MSG Gary I. Gordon

3 October 1993, Somalia

USASOC

A Lincoln, Maine, native, Master Sergeant Gary I. Gordon died on 3 October 1993 while supporting Operation CONTINUE HOPE in Somalia.

Gordon enlisted in the U.S. Army as a Combat Engineer in 1978. After completing One Station Unit Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, he attended Airborne School, followed by the Special Forces Qualification Course at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He reported to Company C, 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group, at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, in 1980, serving as a Special Forces Engineer Sergeant until 1986. While assigned to 10th SFG, he completed the Ranger Course before being selected as a Special Operations Team Member. He participated in numerous operations, including Operation JUST CAUSE, over the next several years, rising to the rank of Master Sergeant.

In August 1993, MSG Gordon deployed to Somalia as part of Task Force Ranger. At a critical moment in the Battle of Mogadishu, MSG Gordon and his teammate, SFC Randall D. Shughart, volunteered to be inserted at the crash site of an MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. Both soldiers were killed while defending the crew of the downed helicopter. He was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, U.S. Army Special Forces Command, at the time of his death.

For his valorous actions above and beyond the call of duty, MSG Gordon was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. In 2025, Fort Eisenhower, Georgia, was renamed Fort Gordon in his honor.