Stay awhile:
I
am a PhD student in journalism/
mass communications at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, where I teach a range of undergraduate journalism courses. Prior to grad school, I was a reporter at The Vindicator, the daily newspaper in Youngstown Ohio.
My hobbies include winemaking and working on my classic VW Dormobile camper. Once in a great while I write a book review.
Inside you can find:
Ancient story about me in Cleveland Jewish News
Pictures of my cats Sally and Daisy.
Instructions to make your own wine
Tips for beating a speeding ticket
Contact me:
10 Herrold Ave.
Athens, OH 45701
(330) 647-4298
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Book Review Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War |
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 The Battle of Mogadishu has to have been one of the most lopsided defeats in the annals of military history. In 1993, fewer than a hundred U.S. Rangers and Delta Force operatives found themselves pinned down in a Somali marketplace as the whole city rose up against them. At the conclusion of the all-night firefight, 18 American servicemen were dead and two Black Hawk helicopters had been shot down. On the Somali side, more than 500 people were killed, and another 1000 wounded in a battle the ruling clan now celebrates as a national holiday. The Americans fought valiantly, viciously and, by some standards, successfully. But their country was defeated. In the aftermath of the American deaths and grisly television footage of bodies dragged through the streets, the Clinton administration abandoned Somalia for good. In Black Hawk Down, Mark Bowden gives a minute by minute account of the battle, the most violent firefight involving American troops since the Vietnam war. The span of the book is brief, starting with the desultory departure of soldiers who had gone on more false alarms than missions, and ending soon after the survivors stagger back to base. It’s depth, however, is stunning. Based on exhaustive interviews, combat video and radio transcripts, Black Hawk Down takes the reader into the minds of soldiers as they confront danger, confusion and death. Some men are killed, others become heroes. Equally fascinating is the insight into Somali combatants, men and women willing to die in droves for the sake of a pot shot against an American soldier. The hatred becomes intelligible when Somali survivors describe the impact of American helicopter sweeps on the people living on the ground. Their willingness to be slaughtered would seem like madness, except they won their war. Black Hawk Down is not about politics or the larger situation in Somalia. It is a description of modern warfare, pure and simple. The story is riveting, and certainly as close to real war that most readers will ever want to come --Stephen Siff 12/20/99 |
Mark Bowden Atlantic Monthly Press 386 pages
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