The Herald-Mail ONLINE - Subject of 'Black Hawk Down' speaks in Chambersburg (print view) Page 1 of 2 The Herald-Mail ONLINE http://www.herald-mail.com/ 05/29/2008 Subject of 'Black Hawk Down' speaks in Chambersburg By DON AINES
[email protected] CHAMBERSBURG, PA. — Retired Chief Warrant Officer Michael J. Durant knows what it is to be “In the Company of Heroes,” the title of the book he wrote recounting his military career, the most harrowing episode of which was the time he spent as the prisoner of a Somali warlord after his helicopter was shot down over Mogadishu on Oct. 3, Michael J. Durant, right, talks with Franklin 1993. County Area Development Corp. President L. Michael Ross Wednesday at the Letterkenny Business Opportunity That 11-day ordeal was one of the central stories to Mark Bowden’s Showcase. Durant, who survived being shot 1999 best-seller “Black Hawk Down,” as well as the 2001 film version of down and captured in Mogadishu, Somalia, the book, in which Durant was portrayed by Ron Eldard. in 1993, spoke at the dinner about the personal, political and military lessons Before speaking to the 177 guests Wednesday at a dinner kicking off the learned from the battle. (Credit: Don Aines / third Letterkenny Business Opportunity Showcase, Durant sat down and Staff Writer) talked about the lessons he and the military learned from the Battle of Mogadishu. “Look back, but don’t stare” was a piece of personal advice Durant said he has taken to heart. It came in a letter from a cancer survivor, the only member of her support group still alive.