The Story of Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart

Date of Incident: October 3, 1993
Conflict: Battle of Mogadishu, Somalia
Unit: Delta Force (1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta)

The Mission:

On October 3, 1993, during Operation Gothic Serpent, U.S. forces launched a raid in Mogadishu to capture a Somali warlord’s lieutenants. The operation quickly went sideways, and two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down, with soldiers trapped in hostile territory and under fire.

Delta Force snipers Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon were part of an aerial support team providing cover from above.

When the second Black Hawk went down, the two men volunteered multiple times to be inserted to defend the crash site, even though they knew it was almost certainly a suicide mission.

After being denied twice, their request was finally granted.

The Sacrifice:

Shughart and Gordon were dropped into the middle of the firefight — just the two of them, heavily outnumbered by hundreds of armed Somalis.

They fought their way to the wreckage and pulled the wounded pilot, Mike Durant, from the helicopter.

For 15 minutes, they held off the enemy, laying down precise and deadly fire. When Gordon was shot and killed, Shughart retrieved his rifle and continued fighting alone.

Eventually, Shughart was killed as well. His last stand delayed the enemy just long enough to save Mike Durant’s life, who was later taken prisoner but survived and was rescued.