Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War (1999)

I just read this book after reading Howard Zinn's lifetime collection of speeches against war and promoting civil disobedience. The most shocking thing about the book is the frank admission of killing women and children in the streets by Americans and the fact little has been writting about it either at the time or since. More political background would have been helpful and explanation of the clans. Clinton had justg taken office and he and his staff were caught unprepared to deal with it. We just pulledout.....think Reagan in Lebanon. Not that we probably could have done otherwise. Interesting to read it after the Bush interventions and now Obama...still in Afghanistan ( )

I recently read the book Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden. The book took place in Mogadishu, Somalia. On October 3, 1993, Delta and U.S. Army Rangers were suppose to drop in on a univited gathering of Habr Gidr clan leaders. This ragged clan was led by warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. The mission was to arrest two of Aidid’s lieutenants. The mission was to drop off four chalks of U.S. Army Rangers around the four blocks surrounding the target building. Then Delta force was supposed to enter the building and get the lieutenants. All the men thought that this would be a hit and run mission. So they left a lot of extra ammo at the camp. When all the helicopters were at the designated spot to drop the men one of Chalk four’s men fell rappelling down the rope. When everyone from Chalk four was on the ground they were taking fire from the militia. One of the helicopters was hit by a RPG (rocket propelled grenade) The helicopter went down crashing blocks away from the target building. Now instead of a hit and run mission it was a rescue mission. All of a sudden another helicopter went down. Now the Rangers had to rescue everyone from two helicopters.
I loved this book. Mark Bowden did an outstanding job writing this book. He wrote this book like he was there. But he wasn’t. He interviewed all of the young, brave men who experienced it. This book is based on a true story so I wouldn’t recommend anyone under like 13 or even 14 to read this book. This book could be a little disturbing at some points because Mark Bowden described the wounds the men took in the battle. If you read this book I recommend that you have a piece of paper with the names of the Rangers and Delta. I would give this book a 4.5 out of 5. ( )

Black Hawk down, a chopper has been hit! A group of special operations soldiers including Rangers, Airborne, and Delta have one mission. To kill or capture a Somali dictator and warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid in Mogadishu. For the special operations soldiers this seems like a walk in the park. They thought that they would just have to go in, get the job done, and the choppers would cover them. This unfortunately turned out for the worst. As soon as the soldiers made it to the street of the warlord’s safe house Somali militia started defending the compound. The struggle began. Heavy fire and RPGs caused the men to split up and loosen their hold of ground. Into the long fight 2 choppers were shot down the first was a “Little Bird” helicopter. They thought it wouldn’t happen again. Then the situation grew far more worse. Another chopper was shot down and this one was a “Black Hawk” helicopter! This caused a loss of men because the instant reaction was save the men in the downed birds. Many hours went by until they got support and then went back to base. Many men were killed, few got out, and one was captured. Did this operation prove anything? All it brought was chaos and death! Was it for glory and honor? Was it worth it?

Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden was a fantastic book. I give it 5/5 stars. It was a good topic, a good storyline and good detail! I would not recommend this to people or students below the age of 13. It was graphic in intense detail, but you cannot write a war story without graphic detail. It was a good storyline the author Mark Bowden did a phenomenal job. This book amazed me to great heights. A great storyline, a great Author, great detail, and overall a FANTASTIC BOOK! ( )

“Black Hawk Down” by Mark Bowden was a good book with exceptional details. It started off, like in the movie, with a group of highly trained US Army Rangers and Delta operators storming a compound in the Somali city of Mogadishu. Their objective was to capture two top lieutenants of the local militia. The mission was accomplished but at a cost. All 90+ men are trapped in the city overnight, fighting for their lives.
Compared to the movie I think the book was better. I think it was easier to follow and was as detailed as in the book. Mark Bowden did a good job with this one. ( )

Bowden's book is every bit as riveting as the film based upon it, every bit as harrowing and visceral. It takes us minute by minute through the terrible battle on the streets of Mogadishu in Somalia on October 3, 1993. The American mission to capture two of clan warlord Aidid's top people was supposed to "take an hour" and at first seemed like it would be completed within minutes of their taking off from base. But then a black hawk helicopter went down, then another, and "ninety-nine American soldiers [were] surrounded and trapped" overnight and fighting for their lives. These were elite soldiers. The Rangers were volunteers thrice over--they had to choose the army, then the airborne, then the Rangers. And the Delta Force soldiers were the elite of the elite. They were what the Rangers aspired to be. They were backed by observation helicopters, on ground intelligence, spy planes and satellites. Their average age was only 19.

The account of the warfare is detailed and spools before your inner eye as vividly as any film--it reads like a novel. In his Afterward Bowden writes about how he tried to efface himself from the story, that he tried to "get out of its way." I greatly appreciated that--I think in another book I read recently, Blood Diamonds, the author was too much in the story. This story was seemless and felt authentic--what came through was the voices and humanity and courage of the soldiers. It was hard to read at times--Bowden doesn't pull any punches in graphically relating what bullets and shrapnel does to vulnerable flesh and bone. But you do feel like he gives you the most vivid account of modern warfare possible without going into combat yourself.

I not only learned about the combatants from both sides, but why the mission was almost inevitably doomed to failure. In that regard the Somali perspectives were invaluable. Not simply because they humanized "the enemy" but because of their explanation of how the initially welcomed American intervention soured for them. As one Somali put it, the Americans "were trying to take down a clan--the most ancient and efficient social organization known to man." And the experience in Somali haunted US Foreign Policy to at least the events of 9/11. As one US State Department Official put it, "Somalia was the experience that taught us that people in these places bear much of the responsibility for things being the way they are. The hatred and the killing continue because they want it to--or they don't want peace enough to stop it." As a result, for better or worse America didn't get involved in Rwanda or Zaire's bloody civil conflicts. As a result of that firefight in Mogadishu, 18 American soldiers lost their lives, and 73 were wounded. The toll on the Somali side was horrific. "Conservative counts numbered five hundred dead among more than a thousand casualties." Even more sobering? It's twenty years later, and Somalia is still a "failed state" in the midst of war. And after that battle in Mogadishu, no one in the international community cares to come between them killing each other.

A gripping and unforgettable book. ( )