The film Black Hawk Down was a movie that focused mostly on the soldiers that serve our country in the military. In the film we get to see the struggle that they go through first hand when a plan to extract prisoners from enemy territory goes extremely bad. The mission that was supposed to be a thirty minute in and out deal turned into a major ordeal that lasted for hours when one black hawk helicopter was shot down by advisories. During this time we get to know a lot about the struggles that soldiers have to face when everything just goes badly. The one struggle that is truly explored is the relationship between looking out for all of your fellow soldiers and preserving the soldiers that are not in any sort of danger. This comes as real gray area in this movie as to what is the right course of action and what is just getting more men injured or killed than needed. This is something that the soldiers will have to face many times in this movie.

From the beginning of the film, it is clear to see that there is a strong relationship between all of the other soldiers. Before the battle that is to ensue, they all seem to be very happy in each other’s company at the barracks. They definitely fulfill the cliché that soldier become like brothers to one another. However, their happy and optimistic moods that they have at the barracks are going to change and change fast. When the men are first deployed to go on this mission, they are all very optimistic and treat it kind of like a joke. When they get there, things go badly right away when a soldier fall out of the helicopter. Immediately all of the men in the area are sanding in the line of fire trying to get the wounded soldier the care that he needs.

It only get worse from there when the black hawk is shot down. Although it only makes the mission longer than expected and more dangerous, they are ordered to go and secure the helicopter and get the men inside the helicopter out of the warzone. Without really flinching the men take up this extra task because they believe strongly that no men should get left behind. Things only manage to get worse, the convoy traveling through the city is taking major fire, another black hawk goes down and the bodies of the wounded and the dead start to pile up. For a while they continue to do everything they can to defend their fellow soldiers. However, eventually it becomes apparent that this is not working as the convoy is forced to go back and regroup as they have taken too many casualties.

We now start to see other soldiers questioning the actions being taken because it is only causing many more people than needed to get killed. However, no matter how questionable the plan is, there is no lack of volunteers going out to try to recover everyone from this mess that has been created. Many more men die out on the battlefield before the end of the movie. This leaves us with one question is wake of hell that transpired in the city. Should they have risked so much for the lives of a few men in the helicopter? Because of their attempts to secure the helicopter, exponentially more men were wounded or killed than if they had just gotten out of the city as fast as they possibly could, making no risks. If we look at the numbers, this makes sense. You complete the mission saving as many lives as possible with the sacrifice of a few men and a helicopter. Unfortunately, just looking at the numbers is not good enough in this situation because it is not the only factor. The factor the really drives the decision throughout Black Hawk Down is the men. All of the men have an obligation to each other to bring them back alive or dead. They do this because that is what they would expect of everyone else if they were in that situation. By following this code, it creates a strong bond between all the men and allows them to operate as a more efficient force. Following these moral reasons instead of pure numbers is why this mess transpired in the first place. Despite all the extra bloodshed, the soldiers picked to stay true to their moral standing and I’m sure none of them regret that decision.