Editor's Note: For this issue of The Norwich Guidon, we have chosen to pre-empt the "As We See It" column in favor of presenting this piece by Cadet Robert Wolcott. Wolcott, a 20-year-old history major from Ft. Campbell, Ky., lost his father in the battle at Mogadishu, Somalia, on Oct. 3, 1993. Here, he gives his thoughts on the recently released motion picture, Black Hawk Down, about the battle of Mogadishu.

When I first heard that there was going to be a movie version of the events that took place on 03 October 1993, I was apprehensive to say the least. I remember there being talk of a film as early as '94, before the craze of the book version by Mark Bowden even began. I saw the movie for the first time at the invitation of 160 SOAR and the production company. I found myself in a reunion with many great men at a premiere, which was visited by both Ridley Scott and Jerry Bruckheimer.

I got to see a portrayal of someone I lost there. My father, CW3 Clifton P. Wolcott (posthumously promoted to CW4), was Pilot-in-Command, Super 61. His gunship, an MH-60 christened "Thunderstruck", was taken down by thick RPG fire over Mogadishu (the intensity of which was, according to some that were there, "not nearly addressed" in the film).

His character can be seen in the movie, portrayed by Jeremy Piven and nicknamed "Elvis." While there was some precedent for this nickname (a scraggly chalk drawing of "Velvet Elvis" on Thunderstruck's left side, and an occasional impression), his true one was "Shooter."

I watched the movie with his co-pilot's widow, Sheri Briley (Donovan "Bull" Briley was her husband) and Willi Frank, Ray Frank's wife (he flew Super 64 with Mike Durant). Around us were the men and women of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), and there was a very tense aura about the whole event.

There was total silence from the audience during the film, broken by an occasional wince or the sound of a relative remembering the lost. Ridley Scott, standing and asking if there were any questions, and explaining that what he wanted was to "do you guys justice," marked the end. There was only silence, until a Battalion commander started clapping.

The men there understood that it was meant to be a movie. There was some murmuring over the "Elvis" bit and the lack of Ray Frank's role - there was discussion about the air cover, the "amalgamated" characters and the compression of so many hours into a feature-length film. Overall, however, there were nods of approval. They wanted only for the public to at least appreciate what the men over there went through, and they saw that in the film.

I saw it, too. By now, so have most of the cadets at this campus, if opening night was any indication. Everyone will see something that does not glorify combat but rather courage and the bonds between soldiers. They will see a story about a mission that went to hell and about the men who pulled each other through it - and did their best to bring their buddies' bodies home.

When I saw the scene of Thunderstruck's canopy getting sawed open, I had to remember how other families didn't know at first - how we would be sitting together as they hoped that the bodies on television were not their loved one's. I remembered the tensions regarding Mike Durant, and his arrival home. I remembered most of all being called to the principal's office at school and seeing the sharp greens of a lieutenant colonel who was there for very bad news.

That is what I hope this movie does for most people - I hope that it gives them a sense of the struggle and the loss that took place in Mogadishu. I think that it accomplishes that purpose, despite whatever technical errors people may find in its renderings of the events.

It is a movie, and I accept that it is not meant to be a play-by-play film. I do, however, encourage everyone to see it, and to read the names that scroll by before the credits. Each one was a man doing his job, accepting his role in the unit, and each one died serving his country and his friends to the best of his ability; - and because of that, they will never truly be gone.

Black Hawk Down, in theatres everywhere, is based upon a book by the same title, written by Mark Bowden. It was started as a newspaper series published by The Philadelphia Inquirer, and then later published as a book.

Mark Bowden visited Norwich University in April 2000 as part of the William E. Colby Military Writer's Symposium. His book, Black Hawk Down, (Pengiun Books: Feb. 2000) is available at the university bookstore

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