Black Hawk Down Analysis

Mark Bowden once wrote, “No one gets behind, you know that.” The story, Black Hawk Down, provides information not only about war, but values in life. Mark Bowden expresses these values throughout the story and they are beneficial for a teenager in high school. In this story, the soldiers experience the true horror of the Battle of Mogadishu and are exposed to combat. Mark Bowden expresses the terrors of this war through the voices of the soldiers on both the American side and the Somali side. Although this book has many unpleasant features, it can educate an American teen valuable lessons. The book, Black Hawk Down, provides academic, social, and nationalistic benefits for a high school student.

(O’Brien 152). The reader is constantly second guessing themselves. This experience allows one to relate to the feeling of the soldiers, one of constant wondering, “Is this alright?” and/or “What am I fighting for?” Thus, the soldiers experiencing the paradoxical nature of war in this story is mirrored and experienced by the

Beginning my love of reading an early age, I was never the type of child who was drawn to fictional stories. As an 8 year-old child in West Virginia, I was recognized by the local library for my love of biographies, autobiographies and recollections of world events. This love has continued throughout my adult life, desiring to read novels such as “We Were Soldiers Once…and Young” by Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore rather than watch the major motion picture “We Were Soldiers” starring Mel Gibson. Even though the motion picture received multiple awards, when reading the recollection of Mr. Moore’s accounts, the feeling of loss, distress, anxiety and fear can be felt in each word that he has written while reliving this horrendous war.

With intricate detail the author explains these events as frightening and overwhelmingly difficult to tolerate. Beah, exposed to combat at age 12, was traumatized by battle and portrays details of the horrifying events through imagery. “When the rebels finally came I was cooking... My heart was beating faster than it ever had. Each gunshot seemed to cling to the beat of my heart.”

These are the stories that need to be told to the American public by the soldiers who experienced them first hand. Sadly these stories only come out in books and novels and are often deemed as “true stories that never happened,” as seen in Tim O’Brien’s work. There is a clear reason for this.

I’m proud of ‘Black Hawk Down’ because I think it told a provocative story and it was honest. It could have had more opportunity to tell both sides of the story, but I’m still proud of it.” (Josh Hartnett). This quote overall proves that Black Hawk Down is a valuable book for teens since, it provides the truth of what happens during war and if you are not prepared and it provides advanced vocabulary terms. In the book Black Hawk Down there is a lot of advanced vocabulary, certain styles of language and a ton of military terms. During this essay I will be talking about how Black Hawk Down is valuable for the teens of Morongo unified School District. This story ties into academic, social and patriotic.

As the soldiers attacked Salva’s school, he observed, “Everyone was running- men, children, women carrying babies. The air was full of dust that had been kicked up by all those running feet. Some of the men were shouting and waving guns.” (7) Salva and many others were aghast as they ran into the bush, just as Salva’s teacher instructed him to do. Their only way of survival was to get as much distance as possible from villages where soldiers forced civilians to flee their homes.

Tired, hungry, and largely outnumbered- the U.S. Rangers and The Delta troops found themselves in the midst of one of the deadliest warzones. President George Bush ordered the marines into Somalia, October 1992. However, no one expected it to turn out as one of the most horrific battles in history since the Vietnam War. President Bush originally ordered them to set out to help end hunger problems and food shortages in the poorer areas of Somalia, Little did he know how disastrous things would end up. October 3rd 1992, U.S. troops set out on the “Somali famine” mission on what they only believed to be an hour long. The battle lasted two days in which the soldiers were faced with: dehydration, sleep

Mr. Junger, considered an American journalist that became best known for his novels based on true events, speaks about the harsh days he had to live over at the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan. In “Combat High” he takes us into a war zone so we can know why these men change after the war, he also allows us . He illustrates us how a soldier lives and some of the things that they have to go through. Mr. Junger impels us with some examples he in flesh and bones witnessed, like when he said in his passage “…the United States had put them on a hilltop without woman, hot food, running water, communication with the outside world or any kind of entertainment for more than a year. Not that the men were complaining, but that sort of thing has consequences.” Mr. Junger also indicates some of their thoughts , some of the things that crossed the minds of those devastated human beings.

The 2002 film Black Hawk Down, directed by Ridley Scott, tells a heart wrenching true story of the 160 United States solders who risked their lives to capture major war lords who controlled the city of Mogadishu, the capital city of Somalia in east Africa in 1993. The solders found themselves in an unexpected position after things do not go as planned. In this essay, I argue that when faced with life or death, loyalty and duty to man and country along with the pursuit for a better life, man would rather die than watch the innocent suffer. Mohammed Farrah Aidid was a the most powerful and ruthless war lord who deprived the people of Somalian of food as a form of power and control, despite the efforts of the U.S military. With the supplier of

Exactly 4 years and 3 weeks ago today, I was on a plane to Afghanistan. I remember the very long flight from Fort Hood, Texas with a stop in Kyrgyzstan. During our last few days of preparation for our final flight, I took in the very crisp air that emanated from the snow-capped mountains; surrounding the base in the distance. I couldn’t help but feel a sense of adventure despite my destination of war. The vivid moments within the many memories of such small wonders have continued to bless me with a peaceful acceptance; of not only my combat experience, but of my experiences prior to war.

The book “Black Hawk Down” written by Mark Bowden is very helpful towards young students in multiple different ways. It helps young people develop socially, nationally, and academically. It is extremely important for teenagers in this era to know and learn about the type of things that went on in the Battle of Mogadishu. In fact, most of the marines in this battle were teenagers themselves. “Most looked like the pimply teenagers they were, average age nineteen.” (Finnegan, New York Times, page 34-39). It teaches them responsibility, preparation, and to be grateful for our country and all it sacrificed for us.

This manual recognizes that although war is a violent clash of interests, the elements of friction, uncertainty, and disorder create difficult conditions with which to operate. The theory states that human emotion shapes the nature of war since it is considered an “act of violence based on irreconcilable disagreement.” Thus it is impossible to lead a unit into an environment shaped by violence and danger with doctrine based solely on scientific calculations. FMFM-1 then states “the conduct of war is ultimately an art, an activity of human creativity and intuition powered by the strength of human will.” Unfortunately, FMFM-1 fails to recognize that the intuition of the art of war is complimented by the analytical details in the science of

When we look at the combat, we tend to disregard the effect of the perpetrator also knows as the soldier who fought in the war and the victims who experienced the tragedy as bystanders, but the novel and film showcase the perspective that people don’t see.

Lethal Weapon, a 1987 film starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, is a classic example of a buddy cop film. In fact, a simple plot summary of the movie could practically serve as a definition for this genre: two seemingly mismatched cops are partnered together; their relationship is initially volatile; eventually, they overcome their personality differences in order to conquer the forces of evil. In terms of storyline, Lethal Weapon is incredibly straightforward. However, the specific casting choices of this film create some interesting and controversial implications about the state of race relations within the United States. The character Richard Murtaugh (the elder and more experienced police officer) is played by the African American actor Danny Glover. In contrast, the younger and more reckless cop—Martin Riggs—is played by white actor Mel Gibson. Although the entire film is focused on the developing relationship between these two men, the racial difference between them is hardly acknowledged. Instead, Riggs and Murtaugh are shown to be primarily concerned with overcoming age and family lifestyle differences. By purposefully displacing racial tension and shifting the focus away from systemic hierarchies of race within the United States, Lethal Weapon perpetuates the harmful construct of a post-racial society.