Heroes of the week.
Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon, two Delta Force Snipers who volunteered to be dropped inside a heavily hostile zone in order to defend a downed Black Hawk helicopter and it’s crew in the battle of Mogadishu, Somalia. Knowing that they were almost certainly sentencing themselves to death, these men did not hesitate in sacrificing their lives in order to buy the crew of the Black Hawk more time. Because of their actions, the crew were spared a vicious slaughter from Somalian civillians, and Michael Durant, the pilot of the downed Black Hawk, was saved.
“”It was terribly risky, maybe even hopeless. But one or two properly-armed, well-trained soldiers could hold off an undisciplined mob indefinitely. Shughart and Gordon were experts at killing and staying alive. They were serious, career soldiers, trained to get hard, ugly things done. They saw opportunity where others could see only danger. Like the other operators, they prided themselves on staying cool and effective even in extreme danger. They lived and trained endlessly for moments like this. If there were a chance to succeed, these two believed they would.”
This incident received a large amount of awareness mainly due to it’s feature in the film, “Black Hawk Down”.
(via n8-ascents)
