I read "Black Hawk Down" maybe a couple of years ago. Normally I don't read battle accounts, being more interested in unit histories or operational strategy, but the book was highly recommended by others on the TacOps list so when I saw it at the book store I bought it. It was written by Mark Bowden, a newspaper columnist, some four years after the incident. Bowden talked to many of the participants and read official accounts and even talked to some of the Somalis involved to get a relatively coherent picture of what went on that day and night.

Being a journalist, Bowden tries to present both sides of the story, plus the larger picture. At times it's not flattering look at the Rangers and Delta Force and the whole military operation there. It was only nine years ago but the various groups in Special Forces Command were not as integrated then as they are now. Rangers, Special Forces/Green Berets, the 160th SOAR and SEALS, along with a few other miscellaneous groups were integrated into their own military branch under the command of CENTCOM in the US. The rivalries may have contributed to some of the problems in Mogadishu.

In any case, Rangers, Delta Force, and the 160th SOAR were sent to Mogadishu to stop Mohamed Farrah Aidid from attacking UN disaster relief personnel. And by stop I mean capture. It was supposed to be a short mission. I mean, c'mon these people have no running water or electricity, how are they going to stop the best of our armed forces? Unfortunately, six weeks later we still hadn't captured Aidid. Sure some of his Lieutenants had been taken, but for the most part he still controlled a good-sized chunk of Mogadishu and the US government was getting impatient.

It was supposed to be another routine mission. A big Aidid meeting with a couple of top lieutenants present. SOP -- some Delta teams would helicopter in and secure the meeting place. At the same time Rangers secure the perimeter. A convoy meets up with the assault force when they're done, picks them up and they're back in base before the bad guys can organize a response. Unfortunately, this was going to be a daylight raid, which they hadn't done before. Still, it was going well until one of the Black Hawks was forced down after taking an RPG hit...

First off, the movie is not "Saving Private Ryan" intense. Yes, it's quite violent and people die and are maimed, but nowhere near as bloody, gory, and frightening as the Omaha Beach assauly in Saving Private Ryan. The second thing is that this is a movie. No way you're going to get the same amount of material as a book. And it's the same here. The background is briefly summarized with captions and the movie doesn't try to give little histories for each soldier. There's also very little of the Somali side and the blunders are there but not emphasized like in the book.

Knowing what was happening didn't detract from watching the movie. There were various scenes that I remember in the book that were in the movie. Just vivid incidents like the Ranger who was so excited he fell out of his helicopter and was the first casualty, or the Ranger who was shot in the leg and bled to death because they couldn't clamp the artery, or the helicopter pilot in the second crash who was propped up against a wall and didn't see the two SF guys die.

There are also a couple of scenes that are missing. But I think those are because the focus of the movie is not the same as the book. In the book Bowden skips around a lot as the accounts shift so it was hard for me to keep track of what was going on with each group. The movie focuses on Chalk 4, which secured the first crash site, and the exploits of the relief convoy. It makes for a much more coherent movie.

When I read the credits I saw a few names I recognized but I didn't catch them during the movie. Josh Hartnett of course since he's in all the ads as Staff Sergeant Matt Eversmann, chalk 4's leader. Tom Sizemore as Lt Colonel Danny McKnight, leader of the relief convoy, was also easily recognized. Ewan McGregor (John Grimes) I didn't recognize even though that's one of the bigger roles. Ioan Gruffudd from the Horatio Hornblower movies is also there but I don't remember seeing him at all.

It's a good movie. Very good. I don't know if I'd say it was one of the best movies of the year. For that you need more of a story, and although there is a story here, it could have been a totally fictional account and it wouldn't have had the same impact. Watch the movie and read the book, or read the book then watch the movie. It's a movie that can deeply affect you when you realize that these are real people who died.