I was first introduced to the story of Black Hawk Down in the summer of last year ('01). I read an article in a magazine that a great number of actors were coming together to recreate a story of a vicious battle. At the time, I had never heard of the story. Early that fall in the beginning of the school year, my friends and I got into a discussion about this movie, where I learned it was based on the book by Mark Bowden. In that meeting, I had also learned that the author was the father of a boy in the same grade as us, Dan. Remembering who Dan was, and that I had had a class with him a previous year, I was drawn to the story of Black Hawk Down.
Late in the fall into early winter I began to see advertisements of the new movie based upon the book. The movie, I will say, looked very intriguing. I just had to see this. I love to learn about wars and battles, mainly WWII stuff, however, certain accounts in our history have drawn me in. I wanted to learn as much as I could of this battle that happened in Mogadishu. Another aspect that drew me towards this was the fact that just a few months earlier, I had researched and presented a project on the Somali Crisis that has been going on over the past decades. I was interesting in finding out why I had never heard of this particular battle, or found any information during my research. With a stroke of luck (and the willingness of my friend's mother) I was able to see Columbia's movie version of the book, Black Hawk Down. In between the cringes and momentary laps of shock, I realized how important this battle was to me, as an American citizen. I was hooked.
A few weeks after seeing the movie, my mother (who's yearly tradition of giving my brothers and sister and I books to our liking) gave me Mark Bowden's best seller, Black Hawk Down. I immediately dove into the book, reading it any chance I got, whether it was free time in class, in car or bus rides, or lounging around the house. I think I got to about page 160 when my schedule became hectic (I was in my high school's annual musical and was getting ready for the big show). I put the book aside, planning to read it when my life died down a bit.
It was when my english teacher, Ms. Bucher, assigned our last outside reading project for the year that Black Hawk Down came into mind. It was a big project, needing to consist of a review, poster, and either a T.V. commercial or web site. I immediately chose the web site, knowing I had skills in that department, hence why I made this site. Now I had the excuse of plowing back into the book. As the deadline came closer, and the end of the book came nearer, I began to sink in the essence of what the book actually meant. I carefully digested all the information given by Bowden as he wrote of the many tales that he himself had been told. It began to hit me how powerful the meaning of this book was to me.
Now finished the book, I can honestly say that I was blown away. Mark Bowden's ability to tell the whole story through so many eyes and ears is astonishing! The book was filled with so much detail, which at the beginning was a bit confusing, but gave it with great accuracy. I loved how Bowden didn't just tell one side of the story, he told many. It was a great learning experience to have learned this book to be educated of something barely known. I applaud Bowden's courage to get this story out. Black Hawk Down is definitely my top favorite book at the moment, and thinking about it, I don't recall ever having a favorite book. I hope that more and more people will also be educated by going out and reading this book. The tale of these heroic soldiers who risked their lives and at the same time bound together is a story that will stay with me forever. Anyone reading these comments, please, go out and read this book. It's a story you will NEVER forget.