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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’s wreckage site, said, “Good luck,” and waded into a sea of swarming Somali enemies with only a pistol in hand. Gordon’s widow, Carmen Drake-Owens, and son, Ian, attended the event. 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. “I 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.” 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. Radioing for help and recovering some of the weapons and ammunition from the killed Black Hawk crew, Gordon, according to his citation, “continued to travel the perimeter, protecting the downed crew.” After Shughart was fatally wounded and with Gordon’s 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, “Good luck.” He was killed shortly after. “On that day, not only did he do that, but he volunteered to come into my crash site and save my life,” Durant recalled during a recorded message following the ceremony. “I would not be here if not for his actions and Randy’s actions.” Both Shughart and Gordon posthumously received the Medal of Honor for their actions. His clothes were ripped off, his eyes blindfolded and he was hoisted naked above the heads of a raging crowd. After 11 days in captivity, Durant was finally freed. As for Gordon and Durant’s fellow personnel, during the ceremony, Gordon’s widow recounted the brotherhood among the men who fought in Somalia.
