I recently read Black  Hawk Down for my Honors English 11 Class. We had to chose a book that appealed to us. So I had watched the movie then found out there was a book, I knew I had to read it. So I start reading this book for my English class. I realize it is the best book I've ever read and I easily finished this rather large novel in 2-3 days, I just couldn't put it down. I found the whole thing just amazing. It's really cool how Bowden wasn't completely biased on the book, he actually did deep research before he started the project. He even went over to Somalia and "bought" testimonials from Somalis that were there with khat. If any of you guys here haven't read this book I highly reccomend it. It is one of the best books I've ever read. I actually read it twice in two weeks. What are your opinions on it? What was your favorite part? My favorite part was when one of the guys in the convoy said that this was the most scared he had ever been, then he said his fear just suddenly vanished and he stops carrying about his life, he started worrying about his buddies next to him, he says somthing like 'His life didn't matter anymore the only thing that was important to him was that his buddies get out of here alive, and that his friends are ok'

[b]RLTW! NSDQ! 10/3-4/93 Never Forget![/b]

Bowden did a good job portraying the chaos of war.  His discussion in the aftermath was pretty even handed and found many to share the blame.

There's a TV documentary on this also that is very good.  Discovery, A&E or History Channel.

<<28-year-vet-grandfather-hat-on>>

Son,
Most of us here have read it...some more than once.  Some of us toted rifles...and some of us were actually Rangers...and at least one member actually was there.

It is a very good story...well written and very unbiased.

If you would like to learn more...what it was really about, you should complete your high school education, go to college, take ROTC and request a commission as a Marine or Army officer upon graduation.  If you choose Army, then ask for Airborne and Rangers.

Should you choose this career path, I can assure you that you will probably see some action...where you will be able to tell the difference between a close rifle bullet and a VERY close rifle bullet.

As a motivator, why not read King Hal's speech to his men from Shakespeare's Henry V?

"...UPON ST. CRISPINS DAY!"

I'm interested in reading that one-I see that there are two paperbacks-one with the DVD/VHS cover pic on it, the other with a black background/Blackhawk Down in red letters on it-both have different page counts, does anyone know if these two are exactly the same-not edited or written any different?

Thanks.

Excellent book. Most likely they're showing the covers of the two paperback version...a standard size paperback, and a large sized paperback with larger type (bout the same size as a hardcover book, but it's paperback). They'd be the same, but with the difference in size/type there will be differences in total number of pages.

That's what I was hoping for-going to head down to B&N later tonight.

Thanks.

Elad, Merry Christmas.

[url]http://www.bhd93.com/[/url]

Message board with several of the guys who were there.

That be the one!

I plan on graduating from High School skipping the college for now and just enlisting, I plan on trying to get into Airborne and Rangers. I'm pretty fit as it is from all of the physical work my dad has me doing (he's enlisted, been in for 16 years.) But I've started doing a lot of exercises trying to build up as much upper-body as possible. At first Right now we are in Ohio, I know I know, some of you are thinking "there is no base in Ohio" well dad caught a lucky break and he is teaching the future officers of the Army. He is actually teaching Military Science at Ohio University. So I've learned a lot about the ROTC path. I really don't see myself as a CO. The ground pounder life seems a lot more appealing to me, I know I know, I'm sure most of you think this is just because I'm a teenager and it won't last long. Well me and my friends are all planning on enlisting together and we are pretty dedicated when we put our minds to something and we all plan on enlisting together. Thanks for all your opinions, and thanks for that URL, looks like a great site!

It is a good book, but being an honors English student, you ought to know that BHD isn't a novel.

Black Hawk Down is also the best book I have ever read. Marine Sniper comes close, but it lacks the bond of the men who fought that day in Somalia. One of things I really like about it is how the Rangers look up to the D-Boys, and the chalk leaders all look to them for advice, as the men do for inspiration. That, and the strong comraderie the men share.

BHD is practically required reading/viewing for this forum!

BTW, I noticed that the History Channel/Discovery Store is selling a 100 minute documentary called "The True Story of Blackhawk Down", also based on the book.  Has anyone seen this?  The History Channel makes quality stuff for the most part, but I want an opinion before shelling out $30.

Another good read is '[b]Inside Delta Force[/b]' by Eric L.Haney

-T.

The history channel documentary is really good, with interviews with lots of the people that wee there..

History channel's videos are kind of pricey imo though, at least for something that you can see for free every now and then anyway. History channel is one of the few TV channels that I would support though, they actually make an effort to get the facts correct, and have lots of cool gun related programming also..

I'm really wanting the 'Tales of the Gun' box set...

They are the same.  When someone takes a book and makes a movie from it, usually they also make a version of the book that has the same cover as the movie.  Probably to make it more recognizeable.

I got the copy with the movie cover simply because the few pages of pictures were printed on better paper... I figured they wouldn't fade like the other book probably would.

I read the book a while back, and it was nice to finally see the full story in print. SOF magazine had been the only ones to really get a lot of information out there on what happened, and it was in bits and pieces. The Philly paper Bowden worked for was one of the only major newspapers that went really into depth about "Operation Ranger". Most media outlets were not going to really touch it, due to them being leftwing sympathizers.

The thing about the book that tore me up when I first read it, is I realized that every time the book mentioned the name of a Delta Operator it was because he was killed in action......