Blackhawk_Down__Hollywood_V._Reality

In 1992 Us forces were sent to Somalia to help quell the unrest that decades of civil war had parented. The centuries old feud between clans had come to a head with the dissolution of the formal government in 1991, and the refusal of several clan leaders refusing to accept the new head of government as president. The resulting war ended almost all agricultural production and famine on a massive scale. After at least 300,000 Somali's died from starvation the UN sent in a peacekeeping force to aid in the distribution of food, grain, medical supplies, and other humanitarian aid, called UN Operation Somalia or UNOSOM I the peacekeepers were limited to self defense role only and were constantly in fear as gunmen would fire on them from within crowds knowing that the UN forces would not and could not return fire or try to capture them. Eventually when this force could not quell the fighting Operation Restore Hope was launched in December 1992 consisting of US and UN multinational forces this force, UNOSOM II was an effective deterrent to the Somali’s in general and in May of 1993 President Clinton ordered the US Marines and most of the US Army out of Somalia. The main clan leader the despised the foreign influence and saw them as a threat was General Mohamed Farrah Aidid of the United Somali Congress, in response to UNOSOM’s continued presence Aidid ordered the attack on a UN Peacekeeping force in which 24 Pakistanis were killed and their bodies mutilated and hung in the city streets of Mogadishu Somalia’s capital and Aidid controlled territory. The attack was decried in international circles and was to reason for UN Resolution 837 which called for the arrest and trial of Aidid and those responsible for the attack dubbed Operation Gothic Serpent. President Clinton ordered a detachment of rangers and Delta Force operators to the area and tasked them with the capture or killing of Aidid in an effort to end the bloodshed. While the UN/US forces ended with a tactical victory the Somalis won the war. Black Hawk Down: A story of Modern War by Mark Bowden hit store shelves in 1999 and details the fateful raid of October 3-4 1993 that was to became the most intensive close combat Americans had engaged in since the Vietnam War.[1] The raid was to capture two of Aidid’s top lieutenants as part of the US’ goal of dismantling his operation since they could not track Aidid himself down. Mark Bowden travels to Mogadishu to talk to those that were in the city on the now infamous day, both fighters and ordinary citizens who were trying much like the US Soldiers and Somali militiamen were simply to survive. Bowden’s book reveals many a point that is not addressed in the film it spawned 2 years later, but much of that is because Bowden writes a narrative to explain events not so much to entertain where as Ridley Scott uses the book as an excuse to blow stuff up, although much of what Scott portrays is accurate and follows both Bowden’s book, and two other firsthand accounts even though they were published after the film was released. In the Company of Heroes by Michael Durant is an account of the downing of a Black Hawk helicopter in Mogadishu, but also chronicles the Army career of Durant who was not only the pilot of one of the two downed birds but was also held captive for eleven days following the battle. Where Black Hawk Down follows the story of Task Force Ranger and the 100 or so men that Bowden interviewed for his book, In the Company of Heroes tells one man’s story of the same event. Both Bowden and Durant were called upon by Ridley Scott for help in the production of the movie Scott uses artistic license in the film for his telling of the story, both to make it more interesting and viewer friendly, and to leave out some of the details that might make the average American distrustful of the US military and government. SSGT Matt Eversmann collected many of the soldiers firsthand accounts in his 2007 book The Battle of Mogadishu: Firsthand Accounts from the Men of Task Force Ranger. Eversmann unlike Bowden takes the more prosaic approach to the whole account, letting the men tell their account in a short story format that gives the reader the feeling that he is with each individual soldier as they fight for their life. This differs from Bowden’s book by retelling the same story over and over providing many views of the same event from different positions throughout the city whereas Bowden has a chronological overhead view taken from the same material and combined into one account that works well to inform readers of the broad view and helps to write a script for documentary or in this case feature film. While Black Hawk Down shows a Task Force Ranger that has minor squabbles or feeling against the higher up back in the states, both Bowden and Durant are able to lay out these problems in detail from a journalistic point of view and from the soldier on the ground views. Scott takes a major leap during the movie when the Task Force commander Major General William Garrison realizes he needs help from the 10th Mountain Devision which is a multi-National force based across the city from Task Force Ranger. Garrison played by Sam Shepard is shown talking on the phone to his liaison across town who tells him the the rescue force will take “about 3 hours to organize the 100 vehicles, since Garrison didn’t deem necessary to inform the across town commander of the raid.”[2] According to Bowden, Durant, and Eversmann this was not the case, while 3 hours is a good estimate for the time needed to organize such a convoy it was not hurt pride on the multi-National force commander’s part that caused the delay, it was simply the fact that to organize 100 vehicles and their respective crews into a cohesive unit takes time which was compounded by the fact that there were at least 3 languages that were being spoken and many different radio and logistic problems to figure out on the fly.[3] In an effort to lengthen the film or add more door kicking type action based, Scott adds a sequence that has the Task Force following one of Aidid’s Lieutenants in helicopters until a sniper places a well aimed round through the engine of the Lieutenant's car capturing him and returning him to the base for sequestering and interrogation,[4] if this really happened it never made into the books on the subject. All things being equal, Black Hawk Down and In the Company of Heroes don’t add up to Black Hawk Down even taking into account the fact that Michael Durant did not publish his memoir until 2 years after the film was released he was interviewed by the film crew and was on set for the filming as a consultant. Ridley Scott makes broad use of artistic license during filming, some good some bad, much of it is just basic Hollywood hyperbole. In the film the only military members one sees are from the US Army until the multi-national forces arrive to rescue the embattled soldiers, in actually when the forces roped in from the Black Hawks there were 4 Air Force Airmen that went in to direct fire support from the gunships circling overhead, as well as 2 Navy SEALS that were with LTCOL. McKight’s ground convoy.[5] One of the biggest questions that most viewers have is “Why did the soldiers leave critical items behind'” Items like night vision devices, water, and even body armor, were all left behind because the soldiers were told that they would be on the ground for 30-45 minutes, and back at their base within an hour of leaving, simply put no one wants to lug around thousands of dollars of unneeded equipment that they can’t use or that could get lost or broken and that they would be responsible for reimbursing the government. As time would tell these items were in dire need when they were pinned down and in a horrific fight for their lives.[6] One of the worst parts of the whole battle is early on when the 3 HMMWV’s are sent to take PVT Blackburn back to the base after he falls from the Black Hawk. SPC Dominic Pilla is killed on the way and everyone who has a radio hears the transmission that he is K.I.A. This is a critical turning point becuase of this he soldiers are no longer trying to take well aimed shots and only those that are shooting at them or have guns, they let loose on the crowds with everything they have to avenge their fallen comrade, which is a nice sentiment, but in the long run hurts them as they run out out of ammo long before they might have otherwise.[7] Throughout the movie the viewer sees SSGT Matt Eversmann leading his troops through the entire battle with the authority one would expect from someone much older and having been under fire before, he even helps the doc preform field surgery to help his friend in vain. However, SSGT Eversmann and his chalk were back at the base within an hour of the beginning of the raid and stayed there boosting the bases security for the majority of the night and didn’t head back out to the city until early the next morning.[8] Much of the myths produced by Hollywood seem to be not for ignorance or ratings, but to keep from discrediting the men who were there and those who never made it back. In scenes where the two Delta snipers request to be allowed to be put on the ground and secure the second crash site irregardless of the length of time before reinforcements can arrive or the large numbers of angry citizen closing in really did happen. Because of the bravery and self sacrifice of MSGT Gary Gordon, and SGTFC Randy Shuhgart, Mike Durant was captured and released instead of being killed. Both Gordon and Shuhgart were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions during the battle.[9] All told the US lost 19 men killed, 84 wounded, and 1 POW although Michael Durant was released with no lasting problems from his captivity. Due to the problems with totaling the Somali casualties the UN estimates that there were somewhere between 700-3,000 Killed with another 1,500+ wounded during the fight, most place the best guess at the higher end of the range for those killed.[10] Bibliography Bowden, Mark. Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War. Berkely: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1999. Duffy, George J. Church; Michael. "Somalia: Anatomy of a Disaster." Time, 1993. Eds., Matt Eversmann and Dan Schilling. The Battle of Mogadishu: Firsthand Accounts from the Men of Task Force Ranger. New York: Presido Press, 2005. Scott, Ridley. "Black Hawk Down." 144 Minutes. USA: Columbia Pictures, 2001. ----------------------- [1] Mark Bowden, Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War (Berkely: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1999). [2] Ridley Scott, "Black Hawk Down," (USA: Columbia Pictures, 2001). [3] Bowden, Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War. [4] Scott, "Black Hawk Down." [5] Bowden, Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War. [6] Matt Eversmann and Dan Schilling Eds., The Battle of Mogadishu: Firsthand Accounts from the Men of Task Force Ranger (New York: Presido Press, 2005). [7] Ibid. [8] Bowden, Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War. [9] Ibid; Scott, "Black Hawk Down." [10] George J. Church; Michael Duffy, "Somalia: Anatomy of a Disaster," Time 1993. ----------------------- “Leave no Man Behind, Leave no Myth out”