Randy Shughart
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Randall David Shughart (August 13, 1958 – October 3, 1993) was a
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
Delta Force The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (1st SFOD-D), referred to variously as Delta Force, Combat Applications Group (CAG), Army Compartmented Elements (ACE), "The Unit", or within Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), Task Fo ...
operator who was posthumously awarded the
Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...
for his actions during the Battle of Mogadishu, during
Operation Gothic Serpent Operation Gothic Serpent was a military operation conducted in Mogadishu, Somalia, by an American force code-named ''Task Force Ranger'' during the Somali Civil War in 1993. The primary objective of the operation was to capture Mohamed Farrah ...
in October 1993.


Early life

Shughart was born August 13, 1958, in
Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...
, into a
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
family of
German descent , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...
. After his father, Herbert Shughart, left the Air Force, the Shugharts moved to
Newville, Pennsylvania Newville is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. The borough is located west of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Carlisle. The population was 1,376 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Har ...
, to live and work on a dairy farm.


Military career

Shughart joined the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
while attending
Big Spring High School Big Spring High School is a public high school located in Big Spring, Texas and classified as a 4A Division I school by the University Interscholastic League (UIL). It is part of the Big Spring Independent School District located in north centra ...
in Newville, entering upon graduation in 1976. After completing basic training, he successfully completed infantry AIT (advanced individual training),
Airborne School The United States Army Airborne School – widely known as Jump School – conducts the basic paratrooper (military parachutist) training for the United States Armed Forces. It is operated by the 1st Battalion (Airborne), 507th Infantry Regime ...
, and in 1978 was assigned to the
2nd Ranger Battalion The 2nd Ranger Battalion, currently based at Joint Base Lewis–McChord south of Seattle, Washington, United States, is the second of three ranger battalions belonging to the United States Army's 75th Ranger Regiment. History World War II For ...
,
75th Ranger Regiment The 75th Ranger Regiment, also known as Army Rangers, is the U.S. Army's premier light infantry unit and special operations force within the United States Army Special Operations Command. The regiment is headquartered at Fort Benning, Georgi ...
, at Fort Lewis, Washington. Several months later, he completed a pre-ranger course (currently known as SURT, Small Unit Ranger Tactics), was granted a slot to attend
Ranger School The United States Army Ranger School is a 62-day small unit tactics and leadership course that develops functional skills directly related to units whose mission is to engage the enemy in close combat and direct fire battles. Ranger training wa ...
, graduated, and earned the
Ranger Tab In the United States Army, tabs are cloth and/or metal arches displaying a word or words signifying a special skill that are worn on U.S. Army uniforms. On the Army Combat Uniform and Army Service Uniform, the tabs are worn above a unit's Should ...
. Shughart left active duty and went into the Army Reserve in June 1980. In December 1983, Shughart returned to active duty and the following year attended
Special Forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...
training. Shughart was assigned to
Delta Force The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (1st SFOD-D), referred to variously as Delta Force, Combat Applications Group (CAG), Army Compartmented Elements (ACE), "The Unit", or within Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), Task Fo ...
and was transferred to
Fort Bragg, North Carolina Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cum ...
in June 1986. As a Delta Force operator, he advanced to Assistant Team Sergeant. Shughart was deployed to
Mogadishu, Somalia Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port ...
in 1993 as part of
Task Force Ranger Operation Gothic Serpent was a military operation conducted in Mogadishu, Somalia, by an American force code-named ''Task Force Ranger'' during the Somali Civil War in 1993. The primary objective of the operation was to capture Mohamed Farrah ...
. On October 3, 1993, during an assault mission to apprehend advisors to the Somali warlord
Mohamed Farrah Aidid Mohamed Farrah Hassan Aidid ( so, Maxamed Faarax Xasan Caydiid; ar, محمد فرح حسن عيديد; 15 December 1934 – 1 August 1996) was a Somali general and diplomat. Educated in both Rome and Moscow, he served as a chief in the Italian ...
, a
Black Hawk Black Hawk and Blackhawk may refer to: Animals * Black Hawk (horse), a Morgan horse that lived from 1833 to 1856 * Common black hawk, ''Buteogallus anthracinus'' * Cuban black hawk, ''Buteogallus gundlachii'' * Great black hawk, ''Buteogallus ur ...
helicopter with the call sign ''Super Six-One'' was shot down in the city. A
combat search and rescue Combat search and rescue (CSAR) are search and rescue operations that are carried out during war that are within or near combat zones. A CSAR mission may be carried out by a task force of helicopters, ground-attack aircraft, aerial refuelin ...
(CSAR) team was sent in to secure the survivors. Then, a second Black Hawk helicopter, call sign ''Super Six-Four'', was shot down. Shughart,
Gary Gordon Gary Ivan Gordon (August 30, 1960 – October 3, 1993) was a master sergeant in the United States Army and a recipient of the Medal of Honor. At the time of his death, he was a non-commissioned officer in the United States Army's premier s ...
, and Sergeant First Class Brad Halling had been providing sniper cover from the air from Black Hawk ''Super Six-Two''. Gordon wanted to be inserted to secure the crash site as hostile Somalis were converging on the area. Mission commanders denied Gordon's request twice, saying that the situation was too dangerous for the snipers to protect the crew from the ground. Command's position was that the snipers could be of more assistance by providing air cover. Gordon, however, repeated his request until he got permission. Halling stayed behind to man a door gun as one of the helicopter's gunners had been wounded. Armed with their sniper rifles and sidearms, Shughart and Gordon were inserted approximately from the crash site and made their way to the downed Black Hawk. Chief Warrant Officer
Mike Durant Michael J. Durant (born July 23, 1961) is an American veteran, former pilot, businessman, author, and political candidate. He was involved in the "Black Hawk Down" incident while serving as a U.S. Army pilot, and ran unsuccessfully in the Repub ...
was already defending the aircraft with an
MP5 The Heckler & Koch MP5 (german: Maschinenpistole 5) is a 9x19mm Parabellum submachine gun, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. There are over 100 variants and clones of the MP5, ...
but was unable to move from his chair due to a crushed
vertebra The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates,Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristic ...
in his back and a
comminuted fracture A bone fracture (abbreviated FRX or Fx, Fx, or #) is a medical condition in which there is a partial or complete break in the continuity of any bone in the body. In more severe cases, the bone may be broken into several fragments, known as a '' ...
of his left
femur The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates with ...
. When they reached ''Super Six-Four'', they extracted Durant and the other crew from the helicopter and defended the aircraft. It is believed that Gordon was the first of the two to be killed by the surrounding mob. Shughart retrieved Gordon's CAR-15 rifle and gave it to Durant to use. Shortly after, Shughart was killed, the site was overrun and Durant was taken hostage. According to Durant's book ''In the Company of Heroes'', the Somalis counted 25 of their militia dead after the firefight. There was some confusion in the aftermath of the action as to who had been killed first. The official citation states that Shughart had been killed first but
Mark Bowden Mark Robert Bowden (; born July 17, 1951) is an American journalist and writer. He is a national correspondent for ''The Atlantic''. He is best known for his book ''Black Hawk Down (book), Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War'' (1999) about th ...
, author of '' Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War'', relates an account by Sergeant Paul Howe who heard Shughart call for help on the radio and noted that the weapon handed to Durant was not the distinctive
M14 rifle The M14 rifle, officially the United States Rifle, Caliber 7.62 mm, M14, is an American selective fire battle rifle chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO (.308 in) cartridge. It became the standard-issue rifle for the U.S. military in 1959, ...
that Shughart used. Howe said that Gordon would not have given his weapon to someone while he could still fight. Durant acknowledged that he might have been wrong in his identification but was reluctant to push for the record to be changed since he was not sure. Shughart's body was eventually recovered and is buried in Westminster Cemetery,
Carlisle, Pennsylvania Carlisle is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2020 United States census, ...
.


In popular culture

In the 2001 film '' Black Hawk Down'', Shughart was portrayed by actor
Johnny Strong John Christopher Strong (born July 22, 1974) is an American actor, composer, and musician. He is best known for his roles in ''Black Hawk Down'' (as Medal of Honor recipient Randy Shughart) and ''The Fast and the Furious'' as Leon. Aside from a ...
.


Awards and decorations

SFC Shughart's awards and decorations include:Archived
/ref>


Medal of Honor

On May 23, 1994, Shughart and Gordon were posthumously decorated with the Medal of Honor for protecting the crew of Super Six Four. They were the first Medal of Honor recipients since the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. Herbert Shughart, Randall Shughart's father, attended the Medal of Honor presentation ceremony at the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
, where he refused to shake hands with U.S. President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
. He then proceeded to openly criticize the president, telling him, "You are not fit to be president of the United States. The blame for my son's death rests with the White House and with you. You are not fit to command."


USNS ''Shughart''

In 1997, the Navy named
roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...
ship in a ceremony at the
National Steel and Shipbuilding Company National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, commonly referred to as NASSCO, is an American shipbuilding company with three shipyards located in San Diego, Norfolk, Virginia, Norfolk and Mayport (Jacksonville), Mayport. It is a division of General Dy ...
,
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
. The ceremony was attended by a number of officers and politicians including Shughart's commanding officer at the time of his death; John W. Douglass, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition; Senator
Bob Kerrey Joseph Robert Kerrey (born August 27, 1943) is an American politician who served as the 35th Governor of Nebraska from 1983 to 1987 and as a United States Senator from Nebraska from 1989 to 2001. Before entering politics, he served in the Vietna ...
; and others. The ship was the first "Large Medium Speed Roll On/Roll Off (LMSR) ship" to undergo conversion from a commercial container vessel to a sealift cargo ship.


See also

* List of post-Vietnam Medal of Honor recipients


References


Further reading

* *


External links

* * * * * * * * Shughart-Gordon Urban Operations Training Center ("MOUT Site"), US Army Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, Louisiana. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shughart, Randall D. 1958 births 1993 deaths People from Cumberland County, Pennsylvania People from Lincoln, Nebraska United States Army soldiers American military snipers United States Army Rangers Members of the United States Army Special Forces American military personnel killed in action United States Army Medal of Honor recipients Battle of Mogadishu (1993) Battle of Mogadishu (1993) recipients of the Medal of Honor