{"id":48432,"date":"2025-10-20T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2025\/10\/20\/this-black-hawk-down-hero-is-now-the-namesake-of-fort-gordon\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:41:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:41:55","slug":"this-black-hawk-down-hero-is-now-the-namesake-of-fort-gordon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/land\/2025\/10\/20\/this-black-hawk-down-hero-is-now-the-namesake-of-fort-gordon\/","title":{"rendered":"This \u2018Black Hawk Down\u2019 hero is now the namesake of Fort Gordon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nearly 32 years have passed since Master Sgt. Gary I. Gordon handed a rifle and remaining rounds of ammunition to Black Hawk pilot Chief Warrant Officer 4 Michael Durant at the helicopter\u2019s wreckage site, said, \u201cGood luck,\u201d and waded into a sea of swarming Somali enemies with only a pistol in hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an event last month, hosted by U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence and Fort Gordon Commanding General Maj. Gen. Ryan Janovic, the Army remembered Gordon\u2019s sacrifice with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.augustachronicle.com\/story\/news\/military\/2025\/06\/11\/fort-gordon-honors-medal-of-honor-recipient-in-return-to-original-name-eisenhower-army-confederate\/84149763007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.augustachronicle.com\/story\/news\/military\/2025\/06\/11\/fort-gordon-honors-medal-of-honor-recipient-in-return-to-original-name-eisenhower-army-confederate\/84149763007\/\">renaming of Fort Eisenhower back to Fort Gordon<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The base, which was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/06\/10\/trump-orders-return-to-old-confederate-linked-names-for-7-army-sites\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/06\/10\/trump-orders-return-to-old-confederate-linked-names-for-7-army-sites\/\">originally named <\/a>after Confederate General John B. Gordon, now honors the Medal of Honor recipient known for his heroism during the 1993 \u201cBlack Hawk Down\u201d events in Mogadishu, Somalia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gordon\u2019s widow, Carmen Drake-Owens, and son, Ian, attended the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 1992, the goal of U.S. intervention in Mogadishu, Somalia, was relatively straightforward: Ensure that the starving Somali population, suffering from famine brought on by civil war, received food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/7216261\/surviving-black-hawk-down-true-story\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/time.com\/7216261\/surviving-black-hawk-down-true-story\/\">According to Time magazine<\/a>, Americans hoped to prevent attacks on UN Relief operations by followers of Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, on Oct. 3, 1993, U.S. troops encountered resistance. As 100 Army Rangers and 12 Black Hawk helicopters raided a site with Aidid supporters, they were quickly ambushed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Upon getting word about the crash, Gordon and fellow sniper Sgt. 1st Class Randy Shughart repeatedly pressed to be dropped at the crash site, imbued with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.army.mil\/values\/ranger.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.army.mil\/values\/ranger.html\">Ranger Creed<\/a>: \u201cNever shall I fail my comrades. \u2026 Surrender is not a Ranger word. I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI remember specifically on the radio, Gary and Randy asking to be inserted into the battlefield,\u201d retired Col. Ron Russell, a Special Forces operations officer and veteran of the battle, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.army.mil\/article\/288816\/fort_gordon_dedicated_to_battle_of_mogadishu_hero\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.army.mil\/article\/288816\/fort_gordon_dedicated_to_battle_of_mogadishu_hero\">recounted during the ceremony<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI imagine now that they were flying around the battle, they could look down at the crash site, and they could see the hordes of Somalis that were surrounding the crash site. The pilot that inserted them has since stated that no one in their right mind would have gone, because they could see exactly what they were getting into.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Gordon and Shughart pressed on. Inserted 100 yards from the crash site, the pair fought their way through \u201ca dense maze of shanties and shacks\u201d to the Black Hawk, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cmohs.org\/recipients\/gary-i-gordon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.cmohs.org\/recipients\/gary-i-gordon\">according to their citations<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The soldiers found that three of its crew members did not survive the crash, but its pilot, Durant, albeit stunned and wounded, was still alive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pulling Durant from the wreckage, the three soldiers were immediately surrounded by enemy fire. Despite Somali fighters pressing in from all sides, Gordon, Shughart and Durant continued to fight, but soon found that their ammunition was severely depleted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Radioing for help and recovering some of the weapons and ammunition from the killed Black Hawk crew, Gordon, according to his citation, \u201ccontinued to travel the perimeter, protecting the downed crew.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After Shughart was fatally wounded and with Gordon\u2019s own ammunition critically low, the soldier returned to the Black Hawk one final time, fatefully giving the last rounds to Durant before uttering the words, \u201cGood luck.\u201d He was killed shortly after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOn that day, not only did he do that, but he volunteered to come into my crash site and save my life,\u201d Durant recalled during a recorded message following the ceremony. \u201cI would not be here if not for his actions and Randy\u2019s actions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both Shughart and Gordon posthumously received the Medal of Honor for their actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Durant, meanwhile, was captured and held prisoner. During his captivity, he told <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/7216261\/surviving-black-hawk-down-true-story\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/time.com\/7216261\/surviving-black-hawk-down-true-story\/\">a Red Cross worker and two journalists<\/a> that the Somalis \u201cbeat me violently with their fists and with sticks.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He was shot in the leg and kept chained like a dog so that, as he later recalled to CNN, \u201che couldn\u2019t even wipe the dirt from his face.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His clothes were ripped off, his eyes blindfolded and he was hoisted naked above the heads of a raging crowd. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After 11 days in captivity, Durant was finally freed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As for Gordon and Durant\u2019s fellow personnel, during the ceremony, Gordon\u2019s widow recounted the brotherhood among the men who fought in Somalia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI can\u2019t think of one without thinking of the other,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.army.mil\/article\/288816\/fort_gordon_dedicated_to_battle_of_mogadishu_hero\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.army.mil\/article\/288816\/fort_gordon_dedicated_to_battle_of_mogadishu_hero\">she said<\/a>. \u201cI am always honored to be the voice of my late husband, and I think if he was here today, he would want everyone to know that even though his name is on that placard as you enter this post, it\u2019s not just for him; it\u2019s for every single soldier that served that day.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fort Gordon now honors Medal of Honor recipient Gary Gordon, who gave his life during the Battle of Mogadishu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":110892,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":14,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[78,160,29,14,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3490],"class_list":["post-48432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ausa-digital-show-dailies","category-daily-news-roundup","category-digital-show-dailies","category-land","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"LPRSOLVYFNDBJOLKAWSNVSLJDQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/military-history\/2025\/10\/20\/this-black-hawk-down-hero-is-now-the-namesake-of-fort-gordon\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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