Top 5 American Snipers #2

     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.
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 Army-USA-OR-07-2014.svg Sergeant First Class
Unit US Army Special Operations Command SSI.svg 1st SFOD-Delta
Battles/wars Operation Just Cause
Battle of Mogadishu 
Awards Medal of Honor ribbon.svg Medal of Honor(posthumous)
Purple Heart BAR.svg Purple Heart
Gary Ivan Gordon
Master Sergeant Gary Gordon   Cmoh army.jpg
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 Department of the Army Seal.svg United States Army
Years of service 1978–1993
Rank Army-USA-OR-08b.svg Master Sergeant
Unit US Army Special Operations Command SSI.svg 1st SFOD-Delta
Battles/wars Operation Just Cause
Battle of Mogadishu
Awards Medal of Honor ribbon.svg Medal of Honor
Purple Heart BAR.svg Purple Heart
Meritorious Service ribbon.svg Meritorious Service Medal
Army Commendation Medal ribbon.svg Army Commendation Medal
Us jointservachiev rib.png Joint Service Achievement Medal (2)
Joint Meritorious Unit Award-3d.svg Joint Meritorious Unit Award
Army Good Conduct ribbon.svg Good Conduct Medal (4)