Mogadishu: Heroism and Tragedy Review

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(More customer reviews)This book has many glaring mistakes and does little to explain why the QRF took a 25 mile long detour to the airfield, deployed out of the same site as the Ranger Convoy, or why the QRF ended up going the wrong way and got into an extraneous fire fight near the Digfer Hospital/Old Russian Embassy. I will address just one glaring inaccuracy. It credits 1SG Dooty of Company C, 2-14th Infantry with rescuing SGT Carroll who was injured in the Quick Reaction Forces initial attempt at rescuing TF Ranger. 1SG Dooty was not there and SGT Carroll was a Specialist that afternoon. 1SG Dooty was about 150 meters up the road with his Company Commander CPT Whetstone. Those who did go out and bring SPC Carroll back were SFC Eddie Ricord (a Special Forces Medic attached to the 2-14th as part of a Civil Affairs Team), 1LT Flaugherty (sp?) (the Battalion Physician's Assistant) and PFC Jackson (a Medic from 2-14th). They applied initial treatment to SPC Carroll and moved him back to the Civil Affairs HUMVEE for transportation. When I read this book I passed tthe copy along to SFC Ricord who of course was incensed that someone else was taking credit for other's work (particulary since 1LT Flaugherty was quoted on the previous page). The authors did little to double check claims of action and took at face value that one interview. This type of investigation tends to lead to unsubstantiated claims and inaccuracies.

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Flights of Adventure Review

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(More customer reviews)If the purpose of a good book is to transport readers to new worlds, Flights of Adventure succeeds many times over, leading a journey from Middle America to the Middle East, Africa, South America, and, ultimately, the South Pole.
Anyone with a bit of the flying bug, or even just a traveling jones, should find something to love about this book, which features ten memoirs, all related to flying but told from very different perspectives.
The stories include the reminiscences of a wing-walking acrobat; a pair of essays by a father and his daughter about his love of flying; and a surreal, humorous account penned by the passenger - some might say "unwitting accomplice" - of a novice pilot who faked his way into soloing an ill-conceived flight over the Sierras in search of a weeklong camping trip/rave party in the desert.
Several chapters offer first-hand accounts of historical events. Marion Stegeman Hodgson writes about her days flying with the WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots), a little-known but important corps of female pilots who flew non-combat missions during World War II under the direction of the US Army Air Forces. Other military and commercial pilots contribute tales of flying in various world hot spots - Somalia, Beirut in 1983, Colombia during the search for notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar - while retired Navy pilot Paul Derocher details the thrills and perils of three years in the world's coldest spot: Antarctica.
The pilots in Antarctica could only fly to the South Pole a few months out of the year, when the temperature "warmed up" to 65 degrees below zero - the temperature below which their aircraft couldn't operate. For those of us who don't consider 65 degrees above zero to be especially warm, the idea of flying, or doing anything for that matter, in a place so cold is difficult to imagine.
One amusing image from the chapter involves a group of curious penguins crowding around an aircraft while the crew scurries aboard and quickly closes the door so the penguins couldn't follow. Apparently, if given half a chance, the flightless birds would love to see what they're missing.


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Who hasn't daydreamed of soaring above a South American rainforest, landing a float plane on a pristine Alaskan lake, or piloting a commercial airliner? Flights Of Adventure introduces the exciting, often harrowing, lifestyles of fighter pilots, wingwalkers, and men and women who brave the elements in the most barren places on the planet. This is a collection of real-life adventures to stir the blood of anyone who loves aviation-stories that are touching, humorous, exciting, and often dangerous or miraculous. Flights Of Adventure is as close as you can get to experiencing aerial adventure while keeping your feet firmly planted on the ground.

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Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War Review

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(More customer reviews)So you've never been in combat. Come to Mogadishu. Maybe you're the rear detachment company clerk who was called forward due to an injury. Join the D-Boys and Rangers on a quick raid gone wrong. Fast-rope into a crowded African city on a Sunday afternoon and smell, taste, hear, and touch the reality of true combat. Test your soul; what would you do if you were surrounded by thousands of deadly Somalis only miles from safety in the heart of their territory and there is a BLACK HAWK DOWN? Mark Bowden has taken his award winning series of newspaper articles written for the Philadelphia Inquirer and turned them into a must-read classic for all military professionals. He definitely took a modest assignment and overachieved; we are the beneficiaries. His detailed account of the Battle of the Black Sea (Mogadishu: 3-4 October 1993) is destined to occupy the bookshelves of every military professional or would-be warrior. Devour and enjoy Black Hawk Down. This book is not about your Grandfather or Father's war. This is about modern war involving many soldiers still on active duty. It's not about destroying tanks from 3,000 meters away. It's about close combat when the rules of engagement cease to have relevance and survival requires immediate instinctive response. This book is a crystal ball on future urban warfare and a cautionary note for contentious peacekeeping operations. The devil is in the details and you will not want for details. The gore, frustrations, disagreements, mistrusts, illusions, misconceptions, ramifications, difficulties, cowardice, and heroics are displayed for all to see. Sure there is some hype and inaccuracy, but no interesting microscopic analysis can exist without such blemishes. Seldom has such a discreet tactical operation had such far-reaching strategic consequences. U.S forces in Bosnia can attribute restrictive force protection measures to this battle's legacy. Future strategic, operational, and tactical leaders who do not assimilate the lessons of Mogadishu are in danger of repeating this tragic history. I strongly recommend this book. Learn what Delta Sergeants Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon did to earn the only Medals of Honor awarded for actions during the past quarter-century. Set aside a Sunday afternoon or a long night for continuous consumption. You will not want to put this book down once you start reading it.

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