Great doco made by those that were there so much more to this story than any book or movie ever portrayed a very humbling documentary.
I never knew that the U.S force command on the ground in Mogadishu had earlier on before the raid had requested from the U.S M-1 Abrams & Bradleys but were denied by the govt !
The complexity of the rescue mission is so underplayed in the movies, the U.S troops had never been in those types of U.N vehicles they could not even open the doors!
They never stated or shown in the movie that one Blackhawk they were trying to extract the dead pilot/co-pilots from was actually upside down they had a dickens of a time trying to cut them out & right the chopper all the while under intense fire.
The 2 tanks they had were forbidden to lead the column instead went in the middle, they refused to crash a road block then reversed up and sat there !
There was a language barrier with the AFV drivers, one GI put it we were a RPG magnet an all white vehicle also none of the troops were forced to run back to the stadium they were all packed in vehicles.
They got everyone back, they honoured the lines "Leave No Man Behind".
Anyway enjoy it certainly filled in allot of blanks for me.
12/10 rating from me.
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We must never, ever forget the incredible selflessness and courage of Master Sergeant Gary Ivan Gordon and Sergeant First Class Randall David Shughart that day.
To know that it was a one way ticket to save Durant was way beyond selfless courage in-fact there is no words that can ever fulfill what those 2 US Forces personnel did.
I fully suspect Michael will never forget their selfless courage and neither will the nation. RIP
There are movies you can watch over and over, and this, for me, is not one of them. I got enraged when watching this one. We should NEVER put our men in arms under the control of anyone / any other entity. These BS rules of engagement are beyond ridiculous. Fire coming from that building? Take that building down! Our service men deserve better.
These BS rules of engagement are beyond ridiculous.
Yes they are. I was a member of a U.N. peacekeeping mission once and our ROE's included "shaking our weapons at the enemy in a threatening manner". I was waiting for the Sgt. Mjr. to tell us to use harsh language next! When we were on gate guard duty we were issued 10 rounds for our C7's. I felt like Barney Fife in "Andy of Mayberry" and the one "bullet" he was allowed.
I hope the person who stopped the M-1 tanks and Bradleys going there got fired and thrown in the jug for a total disregard of the troops safety & protection what a difference they may have made not the greatest in a closed urban role but hey just run over roadblocks or blast your way through the buildings, it may have saved allot more troops lives.
His theory was "We're going to aid in Humanitarian, not make war"...so no war fighting equipment. We've done exactly the same thing for decades and got pinched a couple times too. His theory was for visibility because most of the politicians haven't been soldiers. Most of those guys are gone now. Of course nothing happens to him.
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Originally Posted by limpetmine
