Through The Mind\’s Eye

Never to Be Forgotten, Part 1 §§ 2006, October 13 §§

There have been so many things that has happened in the last 15 years that have effected many lives. However people tend to forget about those things unless they have impacted them directly. 13 Years ago on October 3, 1993 while the U.S. was in Somalia under the leadership of Clinton two Black Hawks went down in what was supposed to be a quick mission.

NO ONE GETS LEFT BEHIND
Two snipers asked to secure a Black Hawk site in which they had no idea when reinforcements would arrive.

Courage, the highest gift, that scorns to bend To mean devices for a sordid end. Courage–an independent spark from Heaven’s bright throne, By which the soul stands raised, triumphant high, alone. Great in itself, not praises of the crowd, Above all vice, it stoops not to be proud. Courage, the mighty attribute of powers above, By which those great in war, are great in love. The spring of all brave acts is seated here, As falsehoods draw their sordid birth from fear. – George Farguhar

A coward turns away, but a brave man’s choice is danger. – Euripides

Courage is almost a contradiction in terms: it means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die. — Gilbert Chesterton

Brotherhood is the very price and condition of man’s survival. – Carlos Romulo

No one’s death comes to pass without making some impression, and those close to the deceased inherit part of the liberated soul and become richer in their humanness. — Hermann Broch

What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal. – Albert Pike

In this world it is not what we take up, but what we give up, that makes us rich.  – Henry  Beecher
These men may not be well known for what they have done to the nation. To the families who lost them and to the family of the man they saved, they will never be forgotten.

HOOAH

Never to Be Forgotten, Part 2 §§ 2006, October 13 §§

Gary Gordon was born in Lincoln, Maine in 1960. Master Sergeant (MSG) Gordon, U.S. Army, distinguished himself by actions above and beyond the call of duty on October 3, 1993 while serving as Sniper Team Leader, United States Army Special Operations Command with Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu, Somalia.

Gordon’s sniper team provided precision fire from the lead helicopter during an assault and at two helicopter crash sites, while subjected to intense automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade fire. When MSG Gordon learned that ground forces were not immediately available to secure the second crash site of Super 64, he and another sniper, Sergeant First Class Randall Shughart unhesitatingly volunteered to be inserted to protect the four critically wounded personnel, despite being well aware of the large and growing number of hostile Somalis closing in on the site.

After his third request to be inserted, Gordon received permission to perform his volunteer mission. When debris and enemy ground fires at the site caused them to abort the first attempt, he was inserted one hundred meters south of the crash site. Shortly after, the Blackhawk that had inserted Gordon and Shughart was hit by an RPG, but managed to crash land back at the U.S. controlled airport.

Equipped with only his sound-suppressed CAR-15 and Colt M1911 .45 caliber pistol, 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 of Super 64. He immediately pulled pilot Mike Durant and the other crew members from the aircraft, establishing a perimeter which placed him and his fellow sniper in the most vulnerable position.

Gordon used his custom sniper rifle and side arm to kill an undetermined number of attackers. He was down to his last magazine and had used half of it before he was fatally wounded. Fellow Delta sniper Shughart then took Gordon’s CAR-15 to Durant for him to use. Gordon’s actions saved the pilot’s life.

Never To Be Forgotten, Part 3 §§ 2006, October 12 §§

Sergeant First Class (SFC) Shughart, U.S. Army, distinguished himself by actions above and beyond the call of duty on October 3, 1993 , while serving as a Sniper Team Member, United States Army Special Operations Command with Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu, Somalia.

Shughart provided precision sniper fire from the lead helicopter during an assault on the target building and at two helicopter crash sites, while being subjected to intense automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade fire. While providing critical suppressive fire at the second crash site of Super 64, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader, Master Sergeant Gary Gordon, learned that ground forces were not immediately available to secure the site. Shughart and his team leader 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 their third request to be inserted, Shughart and his team leader received permission to perform this volunteer mission. When debris and enemy ground fire at the site caused them to abort the first attempt, he and his team leader were inserted one hundred meters south of the crash site. Shortly after, the Blackhawk that had inserted Gordon and Shughart was hit by an RPG, but managed to crash land back at the U.S. controlled airport.

Equipped with only his M-14 rifle and a Colt M1911 .45 caliber pistol, SFC Shughart and his team leader, 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 of Super Six Four. He pulled the crew members, including pilot Mike Durant, from the aircraft, and established a perimeter which placed him and his fellow sniper in the most vulnerable position.

Shughart used his rifle and side arm to kill an undetermined number of attackers while traveling the perimeter, protecting the downed crew. After his team leader was fatally wounded and his own rifle ammunition exhausted, Shughart recovered Gordon’s CAR-15 and searched the helicopter’s wreckage, recovering several of the crew chief’s M-16s. He returned to Durant, giving him Gordon’s CAR-15 with only the last magazine half full. Gordon had managed to fire all but 15 rounds before being fatally wounded. Shughart then returned to the wreckage without saying another word. When he finished the M-16s’ ammunition, SFC Shughart continued to fight armed only with his Colt .45 pistol until he was fatally wounded. His actions saved Durant’s life.