gary gordon

Master Sergeant Gordon (MSG), U.S. Army, distinguished himself by actions above and beyond the call of duty on October 3, 1993 while serving as Sniper Team Leader, United States Army Special Operations Command with Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu, Somalia. Gordon's sniper team provided precision fires from the lead helicopter during an assault and at two helicopter crash sites, while subjected to intense automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade fires. When MSG Gordon learned that ground forces were not immediately available to secure the second crash site, he and another sniper, Sergeant First Class Randall Shughart unhesitatingly volunteered to be inserted to protect the four critically wounded personnel, despite being well aware of the large and growing number of hostile Somalis closing in on the site. After his third request to be inserted, Gordon received permission to perform his volunteer mission. When debris and enemy ground fires at the site caused them to abort the first attempt, he was inserted one hundred meters south of the crash site. Equipped with only his sniper rifle and a pistol, Gordon and his fellow sniper, 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. He immediately 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. Gordon used his long range rifle and side arm to kill an undetermined number of attackers until he depleted his ammunition. He then went back to the wreckage, recovering some of the crew's weapons and ammunition. Despite the fact that he was critically low on ammunition, he provided some of it to the dazed pilot and then radioed for help. Gordon continued to travel the perimeter, protecting the downed crew. After his team member was fatally wounded and his own rifle ammunition exhausted, he returned to the wreckage, recovering a rifle with the last five rounds of ammunition and gave it to the pilot with the words, "good luck". Then, armed only with his pistol, MSG Gordon continued to fight until he was fatally wounded. His actions saved the pilot's life: Mike Durant. In the 2001 blockbuster movie "Black Hawk Down" (adapted from Mark Bowden's book of the same name), MSG Gordon was protrayed by actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.

USNS Gordon

The U.S. Navy officially named roll-on/roll-off ship USNS Gordon (T-AKR 296) in a ceremony at 10:00 a.m., Thursday, July 4, 1996, at Newport News, Virginia. The Honorable Congressman John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania, was the ceremony's principal speaker. Serving as the ship's sponsor was Carmen Gordon, widow of the ship's namesake. Distinguished guests attending the ceremony include:

John W. Douglass, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition
General Dennis J. Reimer, Army Chief of Staff
General (Retired) Wayne A. Downing, former Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Special Operations Command
Vice Admiral George R. Sterner, Commander, Naval Sea Systems Command
Vice Admiral Philip M. Quast, Commander, Military Sealift Command
General Henry Shelton, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Special Operations Command
General (Retired) Gordon Sullivan, former Army Chief of Staff
Brigadier General (Retired) William G. Boykin, Master Sgt. Gordon's Commanding Officer in Somalia and former Commander of the Army's Combat Applications Group
Mr. William P. Fricks, President and Chief Executive Officer, Newport News Shipbuilding.

Gordon was the second ship to undergo conversion from a commercial container vessel to a Large Medium Speed Roll On/Roll Off (LMSR) sealift ship and is operated by the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command, Washington, DC.