehicles and Tanks but that Washington had turned him down. This of course gives all Freepers cause to be angry because we know exactly who is responsible for that request being denied it is of course Bubba. Let us examine why this would happen.
First off, Liberals are not suited to be Commander n Chief. They are more suited to running the State Dept. where diplomacy is king. Bill Clinton’s picks for top cabinet positions in his administration, all libs, were all there to advise him that by sending in more armor or beefing up the initial deployment of Special Ops would be seen to be too provocative and might send the wrong message. Huh? What could be wrong about; “I have a lot of firepower and I am not afraid to use it”!
Liberals can say “Well it was George Bush that got us into Somalia”. That may be true but if I am not mistaken the original deployment of 20,000 Marines were removed by the Clintonistas and after that is when the UN forces started coming under fire. Then it of course was Clinton that sent in Special Forces to try to take Aidid out.
Number one rule, of the Powell Doctrine: If you are going to go in, do it with overwhelming force. Why was every aspect of this new deployment in Somalia controlled by Washington and not the commanders in the field? I’ll tell you why, Liberals think they are smarter than the commanders in the filed, that’s why.
Then the movie progresses to the Mission portion. This is where pride, hatred and sorrow all come flowing from my soul, I truly can not remember ever having felt all of these different emotions in such proximity to one another.
The Pride&Sorrow:
I was filled with such a sense of "Proud to be an American" during the scene in which the two Army Ranger Snipers asked to be inserted to form a perimeter for the rescue of the pilots from the second downed Blackhawk. They fought their way to the crash site and fought against all odds to save the lives of the pilots, indeed were responsible for saving the life of Michael Durant.
I had to go to the army web to look up the citations of those that received the medal of honor posthumously:
I have posted the citations as my words cannot do better in describing the events that took place.
The President of the United States
in the name of The Congress
takes pleasure in presenting the
Medal of Honor
to
GORDON, GARY I.
Rank and organization: Master Sergeant, U.S. Army. Place and date: 3
October 1993, Mogadishu, Somalia. Entered service at: Lincoln,
Maine Born: Lincoln, Maine.
Citation:
Master Sergeant Gordon, United States Army, distinguished himself by
actions above and beyond the call of duty on 3 October 1993, while
serving as Sniper Team Leader, United States Army Special Operations
Command with Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu, Somalia. Master
Sergeant Gordon's sniper team provided precision fires from the lead
helicopter during an assault and at two helicopter crash sites, while
subjected to intense automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade
fires. When Master Sergeant Gordon learned that ground forces were
not immediately available to secure the second crash site, he and
another sniper unhesitatingly volunteered to be inserted to protect the
four critically wounded personnel, despite being well aware of the
growing number of enemy personnel closing in on the site. After his
third request to be inserted, Master Sergeant Gordon received
permission to perform his volunteer mission. When debris and enemy
ground fires at the site caused them to abort the first attempt, Master
Sergeant Gordon was inserted one hundred meters south of the crash
site. Equipped with only his sniper rifle and a pistol, Master Sergeant
Gordon and his fellow sniper, while under intense small arms fire from
the enemy, fought their way through a dense maze of shanties and
shacks to reach the critically injured crew members. Master Sergeant
Gordon immediately pulled the pilot and the other crew members from
the aircraft, establishing a perimeter which placed him and his fellow
sniper in the most vulnerable position. Master Sergeant Gordon used
his long range rifle and side arm to kill an undetermined number of
attackers until he depleted his ammunition. Master Sergeant Gordon
then went back to the wreckage, recovering some of the crew's weapons
and ammunition. Despite the fact that he was critically low on
ammunition, he provided some of it to the dazed pilot and then radioed
for help. Master Sergeant Gordon continued to travel the perimeter,
protecting the downed crew. After his team member was fatally wounded
and his own rifle ammunition exhausted, Master Sergeant Gordon
returned to the wreckage, recovering a rifle with the last five rounds of
ammunition and gave it to the pilot with the words, "good luck." Then,
armed only with his pistol, Master Sergeant Gordon continued to fight
until he was fatally wounded. His actions saved the pilot's life. Master
Sergeant Gordon's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in
keeping with the highest standards of military service and reflect great
credit upon, his unit and the United States Army.
The President of the United States
in the name of The Congress
takes pleasure in presenting the
Medal of Honor
to
SHUGHART, RANDALL D.
Rank and organization: Sergeant First Class, U.S. Army. Place and
date: 3 October 1993, Mogadishu, Somalia. Entered service at:
Newville, Pennsylvania. Born: Newville, Pennsylvania.
The citation portion is virtually identical to above citiation.
There were of course many other acts of heroism in the movie, indeed too many to recount in this post.
I also found the following list of those who died and the medals they recieved.
Killed on Oct. 3 and 4, 1993 With posthumous awards.
Sgt. First Class Randy Shughart, a Commando soldier killed defending the crew of
Super 64, the Medal of Honor.
Master Sgt. Gary Gordon, a Commando soldier who was killed after jumping in to
defend the crew of Super 64, the Medal of Honor.
CWO Cliff Wolcott, pilot of Super 61, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star and
the Air Medal with Valor Device.
CWO Donovan Briley, copilot of Super 61, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star and Air
Medal with Valor Device.
Staff Sgt. William Cleveland, a crew chief on Super 64, Silver Star, Bronze Star and Air Medal
with Valor Device.
Staff Sgt. Thomas Field, a crew chief on Super 64, Silver Star, Bronze Star and Air Medal with
Valor Device.
CWO Raymond Frank, copilot of Super 64, Silver Star, Air Medal with Valor Device.
Staff Sgt. Daniel Busch, who crashed on Super 61 and was killed defending the downed crew,
the Silver Star.
Sgt. Cornell Houston, who was killed fighting on the rescue convoy, the Bronze Star with Valor
Device.
Sgt. Casey Joyce, who was killed on the Lost Convoy, the Bronze Star with Valor
Device.
Spec. James Cavaco, who was killed on the Lost Convoy, the Bronze Star with Valor Device.
Cpl. Jamie Smith, who bled to death with the pinned-down force around crash site one,
the Bronze Star with Valor Device.
Sgt. Dominick Pilla, who was killed on the convoy rescuing Pfc. Todd Blackburn, the
Bronze Star with Valor Device.
Pfc. Richard Kowalewski, who was killed on the Lost Convoy, the Bronze Star with
Valor Device.
Sgt. Lorenzo Ruiz, who was killed on the Lost Convoy, the Bronze Star with Valor
Device.
Sgt. First Class Earl Fillmore, Commando killed moving to the first crash site.
Pfc. James Martin, who was killed on the rescue convoy.
Master Sgt. Tim "Griz" Martin a Commando killed on the Lost Convoy
I am unsure as to the completeness of the above list, just one of the tidbits I found researching for this post.
I would also like to take a minute to talk more aboout current events and how they may be better shaped by
following the lessons of history.
When and if we go into Bagdahd, notice I did not say Iraq. I for one believe we are already in northern Iraq.
We had better take with us some lessons. Just a few observations:
One, come in with overwehlming force. Not just what seems to be enough to do the job, and have the
reinforcements well at the ready.
Two, Give the field commander everything neccessarry to do the job, ie: tanks, armored vehicles, etc...
Three, go in at night, I think this one could have prevented any Blackhawks from being shot down. We have
the advantage in superior technology lets use it!!
Four, if things look really bad in downtown Baghdad, just surround it and shut off the water, sooner or later
the starving, thirsty troops will surrender.
Five, goes along with four above, seperate Saddam from his oil and his freinds will soon desert him.
It is said to be the most realistic war movie ever...
"Garrison himself felt the [AC-130] gunship was not only unnecessary, but likely to be a less effective firing platform over a densely populated urban neighborhood than the AH-6 Little Birds." (p. 416); and
"Garrison's task force never requested or envisioned armor as part of its force package. Its tactics were to strike with surprise and speed, and up to October 3, those tactics worked. It is fair for military experts to criticize Garrison's judgement in this, but hardly fair to accuse[Secretary of Defense] Aspin of turning down a request the task force never made." (p. 416)
"Others (wounded Rangers) were cool, even hostile. Sgt. John Burns, 26, of Philadelphia, whose leg was shattered, balked at an offer to have his picture taken with the president. "I don't want to end up in some political propaganda picture - you know, 'President Visits Wounded Soldier,' " Burns said while Clinton was in his room.
The White House refused ( not because they didn't have any, but because the reception of the soldiers to Buba was so hostile )to make public photographs or television footage of that meeting or a later Oval Office meeting with the wounded. ( notice that they did have the cammeras going just in case they could edit something) Clinton and top administration officials responsible for Somalia have yet to be publicly shown with the survivors of the fiercest firefight in terms of American casualties since Vietnam. Some administration officials say withholding the pictures is part of a damage-limitation strategy devised by David Gergen, Clinton's adviser.( So dead or busted up, the men were just props to Gergen. )
"They [White House officials] hope people will forget about Somalia," said a Pentagon official who objected to a plan. He favored giving the wounded the sort of White House South Lawn ceremony held in June when Clinton praised and personally decorated Marines who were first sent to Somalia by President George Bush last Dec. 6.
While Gergen refused to comment, another White House official said Clinton wanted to avoid the appearance of exploiting the Somalia veterans."( Even though he was. )
I can't tell you how proud it makes me feel that you posted this. All BJC could say was that Somalia was the lowest moment in his presidency (as usual, it was all about him).
A well done project FTM. Haven't yet seen BHD, and don't know if I'm ready to see it yet. The whole mess pissed me off at the time it happened; I grew pissed off even further when Clinton didn't get the criticism he deserved for his sordid role in the action (damned "journalists").
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