Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: newguy on January 19, 2002, 09:36:08 AM
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Go and see this movie. I am at a loss for words to describe at the moment.
newguy
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based on the true story, even the documentary on the actual event is intense. Really shows true courage under fire.
Kronos
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A very intense movie. Some of the guys in the battle say on another board that the volume of enemy fire back in 1993 was even higher than what is shown in the movie, which is hard to imagine.
The helicopter scenes are very cool too.
Some of the Somolia vets post at:
http://www.cinemayhem.com/blackhawkdown/index.htm
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Went and saw it today - A very, very well done movie. It has been on my mind for several hours after leaving the theatre...
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Yeap, awesome movie.
Saw it today, and its very true to the book, except for the part when the Deltas take the big rocket launcher, that didnt happen.
Go see this movie.
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I saw it friday night with my roommate. Very kick bellybutton movie and was laid out pretty much like the book. Was weird hearing the names from the book. Only thing I didn't like was the guy they had from Pearl Harbor that studdered, he doesn't studder but he's the "comedic relief" this movie didn't need that.
One thing that tripped me out was mine and the audience's reaction. EVERYBODY was into this movie, the women even more so than the men. We were actually clapping when they'd off "skinny" (LOL) One part a guy has to decide wether or not to kill a little kid w/ an AK. I couldn't believe my ears at all the women I heard whispering "kill him" All the cheers kind of tripped me out a bit, people were honestly enjoying seeing them die. Never saw that before 9/11.
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If people really talked and cheered that much in the movie theatre, I'd get in a fight every time I went...
Anyhoo...
Here is an interesting interview with Mark Bowden (who wrote the book), dealing with, among other things, the accuracy of the movie.
Courage Under Fire (http://www.moviefone.com/features/feature.adp?_dci_s_p=main&_dci_p_c=0&_dci_s_a=home&_dci_s_b=newmoviefone&_dci_s_c=denver&id=1009988102%2c0&_dci_e_t=p&_dci_l_n=mflnk%2efeatures%2efeature%2eid%2d1009988102%2c0&_dci_tm=1011549856&_dci_l_a=12161&_dci_p_n=mf%5fmain2a&_dci_l_c=0&_dci_p_a=12161&_dci_p_b=mf%5fmain2%2ehome%2emain)
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Gee Udie, Texan women must be alot differant than where I live (MN). Nobody was cheering to kill here, it was rather silent as people absorbed the horror of it.
dago
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I really liked the movie!
I was one of the people in the theater that was yelling "Kill the little bastard!".
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I picked up the book after seeing the movie Saturday, and I'm about 300 pages into it... It seems that they have taken the actions of several characters and condensed them into Matt Eversmann and Chalk 4 in the movie... I suppose this keeps things from being too confusing, but I was a little dissappointed that so many events were attributed to one group when some of the major parts of that (e.g. them hoofing it to the crash site) didn't even happen (It was Chalk 2 and Chalk 3 that moved to the crash site on foot - Chalk 4 was on the trucks). Still, I think that from a less specific view, the movie captured the chaos and the major events pretty well, and is one of the best war films I've seen.
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Went to see this last night.It was very good action but it was the same old "Ami kills 50 bad guys to every good guy that gets killed"..Very well done though and just when I was about to get up and leave when I read the after scenario text where it stated 1000 Somalians were killed to only 19 Americans...It was only then that the true impact of the movie hit me and that 50-1 ratio was actually what transpired!..I am going to see it again!!
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Originally posted by SirLoin
Went to see this last night.It was very good action but it was the same old "Ami kills 50 bad guys to every good guy that gets killed"..Very well done though and just when I was about to get up and leave when I read the after scenario text where it stated 1000 Somalians were killed to only 19 Americans...It was only then that the true impact of the movie hit me and that 50-1 ratio was actually what transpired!..I am going to see it again!!
The History Channel did a 2 hour show on the battle Monday night. They had the author of the book as well as many of the soldiers. They talked about what happened in great detail. They got to the body count and said they will never know for sure how many Somalis died that day. They put the estimate somewhere between 1,000 and 10,000!!!! Personaly I think 10k is probobly very unrealistic. But one of the drivers said that at one particular intersection the road was blocked by at least 1000 Somali's with AK's. The driver told the .50 cal gunner to "clear me a path" so the guy opened up on the crowd. I'd be willing to bet that 1 .50 coming out of the barrel at close range could go through about 10 people before it stopped.
sad sad day in history :(
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http://www.philly.com/packages/somalia/sitemap.asp (http://)
Try this link chaps
Ciao.
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... and the animals cheered :mad:
Somalis cheer at 'Black Hawk Down' screening
http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/africa/01/23/blackhawk.screen/index.html
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I saw the coverage on CNN eagler. Some dude was coming out of the theater and said "If the Americans come back again, we will defeat them again". I kinda chuckled. They don't teach these guys much math huh? Lesee, 500 of us dead, 18 Americans dead, Somali Victory! Yep, we pulled out, which was another defeat for them. Now they get to peck for crumbs again. But they defeated the US!
Poor ignorant people.
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Originally posted by hblair
I saw the coverage on CNN eagler. Some dude was coming out of the theater and said "If the Americans come back again, we will defeat them again". I kinda chuckled. They don't teach these guys much math huh? Lesee, 500 of us dead, 18 Americans dead, Somali Victory! Yep, we pulled out, which was another defeat for them. Now they get to peck for crumbs again. But they defeated the US!
Poor ignorant people.
At first this really pissed me off BAD! I was foaming at the mouth and everything. Every Somali I've seen interviewed thinks they kicked our tulips bigtime. Those poor ignorant bastards. After I got to thinking about it I was no longer angry at them. Look at the filth they call home. Ok you won that "war" but what did you win? Them dudes are stuck in that hell hole of a 1000 yr behind the times country. Let them be happy thinking they beat us, that's the only thing they have to be happy about.
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Actually its more like over 1000 somalis dead hblair! :)
Think of it a 50/1 to K/D ratio in real life with no practice runs no reset key 50/1 K/D on the first try out. Those guys are simply amazing. Plus they were in the middle of enemy territory and outnumberd by god knows whatr odds. Simply amazing.
Anyone who says it was a deafeat is simply an idiot and orobably has alterior motives. The defeat came two weeks later, only the battle didnt take place in Mogadishu, we lost in Washington!
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I work with a Somali.
Well, he's actually a Somalilander, not a Somali, but seeing as Somaliland isnt recognised as a country by anyone he's lumped into the same boat as the rest of them.......
He wont watch the film. He says he refuses to be reminded of those times. If my entire family had been gunned down at the dinner table by Somali militants in the space of 10 seconds I guess I might feel the same.
However, from his point of view the Americans ran away and abandoned them as soon as they got a bloody nose. After Clinton pulled out the US forces, things got really bad for Somalilanders.........so he left the country.....in a hurry. Dont ask this mans opinion of the US military if ya dont want a very heated discussion.......
So.......not all of these Somali's are the bloodthirsty maniacs we think they are.......just most of em.
(http://www.swoop.com/images/logo_small.jpg)
P.S. Bloody good film though.
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The US soldiers are fine, the leadership at the was was lacking. Clinton was a gutless sissy.
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hunting around trying to find the info about the movie director/studio having to cut the bit in the credits from the movie blaming the Clinton Admin for the mess, I found this site:
http://www.philly.com/packages/somalia/graphics.asp
very informative, still looking for the other ...
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It was an awkward situation to be sure. Those conservatives who don't want the US to be world policemen, but yet criticize Clinton for pulling out. Look at this situation hard. The US military was not only being world policemen, but world social workers as well. If Clinton would have left the military in Somalia, he would have taken heat from the right for using the military as world policemen. As it is now, he takes it from the right for not having resolve. Don't getme wrong, I'm pretty conservative myself, but isn't it possible he did the right thing in this case? Just think if we'd have stayed there and gotten into other big firefights, killing tens of thousands of Somalis. Even though they were hostiles, it prolly wouldn't look too good to the world community, who already look at us as Imperialists. Clinton may have made a sound decision, I don't know. I know when you look at it from the Rangers view it doesn't look right.
Just another angle to think about.
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I think if it wouldn't have gotten ugly, we'd still be there...
Wasn't it exactly this that caused his pull out, the polls were swinging against him, God forbid can't do anything that would have lowered public opinion of our pollmiester pres.
If we were similiarly trounced in Bosnia, Haiti, think we'd stuck it out?
gutless, make a stand and stick it out...or don't get into it in the first place.
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The problem is that by pulling out, it sends a message to the world that all you have to do if you want America out of your country is to kill a few Americans. Hopefully recent events will steel the country with a bit more resolve to back the missions we undertake, even if they get a little bit hairy. Even if mistakes are made, there are broader implications than the loss of a few lives, and as painful as it might be sometimes, at times we need to stick it out.
And, of course, have a much better idea what we are getting into before we get involved in the first place.
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Thats the problem, Osama took our withdarawal from Somalia after a handful of casualties as a sign of weakness. My feeling is that if you kill Americans that you should get 100 times as many back at you with alll their weapons trying to kill you. The message should be dont kill americans. The "world policeman" problem should be sorted out before going in, after that we dedicate men money material and lives to the mission. And we allow the military to kill people, being "perfectly blunt" as Rumsfeled so eloquently put. :)
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Originally posted by Eagler
I think if it wouldn't have gotten ugly, we'd still be there...
Wasn't it exactly this that caused his pull out, the polls were swinging against him, God forbid can't do anything that would have lowered public opinion of our pollmiester pres.
If we were similiarly trounced in Bosnia, Haiti, think we'd stuck it out?
gutless, make a stand and stick it out...or don't get into it in the first place.
Actually didn't he pull us out of haiti as soon as they started attacking US servicemen? My memory is fuzzy on this, but I think I saw something on tv just the other night that talked about this, it was some show on Blackhawk Down that went on a pretty good Clinton bashing session.
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One of the Delta soldiers who helped make the movie said the movie should not be considered a documentary. I have not seen Somali death estimates higher than 500, with 1000+ wounded. I have read the book and was greatly dissappointed with the night fighting scene in the movie. Also, why in the world would "Grimes" (supposed to be stebbins, but stebbins is in jail right now) bring a coffee grinder into combat with him???? I think the movie is good for entertainment value, but it differs from the book on many many points.
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Dude, he didn't BRING the coffee grinder with him - he found it in the house they were in.
And Stebbins is in jail? Is he the one of Task Force Ranger that I heard about who was convicted of child molestation? I had thought that was one of the Delta operatives. I did wonder why they changed his name...
There were some definite differences between the book and the movie, but overall I think the movie captured the feeling of the book, and followed the main events well enough to be a good approximation of what really happened. I certainly recommend that anyone who goes to the movie read the book as well.
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Grimes = Stebbings.
Yes, he was convicted of child molestation.
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Well, I can see why they changed the name then.
Check my post further up this thread for a link to the article that made it sound like it was a Delta operative who was convicted.
Odd. And sad.
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Originally posted by Eagler
... and the animals cheered :mad:
I couldn't believe my ears at all the women I heard whispering "kill him" All the cheers kind of tripped me out a bit, people were honestly enjoying seeing them die. Never saw that before 9/11.
Which animals are those?
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Point goes to Thrawn.
Excellent riposte.
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Originally posted by Kratzer
Point goes to Thrawn.
Excellent riposte.
touche'
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Child molestation thing goes to show that there's little in the world that is entirely black and white.
Was wondering: Somali-Americans have complained about this film. They feel it portrays them as gutless murderers hiding behind women and children: people with no morals who kill for fun.
Considering the recent history or Africa, I don't think it is entirely unjustified to say that there is a proportionally large number of murderers and cowardly thugs that should be executed at sight, but I can see it from their POV. Must be irritating to have guilt by association from these chaps.
On the other hand, the book was very clear and made a clear cut distinction between the murderous limb-chopping thieving thugs with guns and the general population - who (and this we hear very little about) very much appreciated the effort of the US.
I think the US should have stayed a bit longer. That warlord had just lost maybe 1000 of his troops. He'd known that if a handful of men, greatly outnumbered and running out of ammo, fighting from a burning wreck could take out 1000 of his 'finest', they could take out the rest as well. I bet he'd be more willing to negotiate the next time.
The West have a responsibility to Africa. We did colonize and opress the African people. Yet I have this sense that the current political instability and ethnic murders (hutus and tutsi's, anyone?) is the result of their own squabbling: that the corruption of Africans is what is leading to instability, and with that, a hard time trying to attract investors. The question is: how much have the West caused, and how can it repay it? How much have the corrupt Africans caused - and genocide can never be repaid....
I dunno. I need to learn more about the African situation. Just general thoughts with little aim and even less precision.
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I saw it tonight. It was a powerful movie. Many women stayed in their seats wiping their eyes when the lights came on after they scrolled the list of names of the men who were killed. Sad situation there. I took my wife with me and she got into the movie too. I think movies like this are important to help "educate" the average citizens (like my wife) who would have had no idea what went on over there. I think the first ten minutes of the movie really helped give a short education as to why, where,when it happened.
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Saw it last night. Probably the best war movie I have ever seen.
Was the end part about the convoy leaving the troops to jog through the city accurate?
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Originally posted by Pongo
Saw it last night. Probably the best war movie I have ever seen.
Was the end part about the convoy leaving the troops to jog through the city accurate?
yes, the humvees sped away from the scene and the dudes had to run like a mile to the soccer stadium. On the History Channel show last Monday, one of the soldiers they interviewed said he was thinking "great here I am running away, we could have done this yesterday" They all made it out though :)
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If you get a chance to watch the History Channel show on it (2 hours) do so.
They interview participants on both sides as well as the author of the book. Pretty well done in my opinion.
...and casualty estimates from various sources range from 1000-10,000 DEAD Somalis. Do a web search and pick your poison. I haven't seen one as low as 500 yet though.
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One thing that really impressed me was the two Delta Force guys who volunteered to get off their chopper and try to protect the second downed Blackhawk. They did their best to keep the mob at bay but ended up paying for it with their lives. Weren't they the first to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor since Vietnam? Those guys had balls of steel. I've never been in combat (never been in Armed forces for that matter) I can only imagine the fear that they must have felt as they realized the mob was going to get them.
I guess guys toad, easymo, and hang can relate to it, being in combat in the 'nam. Thankfully, I can only imagine it.
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Yes the two Delta snipers, Gordon and Shugart, won the MoH posthumously. I was very pleased that their actions were portrayed accurately in the movie. That part of the film was exactly how Durant and the helicopter crew described it. They even had the correct weapons. Take good care of them Lord.
One thing I wish they would have done was give credit to the Navy and Air Force personnel. The guys who roped out of the helicopter at the first crash site (where the Rangers were), those were Air Force PJ's. And some of the troops in the Humvee convoy were part of SEAL Team 6. Those guys did just as much as the Rangers and Delta but they don't get any credit in the film.
Another thing people should know is that a lot of the helicopters in the movie were flown by the pilots who flew the real mission. The Little Bird that landed in the street, with the pilot firing the MP-5 out the window - that was the guy who did it in the real event.
One other thing that the nerd in me missed was the Mk. 19 grenade launchers on the Humvees. In the movie they all had "Ma Deuce" but in the real event it was about half M2 and half Mk. 19.
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Originally posted by funkedup
Yes the two Delta snipers, Gordon and Shugart, won the MoH posthumously. I was very pleased that their actions were portrayed very exactly in the movie. They even had the correct weapons. Take good care of them Lord.
At the reception at the White House, didn't one of their fathers refuse to shake Clinton's hand and told him he wasn't fit to be the Commander in Chief?
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That was Shugart's dad.
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Originally posted by funkedup
One thing I wish they would have done was give credit to the Navy and Air Force personnel. The guys who roped out of the helicopter at the first crash site (where the Rangers were), those were Air Force PJ's. And some of the troops in the Humvee convoy were part of SEAL Team 6. Those guys did just as much as the Rangers and Delta but they don't get any credit in the film.
One of the guys in the book who I was incredibly impressed by was MSgt. Tim Wilkinson, the Air Force PJ who braved enemy fire the entire time to give medical attention to the wounded. He won the Air Force Cross for his actions there. I read that he retired last year.
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Just a minor Hijack.
Last year there was a reunion of MoH winners held here in my Home Town. Well actually at the Veterans Cemetery and the nearby Air Museum. One of the activities was a reception at the Museum that my boss got to go to, but I didn't . I believe there were about 80 of the surviving MoH winners at the reception. Many of their stories were published in the local paper, and some are so incredible you wonder why more movies haven't been made.
Anyway, my boss who has met many celebrities was in awe the entire reception, and so was everyone else. He said all the attendees just walked around grinning stupidly and shaking hands with the heros. The amazing thing to me was that the MoH winners were so willing to talk about the events that lead to their awards.
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PUNT
went to this again.
Still the best war movie I have ever seen.
If you havent seen this see it on the big screen.
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Just saw the movie... damn I'm happy I was born & live in a western country...
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Powerful book.
In this era of information and comunication the colors black and white are almost dissapearing to the open eyes of the world comunity.
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The filthy critic's. (http://bigempire.com/filthy/blackhawkdown.html)
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All,
The following is part of a e-mail from one of the Pilots that was there, He flew Super 65.
I just wanted to post some comments here about the movie and my impressions.
First of all, I and many of my friends that also flew on the mission, thought that the movie was excellent! It is technically accurate and it is dramatically correct. In other words, the equipment, lingo and dialogue are all right on. By dramatically correct, I mean that it very effectively captured the emotions and tension that we all felt during the mission. It did this without being a cartoon, (like TOP GUN) or being over the top, (like FIREBIRDS). It's true that the screenwriters had to consolidate two or three people into one, but this was necessary because otherwise there would have been too many principal characters to keep track of. Also in the actual mission we had nearly 20 aircraft in the air that day. In the movie they had 4 Blackhawks and 4 "Little Birds". The unit could not afford to commit the actual number to the filming of the movie.
However, through the magic of the cinema, they were able to give the impression of the real number. Our force mixture was as follows:
Super 61 - Lead Blackhawk
Star 41-44 Little Bird Assault
Super 62 - Trail Blackhawk
These aircraft made up the assault force. Their mission was to go into the buildings and capture the individuals who were the target of the day. Super 61 was shot down, killing both pilots. (They were CW4 Cliff Wolcott and CW3 Donovan Briley. The three of us shared a room at the airfield.) Star 41 landed at the crash site and the pilot CW4 Keith Jones ran over and dragged two survivors to his aircraft and took off for the hospital. Keith re-enacted his actions in the movie. Super 62 was the Blackhawk that put in the two Delta snipers, Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart and Master Sergeant Gary Gordon. They were inserted at crash site #2. Shortly after Gary and Randy were put in Super 62 was struck in the fuselage by an antitank rocket. The whole right side of the aircraft was opened up and the sniper manning the right door gun had his leg blown off. The aircraft was able to make it out of the battle area to the port area where they made a controlled crash landing. (This is not depicted in the movie.)
Next was the Ranger Blocking Force. This consisted of 4 Blackhawks:
Super 64 (CW3 Mike Durant, CW4 Ray Frank)
Super 65 (Me, Cpt Richard Williams)
Super 66 (CW3 Stan Wood, CW4 Gary Fuller)
Super 67 (CW3 Jeff Niklaus, CW2 Sam Shamp)
The mission of the blocking force was to be inserted at the four corners of the objective building and to prevent any Somali reinforcements from getting through. In the movie there is a brief overhead shot of the assault. My aircraft is depicted in the lower left hand corner of the screen. This is the only part of the film where I come close to being mentioned. As the assault is completed, you hear the Blackhawks calling out of the objective area. When you hear, "...Super 65 is out, going to holding..." that's my big movie moment. There is also a quick shot of an RPG being shot at a hovering Blackhawk. I did have one maybe two fired at me, but I did not see them or the gunner. I only heard the explosions. We were not able to return fire, although some of the other aircraft did.
Make no mistake. I am fully aware of my role in this mission. My job was the same as the landing boat drivers in "Saving Private Ryan." Get the troops in the right place in one piece. I am very proud of the fact that my crew and I were able to do that. After having done this in Grenada, Panama and Somalia, I can identify with the bombardiers of World War Two. You have to ignore all of the chaos that is going on around and completely concentrate on the tasks at hand. That is holding the aircraft as steady as possible so the Rangers can slide down the ropes as quickly and safely as possible.
Okay, Okay, enough about me. Super 64 was shot down also with an RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade). They tried to make it back to the airfield, but their tail rotor gave way about a mile out of the objective area. They went down in the worst part of bad guy territory. The dialogue for the movie appears to have been taken from the mission tapes as it is exactly as I remember it. (This was the hardest part of the movie for me to watch). The actions on the ground are as described by Mike Durant, as he was the only one from the crew to survive the crash and the gun battle. It was here the Gary and Randy won their Posthumous Medals of Honor.
Super 66 was called in at about 2000 hours to resupply the Rangers at the objective area. Some of the Rangers were completely out of ammunition and were fighting hand to hand with the Somali militia men. (Also not depicted in the movie). Stan and Gary brought their aircraft in so that they were hovering over the top of the Olympic Hotel with the cargo doors hanging out over the front door. In this way they were able to drop the ammo, water and medical supplies to the men inside. Stan's left gunner fired 1600 rounds of minigun ammo in 30 seconds. He probably killed between 8 to 12 Somali militia men. As Stan pulled out of the objective area, he headed to the airfield because his right gunner had been wounded, as had the two Rangers in the back who were throwing out the supplies. Once he landed, he discovered that he'd been hit by about 40-50 rounds and his transmission was leaking oil like a sieve. Super 66 was done for the night.
The final group of aircraft were the 4 MH-6 gunships, the command and control Blackhawk, and the Search and Rescue 'Hawk'. They were:
Barber 51-54 MH-6's
Super 63 C&C
Super 68 SAR
In the movie, the gunships are shown making only one attack. In fact, they were constantly engaged all night long. Each aircraft reloaded six times. It is estimated that they fired between 70 and 80,000 rounds of minigun ammo and fired a total 90 of 100 aerial rockets. They were the only thing that kept the Somalis from overrunning the objective area. All eight gunship pilots were awarded the Silver Star. Every one of them deserved it!
Next is Super 68. The actions of this crew were very accurately portrayed. The only difference was that they were actually hit in the rotor blades by an RPG. This blew a semicircle out of the main rotor spar, but the blade held together long enough for them to finish putting in the medics and Rangers at the first crash site. It was then that they headed to the airfield. What they did not know, was that their main transmission and engine oil cooler had been destroyed by the blast. As they headed to the airfield all 7 gallons of oil from the main rotor gearbox, and all 7 quarts from each engine was pouring out. They got the aircraft on the ground just as all oil pressures went to zero. They then shutdown, ran to the spare aircraft and took off to rejoin the battle. They were in the air just in time to affect the MEDEVAC of Super 62, which had landed at the seaport. The pilots of this aircraft were CW3 Dan Jollota, and MAJ Herb Rodriguez. Both men were later awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Major Rodriguez is retired from the Army now and he teaches middle school with my wife in Clarksville, Tennessee.
Finally there is the Command and Control Blackhawk, Super 63. In the back of this aircraft was my battalion commander, LTC Matthews, and the overall ground commander, LTC Harrell.
In the movie, there is a scene where the men on the ground were begging for MEDEVAC. By this point in the battle we had 5 Blackhawks out of action, either shot down or shot up so much they couldn't fly anymore. Of the two assault force and four blocking force 'Hawks', only myself and Super 67 were left. I fully expected LTC Harrell to send us in to try to get those men out. I jacked a round into the chamber of my pistol and my M16. I knew that the only way to do was to hover with one wheel balanced on the roof of the building. Then the Rangers would be able to throw the wounded in. I knew that we were going to take a lot of fire and I was trying to mentally prepare myself to do this while the aircraft was getting hit. My friends had all gone in and taken their licks and now I figured it was our turn. (Peer pressure is such a powerful tool if used properly.) Quite frankly, I really thought that we were at best going to get shot down, at worst I figured we were going to be killed.
The way I saw it we had already lost 5 aircraft, what was 2 more? I had accepted this because at least when this was all over General Garrison would be able to tell the families that we had tried everything to get their sons, fathers or husbands out. We were even willing to send in our last two helicopters. Fortunately for me LTC Harrell realized that the time for helicopters had passed. The decision was made to get the tanks and armored personnel carriers to punch through to the objective area. Once again, the dialogue in the movie is verbatim. What you don't hear is me breathing a sigh of relief! I remembered thinking that maybe I was going to see the sunrise after all.
People ask me if this movie has given me 'flashbacks'. I don't think you can call them flashbacks if that day has never been out of my mind.
I hope that when you do see the movie it will fill you with pride and awe for the Rangers that fought their hearts out that day. Believe me, they are made of the same stuff as those kids at Normandy Beach. When 1LT Tom DiTomasso, the Ranger platoon leader on my aircraft, told me that we did a fantastic job, I couldn't imagine ever receiving higher praise than that, but the greatest thing I've ever done is to be a Nightstalker Pilot with Task Force Ranger on 3-4 Oct 1993.
Capt. Gerry Izzo (Super 65)