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Summary: This is the real thing
Review: The author does a great job at showing both sides of the story. Although this is about our boys in green the author mixes in images from the simple town folk who lived through this ordeal. He also goes into the mistakes that were made by the Americans that lead to the disaster. It is a great story and I am hoping is going to be a great movie. If you like play-by-play stories of battles this is a great book.
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Summary: Simply Outstanding!
Review: I think that the book is simply outstanding and could hardly put it down once I got started. The writing of the combat scenes and especially the information the author provided on the background of the many of the Rangers reminded me of the men that I served with and thus made them vividly real for me. As I read about each of these men, I found myself looking toward the end of the book and hoping that this guy or that guy made it. I highly recommend this book.
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Summary: Fascinating
Review: From his amusing detail of 'hangar' life to the morbid detail of decapitated 'Skinnies' (nickname for Somalis) and disfigured Rangers, Mark describes the harrowing account of Task Force Ranger's ill-fated mission to capture Aidid's lieutenants. What was initially thought of as a cakewalk 1 hour at most mission rapidly turned into a 17+ hours of life and death struggles for the 4-chalks, D-boys and Blackhawk pilots. How could a group of elite forces from the most powerful military nation in the world with the most sophisticated weaponry known to man be completely pinned down and nearly massacred by an armed band of amateur fighters ? What went wrong ? Could the massacre have been prevented ? Mark does a very nice job of describing the simultaneous events and actions in a serial medium such as a book. He interleaves facts, tidbits of information for you to catch your breath between the gun fights and combat description so that as fast pace as the fire fights were, the reader does not feel lost in all the actions. It would have been more informative had there been more maps or more detailed maps or pictures of the location. All in all, I couldn't put the book down after I started reading it. Great, great read. You'll be thoroughly 'entertained' (if there's such a thing about war reporting) and 'educated' (about our military commanders, elite soldiers and our foreign policy toward Somalia at that time) in my opinion. Mark tells the untold story that must be told.
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Summary: One of Best War Stories Ever
Review: I've read hundreds, and this is riveting. You feel the fear and anxiety as this story plays out. It is a story of error and confusion, but also of incredible bravery, sacrifice and brotherhood. I did not want the story to end, but for the sake of those who survived, I'm glad it did. I wish there was some way to personally thank all of those involved for the sacrifice they made in the name of our country. (whatever their original motivation for joining the armed forces)This is the American soldier at his best. I would highly recommend it!Let's hope the movie does the truth justice.
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Summary: An excellent retelling of complicated events!!!
Review: Being a military enthusiast I thoroughly enjoyed this book from cover to cover, I especially enjoyed how Bowden included the reactions and perspectives of the Somalis. This book is definitely a "must have" for anyone that has interest in the Military and more specifically Special Forces.
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Summary: At once sobering and inspiring
Review: A superb read, as close to actual combat as the armchair warrior will ever get. It's inspiring to know that our military has the smarts to embrace this book as a primer for many of our soldiers. (Bowden himself half expected criticism and rejection.) Probably it has assisted in our very effective military approach in Afghanistan. Also very welcome is Bowden's lone attempt to explain the firefight from the Somali point of view--if for no other reason than it's just dumb not to put yourself in the shoes of the enemy.
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Summary: Bravery at it's best
Review: Never will another story of bravery and selfless acts stir me as this one did. Reading the back cover, I was a little skeptical and boy was I in for a surprise. This book, "Black Hawk Down" conveys the meaning of being proud to be an American. The book tells the chilling account of the United States presence in the unstable region of Somali. On October 3, 1993, U.S. soldiers are sent into the city of Mogadishu to continue an ongoing mission to rid the area of evil warlords. The mission goes awry and instead of spending an hour in the city, they suffer severe casualties and are forced to spend a "long and terrible night." "Black Hawk Down" relives the awful tragedy that went on during these days. In my opinion, this book is incredible. Mark Bowden gives an excellent and indepth look into the lives of the soldiers and this horrific incident. Not only is this an excellent story, it illustrates true human emotion that could only be observed upon experiencing the actual events. I could feel the realism with every turn of the page. I suggest this book to everyone for it's message and educational background.
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Summary: A Look At the Way We Go To War
Review: It made me extremely uncomfortable to read about inabilities to fight in the modern age. Mr. Bowden does a tremendous job of bringing each of the soliders to life in this book. As each solider is introduced and then cut down by enemy fire my heart fell into my gut. Mr. Bowden does a terrific job of presenting all sides of the story. I expected this book to be very technical but it was a very easy read. This is a tragic story that I hope we, as a country, have learned from.
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Summary: Black Hawk Down
Review: An exciting and fast-paced read. I could bearly put it down. But I had to get sleep at some point. I read the book in three days. And I have two clinics to run! But this real-life story was too engrossing to put down. A patient of mine told me about this book in mid-Oct 2001. I was intrigued since my only recollection of Somalia was that the USA went to help deliver food and the "ungrateful" Somalians dragged a dead American soldier through their streets. This book brought the whole affair into better detail. I thought the author did an excellent job of telling the story of the incident from so many different points of view. It is rear to read what the "enemy" was thinking and doing. But Mr. Bowden travelled to Africa to get the story from those Somalians who were involved in the fight. I've have been telling everyone I can to read this book. So that some day we can thank those soldiers who fought for this country in Somalia.
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Summary: American Heroes - Wasted in Futility
Review: Black Hawk Down By Mark Bowden Read this book! The book is about the disaster that befell American soldiers in Mogadishu, Somalia on October 3, 1993. A repeat of everything that is wrong with the UN, police actions, nation-building and using American soldiers as fodder. It was to this reader a 'synecdoche' for the entire Viet Nam War - another example of fighting without objective and having the high tech, heavyweight warriors being chased out by pajama wearing, 90 pound, under nourished, low tech Somalians as the stand-in for the Viet Cong. When the bodies piled up, the brass would have swept it under the rug until CNN showed a US pilot getting dragged through the streets. Then the orgy of finger pointing began and culminated with someone's head on a stick - Les Aspin's, the Secretary of Defense. Those that fail to learn from the mistakes of the past are condemned to repeat them. Even though sad in perspective, I give it four and a half stars for an utterly fascinating read, one of the best combat diaries, equipped with the letters from the girlfriend and the guy who made everybody laugh, dying first. This is a war story to end all war stories: an urban battle, a jihad, a street fight, a massive helicopter assault, a rescue operation, and even 2 Congressional Medal of Honor winners, awarded sadly enough, posthumously. Bowden pulls from his arsenal every human emotional weapon to shoot at the reader; hate, love, revenge, joy, dread, horror and sadness. The story depicts the futility of war - the senselessness of it, and the complete absence of God. Readers as voyeurs, from the safety of their homes, watch men in combat revert to their primordial selves and fight to survive with pure bestial fury. War is frightening. Bowden makes one feel the loss of comrades and countrymen and their innocent beliefs. He reports the awe and horror that Americans felt as they watched civilian Somalian men, women and children run into to the streets into a hail of bullets to shoot at our soldiers! We were supposedly there to help them, to feed their starving. Then we learn that the Somalians were told the Americans would force them to become Christians - creating jihad! What tragedy the world has wrought! The waste of it all, the foolishness of it all! Bowden wove the facts like a novel and did our Delta Force and Rangers a great service by telling their heroic story. None braver, and an eye opener for every fat and soft American, lying on their couch in front of their big screen TV, comfortable with the knowledge but also afraid, of the kind of man it takes to defend the borders or climb into the caves of Afghanistan, willing to die while defending us. The book could very well be a nightmare precursor for US troops awaiting a similar fate in Afghanistan. The whole book is a 15 hour battle detailing America's attempt to storm a building in the "Mog" to capture Mohammed Farrah Aidid, a Somali warlord and/or his henchmen. The one hour operation turned from a lightning raid to a long drawn out perilous thunderstorm as every Somalian, and we mean every Somalian, that could shoot a gun, ran into the streets and did so. Some of the "skinnies" as the Somalians were called, had RPG's, rocket propelled grenades that brought down two Black Hawk helicopters. The Americans captured Aidid's henchmen but saw the battle plan fall to pieces as their treasured Black Hawks fell from the sky. It then became an endurance tale as 100 American soldiers, bleeding, dying, without water and ammunition and a fading hope of reinforcements, held out against a force of thousands of armed and courageous Somalians in the midst of their crumbling city. The Americans waited for humvees and armored personnel carriers to muster and try to reach them as the Somalians started huge tire fires in the streets and shot at everything that moved. Bowden painstakingly put every minute of the 15 hour mayhem into chronological order and then described in molecular detail every sucking chest wound, RPG blast, TOW missile strike, blood soaked pant leg, mini-gun barrage, genital mutilation and cry of dread uttered by US soldiers. The reader, heart racing, becomes as helpless as the trapped Rangers waiting for a rescue team that has lost its way. Bowden brings our the bright red of war wounds as the reader cringes with sorrow and guilt. He even traveled to the Mog in 1997 and interviewed the Somalians who fought in the battle - which brought fresh insight to the book and more senselessness to the entire UN operation. Mike Durant, helicopter pilot, is pulled from the crash and saved from an angry mob by a Somalian who sees a good price. He is brought to safety as a bargaining chip by Aidid's people. Clinton cuts a deal, and we run. Our dead heroes - fought for absolutely nothing - Vietnam all over again
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