Randy Shughart & Gary Gordon

While not ranked high in terms of number of confirmed kills, Master Sergeant Gary Gordon and Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart are notable for their heroic action while assigned to a Delta Force Sniper Team during the events of  Operation Gothic Serpent, a joint-force assault mission to apprehend key advisers to Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid.  An operation made famous by the book and movie "Black Hawk Down".  After Blackhawk Super Six Four had been shot down by Aidid's militia, Gordon and Shughart extracted the pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Mike Durant, Bill Cleveland, Ray Frank, and Tommy Field from the aircraft, and established defensive positions around the crash site. Despite having inflicted heavy casualties against the Somalis, the two Delta snipers were too outnumbered and outgunned. Their ammunition nearly depleted, Gordon and Shughart were killed by Somali gunfire. It is believed that Gordon was first to be killed. His teammate Shughart retrieved Gordon's CAR-15 and gave it to Durant to use. Shortly after, Shughart was killed and pilot Durant was taken alive.

Concerning Shughart and Gordan, Durant made the comment "Without a doubt, I owe my life to these two men and their bravery...Those guys came in when they had to know it was a losing battle, There was nobody else left to back them up. If they had not come in, I wouldn't have survived." For their bravery and actions beyond the call of duty, the United States government awarded both Shugart and Gordon the Medal of Honor, the only snipers to have ever received the MOH.

Above: A model honoring Randy Shughart & Gary Gordon

Randy Shughart
Shughart, during his tenure as a Sergeant First Class.
Birth name	Randall David Shughart
Nickname(s)	"Randy"
Born	August 13, 1958 Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.
Died	October 3, 1993 (aged 35) Mogadishu, Somalia
Place of burial	Westminster Cemetery Carlisle, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1976–1993
Rank	Sergeant First Class
Unit	1st SFOD-Delta
Battles/wars	Operation Just Cause Battle of Mogadishu †
Awards	Medal of Honor(posthumous) Purple Heart

Gary Ivan Gordon
Gordon as a Sergeant First Class
Nickname(s)	"Gordy"
Born	August 30, 1960 Lincoln, Maine
Died	October 3, 1993 (aged 33) Mogadishu, Somalia †
Place of burial	Lincoln Cemetery, Penobscot County, Maine
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1978–1993
Rank	Master Sergeant
Unit	1st SFOD-Delta
Battles/wars	Operation Just Cause Battle of Mogadishu
Awards	Medal of Honor Purple Heart Meritorious Service Medal Army Commendation Medal Joint Service Achievement Medal (2) Joint Meritorious Unit Award Good Conduct Medal (4)