LINCOLN, Maine (AP) — A U.S. Army special forces soldier who died while performing a rescue of a downed helicopter crew in Somalia was immortalized Monday with a memorial in his hometown.
Master Sgt. Gary Gordon, a native of Lincoln, Maine, pleaded to be allowed to protect the helicopter crew members against a mob in Mogadishu in 1993. He and another soldier were killed.
The pilot who survived was among those in attendance for the unveiling of the memorial honoring the Medal of Honor recipient.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who attended Monday’s event, said the “integrity, devotion to duty, and courage that Master Sergeant Gordon demonstrated in Somalia nearly three decades ago were forged right here in Lincoln, in his family and in this community.”
Gordon was a Delta Force sniper. He was portrayed by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in the 2001 movie Black Hawk Down.
During the rescue, Gordon pulled the injured pilot, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Michael Durant, from the helicopter. Durant, of Berlin, New Hampshire, was in attendance at Monday’s ceremony.
Gordon and another Delta Force member was killed by enemy fire during the aftermath of the rescue.
