“Crash Site Overrun”: The distortion of facts provokes emotion and understanding

By Maria Vecchio, Ross Willand, and Fletcher Tibert

[1] During the scene “Crash Site Overrun” from the historical movie Black Hawk Down, Shughart and Gordon land at the helicopter crash site to try to save one of the pilots, Durant, from being killed by an angry mob of Somalis. Durant had suffered a broken leg among other injuries during the crash. Gordon drags Durant to safety while Shughart covers him. Shughart and Gordon then try to fight off the mob as best as possible while they wait for a rescue chopper to come in. Slowly the mob overtakes Shughart and Gordon and kills both of them. Shughart’s dead body is torn from the Black Hawk: the mob tears the top of his uniform off and carries him through the street with his bare chest facing up. Durant is left sitting in a bunker without ammunition. The mob finds him, and they start to beat him until one of Aidid's lieutenant's stops them and claims Durant as a hostage for the warlord.

[2] Throughout the movie the American soldiers’ main goal is to “leave no man behind.”

[3] Rebelling from the American presence, the Somalis reacted with hostility. The small battle won by the Somali mob was a step towards liberation for these people. They showed their victory by carrying pilot Sergeant Randy Shughart, bare chest towards the sky, through the streets as if to show God what they have done. As the body is carried through the streets, the scene becomes drastically darker. The darkness stresses the loss of a soldier left behind. The rebel forces may not have been able to defeat the Americans, but this one small battle was a major victory for the Somalis’ morale. However, the American soldiers were unable to leave no man behind. In other words, they have failed to protect their brotherhood, and Sgt. Eversmann struggles with this failure the most. He felt as though the deaths were his responsibility and that he let the men down.

[4] “Crash Site Overrun” conveys an important message. The image of Shughart with his bare chest facing the sky and his arms outstretched as the Somali mob carries him away reminds us of Jesus Christ being carried away to his execution. This revelation invokes thoughts of self-sacrifice. Shughart sacrificed himself to the raging mob of natives whom he was sent to help. The scene is also representative of America’s sacrifice for the war. Shughart symbolizes the good American soldier who is punished with death for his endeavors; his efforts and capture are results of the United States’ choice to help foreign countries with their war in hopes of reaching peace. Although the American soldiers had only come to help end the fighting, they were overrun by enemies. The pilot and self-sacrificing American soldiers represent the US army and its courageous efforts do to what is right.

[5] Contrary to what is shown in Black Hawk Down, pilot Randy Shughart was never actually carried overhead like a sacrificial lamb but dragged away from the crash site. The scene was tailored by the writers and producers of the film to give rise to the theme of sacrifice. It was not just a dramatic scene but an intentional portrayal of the US military forces in Somalia. “Crash Site Overrun” is very successful in creating compassion for the troops stationed in a foreign nation. It’s the sort of scene that Washington can appreciate because it evokes patriotism from its audience. It has the ability to foster large support for our military. In the scene we see the U.S. troops as courageous individuals, like Shughart, fighting for the peace of a nation. We witness the war and battles as trials on these men and (rarely) women. It puts the ideas of politics in the back of our minds and forces us to focus on the decency and nobility of the self sacrificing soldier.

[6] Though the movie was filmed before the tragic terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, it premiered on the big screens just three months after the attacks. Scenes like “Crash Site Overrun” inspired faith in our men and women of the military. The heartfelt and dramatic film roused support for those that would go to defend freedom and to liberate another country. The scene reveals that American troops are risking their lives to help other nations. Our responses to the message are entirely dependent on our opinions of war. On one hand, we can see it as needless sacrifice, and such movies and scenes could encourage us to pull back our troops. On the other hand, acts of heroism, though partly fictionalized and dramatized by Hollywood, have the power to create large amounts of support for our troops and even inspire young men and women to join the armed forces.

[7] Whatever our opinions on war may be, one thing is made clear in the “Crash Site Overrun” scene from Black Hawk Down: war, whether for constructive or incoherent causes, always coincides with great sacrifices. The creators of Black Hawk Down found it important to emphasize this point, even if it meant distorting some minor details within the true events. “Crash Site Overrun” demonstrates how a historical movie can sometimes twist or amplify an event to maintain a desired reaction or sometimes a better understanding of emotion or events from the audience. The audience, in turn, can have an understanding of the main historical events while relating easily to the emotion of the characters that represent real soldiers.