Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War

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One of the difficulties of conveying combat stems from the endlessly unique perceptions of those who experience it. The battle began as a snatch-and-grab mission, meant to capture two top lieutenants of the Somali warlord Mohammed Farrah Aidid, who was disrupting United Nations efforts to end a famine caused by Somalia’s civil war. Black Hawk Down tells the realistic tale of this modern day infantry combat with such vigor and brutally shocking honesty. Bowden avoids sensationalism while still capturing the ugliness of an operation gone very wrong and the human costs associated on both sides.

Although the overall mission to apprehend Aidid was officially codenamed Operation Gothic Serpent, the media colloquially termed the incident the Battle of Mogadishu as well as the Battle of the Black Sea. The American soldiers found themselves fighting with thousands of armed Somalis, trapped in a city where everyone is potential threat. In 1943, a Life photojournalist named George Strock took a picture of three dead Americans on the beach of Buna-Gona. It occurred to Howe as he saw those Sammies keep on running that Randy was the smartest soldier in the unit. Authoritative, gripping, and insightful, Black Hawk Down is destined to become a classic of war reporting.It was an audacious daylight thrust into the “Black Sea,” the very heart of Habr Gidr territory in central Mogadishu and warlord Aidid’s stronghold.

S. Army Rangers and Delta Force operators who were about to drop in uninvited on a gathering of Habr Gidr clan leaders in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia. Gripping, pacy and thought provoking, you certainly don't have to be a committed devotee of military history to enjoy this book. I am a big fan of military bio's, combat orientated and I have read some stunning pieces of history, this is outstanding in every dimension, Its an old book now but well worth the electronic version, I will be reading this again and again, So much information to take in and be in astonishment of, disbelief, dark humour, and awe of the bravery of the individual soldiers and the fact that more soldiers didn't die, Stories like this should be taught to Officers who have never faced combat, so they can see what command structure and communication can do for better or as in this case worse, for the troops on the ground. on the human drama, producing one of the most gripping and authoritative accounts of combat ever written. No troops were available to help, so two Delta snipers volunteered to form a perimeter by themselves.In the warren-like streets of Mogadishu, receiving directions that arrived woefully short of real-time, men became disoriented, lost. There were four MH-6 Little Birds with benches mounted on both sides for delivering the spearhead of the assault force, Delta’s C Squadron, one of three operational elements in the army’s top secret commando unit. They used to kid Randy Shughart because he shunned the modern rifle and ammunition and carried a Vietnam era M-14, which shot a 7. Then they had stewed on the hot tarmac for what seemed an hour, breathing the pungent diesel fumes and oozing sweat under their body armor and gear, fingering their weapons anxiously, every man figuring this mission would probably be scratched before they got off the ground.