Soldiers recall battle in Somalia

They weren't the key characters portrayed in the movie "Black Hawk Down."

Indeed, few people would recognize the names of soldiers Michael Goodale, John Belman, Raleigh Cash and Gerry Izzo.

But the four men were each involved in the real-life story -- later the subject of the major motion picture -- of how American soldiers tried to capture warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid and his aides during the 1993 civil war in Somalia.

More than 100 people spent Wednesday listening to the four men recount their experiences at the First Division Museum at Cantigny Park near Wheaton.

Goodale, a former Army Ranger and programs manager for the museum, began the evening by recounting the narrative of the 1993 mission in which two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down.

It led to an intense struggle to evacuate the dead and wounded in the middle of a hostile section of the African city. More than 70 U.S. soldiers were wounded and 19 lost their lives.

Goodale, who now lives in Winfield, was shot in the thigh but made it out alive. He spent more than 12 hours on the radio monitoring where American helicopters were shooting.

The soldiers were asked a variety of questions by the audience, from the types of weapons they used while stationed in Somalia to their state of mind during the height of the conflict.

Portions of the movie were shown to underscore each of the soldiers' experiences.

While the movie got much of the story correct, Goodale and his colleagues emphasized it was just one of many perspectives shared by everyone involved in the battle.

"When I got back to the hangar, I didn't know half the stuff going on," said Belman, a former Army Ranger involved as part of a search and rescue team. "Still today we're piecing together (the events) through each other's eyes."