MOH recipient Randy Shughart to be honored at veterans memorial in Pennsylvania.
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| MOH recipient Sgt. Randy Shughart |
According to Dan Miller’s article, Veterans memorial in West Pennsboro Township Park to include bust of Medal of Honor winner, in The Patriot-News, Army Sergeant First Class Randall ‘Randy’ David Shughart, will be honored on October 1st with a bust of his likeness in West Pennsboro Township Park, PA.
The bust, 30 inches high by 20 inches wide will be placed next to a memorial being built in the park to honor all U.S. veterans.
Milller mentions:
“Shughart posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Mogadishu in October 1993.
Shughart and the other soldier, Master Sgt. Gary Gordon of Lincoln, Maine, were killed that day but saved the life of Black Hawk helicopter pilot Michael Durant.
In 1994, Shughart and Gordon were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Their heroism was brought to life for millions of Americans in the 1999 New York Times best-seller “Black Hawk Down,” a gripping blow-by-blow account of the battle of Mogadishu by Mark Bowden that inspired the movie of the same name.”
“On October 3, 1993 Shughart was Sniper Team Leader during Operation Gothic Serpent, a joint-force assault mission to apprehend key advisers to Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. During the assault, Super Six One, one of the Army’s Black Hawk helicopters providing insertion and air support to the assault team was shot down and had crashed in the city. A Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) team was dispatched to the first crash site to secure it. Shortly thereafter, Super Six Four was shot down as well. Ranger forces on the ground were not able to assist the downed helicopter crew of the second crash site as they were already engaged in heavy combat with Aidid’s militia and making their way to the first crash site.” Wikipedia
“Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader were inserted one hundred meters south of the crash site. Equipped with only his sniper rifle and a pistol, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader, while under intense small arms fire from the enemy, fought their way through a dense maze of shanties and shacks to reach the critically injured crew members. Sergeant First Class Shughart pulled the pilot and the other crew members from the aircraft, establishing a perimeter which placed him and his fellow sniper in the most vulnerable position. Sergeant First Class Shughart used his long range rifle and side arm to kill an undetermined number of attackers while traveling the perimeter, protecting the downed crew. Sergeant First Class Shughart continued his protective fire until he depleted his ammunition and was fatally wounded. His actions saved the pilot’s life.” Citation
“Without a doubt, I owe my life to these two men and their bravery,” said Mike Durant, whose life was saved by the actions of SFC Shughart and MSG Gary Gordon. “Those guys came in when they had to know it was a losing battle,” Durant said of the two men. “There was nobody else left to back them up. If they had not come in, I wouldn’t have survived.”
Clip from the movie Black Hawk Down – Randy Shughart, Gary Gordon
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