After graduating high school in Wilkes County, NC and starting college on a football scholarship at Elon College, I transferred to Appalachian State University in Boone, NC with the intention of playing football, after meeting with their coaching staff. That would not happen. I Instead enlisted in the US Army as The Gulf War […]
An expanded excerpt from the full chapter. Setting: the early morning hours of September 25th, 1993 in Mogadishu Somalia. A chapter that could easily be called “The Original Black Hawk Down”. Based on the firsthand accounts of 1-87 INF, 2-14 INF, 3-75 RGR and 5th Special Forces soldiers. Blood on the Altar The incident we’re […]
Some details have been excluded in this condensed preview version of the events. This chapter sets the stage for the climax in Somalia and more importantly, shows you where the war on terror actually started. These are the first Americans known to have directly faced Al Qaeda, long before most of America or the world knew […]
With a last name like Clayborn, his nickname was chosen long before he ever even dreamed of becoming a soldier. It was even decided long before he was ever born. CSM Kenneth Lee Clayborn got his start in the Army like the rest of us in A CO 1-87 IN and like many of us, […]
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17 Poe is the iron who has sharpened every soldier who had the privilege of spending any time at all around him in the Army. He is Iron Mike incarnate. Show me a good soldier and if you look, you will find the good leaders who molded him; […]
Michael Jackson is Gay. Before telling you about this incident, let me first be clear that I have nothing against Michael Jackson or gay people, nor is another human being’s sexual orientation anything that I have ever concerned myself with caring about. As a teenager, I listened to Michael Jackson quite a bit. I guess. […]
On today, his birthday, Behind the Gun is going to tell you about Gerard Gutierrez as we celebrate his service, and also his birthday. Gutierrez, or “Gute” (like GOOT), fought in Mogadishu on Oct.3rd and 4th as a SAW gunner with 3rd Platoon C CO. 1-87 IN, and was wounded during the Battle of Mogadishu. Gute […]
I’m sure many have heard of the term “1,000-yard stare”, a term used to describe the blank expression some get after experiencing war. And I will never forget the first time I knew for sure I had seen it. And it wouldn’t be the last. Though it would have been nice to have a tougher, […]
In the Lower Shabelle Hoose region of Somalia, outside a small village somewhere between the cities of Qoryoley and Barawa, on February 16 of 1993, I would experience what I now refer to as the ‘The Gift’. As I describe the events of that evening, I am sure you might misconstrue the meaning of this […]
When it comes to the topic of race and equality, the military by large is light years ahead of the rest of society. Though it wasn’t always that way until equal rights became the law of the land, just as same sex marriage became the law of the land recently. The military doesn’t pick and […]
Behind The Gun: Poncho's Last Walk 