Fort Gordon and the U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence will be officially dedicated in honor of Master Sgt. Gary I. Gordon on Sept. 26, according to a press release from the United States Army Cyber Center of Excellence and Fort Gordon.
Gordon, a Medal of Honor recipient, was recognized for his heroism during the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, where he lost his life protecting the crew of a downed Black Hawk helicopter.
According to the Fort Gordon press release, the battle involved some of the most intense urban combat U.S. forces had experienced since the Vietnam War.
The 1991 collapse of Somalia’s government had led to civil war and widespread famine. As humanitarian aid was often seized by warlords, U.S. and United Nations forces intervened in late 1992, delivering food and conducting security missions.
Violence escalated throughout 1993, prompting the deployment of a joint special operations task force known as Task Force Ranger in August of that year.
On Oct. 3, 1993, during Task Force Ranger’s seventh mission, two MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters were shot down in Mogadishu. Gordon and Sgt. 1st Class Randy Shugart volunteered to be inserted at the crash site.
Under intense enemy fire, they provided security and medical assistance to the crew. Gordon continued to fight after exhausting his ammunition and was ultimately fatally wounded. His actions saved the life of the pilot, according to the press release.
Their bravery was later chronicled in a best-selling book and portrayed in the 2001 film “Black Hawk Down.”
Gordon’s legacy has been honored in numerous ways, according to a Fort Gordon press release. The U.S. Navy named a sealift ship, USNS Gordon, after him in 1996.
An elementary school near Fort Bragg, North Carolina, also bears his name, and there is a memorial for him in his hometown of Lincoln, Maine.
In 2018, a Military Operations in Urban Terrain facility at Fort Polk, Louisiana, was named for both Gordon and Shugart, according to a press release from Fort Gordon.
The Sept. 26 dedication ceremony will be livestreamed on the Cyber Center of Excellence’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ArmyCyberCoE.
Additional details about the event will be shared in the coming weeks through Fort Gordon’s official social media channels and press announcements.
