Movie Review: 'Black Hawk Down'
(C) 2001, 2006 Sony Pictures/Sony Home Entertainment On February 10, 1999, the Atlantic Monthly Press published Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War by Mark Bowden, a staff writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer . Based on a 29-part series of articles Bowden wrote for the newspaper in the late '90s, Black Hawk Down was the first in-depth book about Operation Gothic Serpent, the mission that pitted 150 Army Rangers, Delta Force operators, and helicopter crews from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) against thousands of Somali gunmen in the infamous First Battle of Mogadishu (October 3-4, 1993), which the Somalis refer to as Maaliniti Rangers (Day of the Rangers). The original hardcover edition. (C) 1999 Atlantic Monthly Press Bowden's book earned critical acclaim for its vivid description of the most ferocious fighting American forces were involved with since Vietnam; 19 U.S. servicemen were killed, 73 were wounded, and Michael Durant, a helic...