Black Hawk Down quotes

View Quote General Garrison: Same mission template as before. At 1545 Assault Force Delta will infiltrate the target building and seize all suspects within. Security force, Rangers. Four Ranger chalks under command of Captain Steele will rope in at 1546 and hold a four-corner perimeter around the target building. No one gets in or out. Extraction force, Lieutenant Colonel McKnight's humvee column, will drive in at 1547 on Hawlwadig Road and hold just short of the Olympic Hotel, here, and wait for the green light. Now, once Delta gives the word, McKnight's column will move to the target building and load the prisoners on flatbed trucks. Immediately after the trucks are loaded the four Ranger chalks will collapse back to the target building, load up on humvees, and the entire ground force will exfil the three miles back to base. Mission time from incursion to extraction, no longer than thirty minutes.
[...]
[Cut to Matthews, McKnight and Harrell having a conversation on Garrison's briefing]
Colonel Matthews: What's the matter, Danny? Something you don't like?
Lt.Col. McKnight: No Spectre gunships, daylight instead of night, mid-afternoon when they're all ****ed up on khat, only part of the city where Aidid can mount a serious counterattack on short notice... what's not to like?
Colonel Harrell: Life's imperfect.
McKnight: Yeah, for you two, circling above it at five hundred feet, it's imperfect. Down in the street... it's unforgiving.

View Quote Harrell: Uniform 6-4, left turn, left turn.
McKnight: Romeo 6-4, I need to know before I get to the GOD-DAMNED STREET!
Harrell: You need to slow down. there's a delay from the time directions are relayed from Surveillance to JOC, and then to me.
McKnight: We can't slow down! We're taking heavy enemy fire, we can't slow down!
[...]
Harrell: You should see the crash site directly ahead.
McKnight: All I see is a roadblock!
Harrell: All right... I'll have to figure out another way.

View Quote Lt. Beals: Ask Sergeant Eversmann. He likes the Skinnies.
Unidentified Chalk Four soldier: Sergeant Eversmann, you really like the Skinnies?
SSG Eversmann: It's not that I like them or don't like them. I respect them.

View Quote Mr. Atto: I see not catching Aidid is becoming routine.
[...]
General Garrison: We're not leaving Somalia until we find him. And we will find him.
Mr.Atto: Don't make the mistake of thinking because I grew up without running water I am simple General. I do know something about history. See all this? It's simply shaping tomorrow. A tomorrow without a lot of Arkansas white-boys' ideas in it.
Gen. Garrison: Well, I wouldn't know about that. I'm from Texas.
Mr. Atto: Mr. Garrison, I think you should not have come here. This is civil war. This is our war, not yours.
Garrison: Three hundred thousand dead and counting. That's not a war, Mr. Atto. That's genocide.

View Quote Nelson: The humvees ain't coming back, dude.
Twombly: What? Were we supposed to go to them?
Nelson: I thought they were supposed to come to us.
Twombly: I think we're supposed to go to them.
Nelson: Shit.
Twombly: Okay, let's go to the crash site.
Nelson: Okay. Just don't fire that thing so close to my head. I can barely hear as it is.
[...]
(Twombly spots a group of Somali militia closing in on them.)
Twombly: Shit! Get down! (He fires a long burst inches above Nelson's head.)
Nelson: What did I just tell you? I swear to God if you do that again -- (Twombly fires on another group of armed Somalis; Nelson screams.)
Twombly: You okay? Nelson, you all right?
Nelson: WHAT?!?

View Quote Pilla: They're shooting at us! Colonel, they're shooting at us!
McKnight: Well, shoot back!

View Quote SFC. Shughart: (on radio) C-2, we're at the 6-4 crash site. Securing a perimeter. (to Durant) You all right?
CWO Durant: Yeah, I'm good.
Shughart, (handing him a weapon): You're locked and loaded. Any Skinnies come around these corners, you watch our backs. (He turns and starts outside.)
Durant: Hey - where's the rescue squad?
Shughart: We're it. (exits.)

View Quote Sgt Struecker: All right, gather around! Durant's 6-4 is down. We're going back in to get him.
SP4 Thomas: That's crazy! Is there even anyone alive on that?
Struecker: Doesn't matter. No one gets left behind, you know that. All right, refit, max out ammo and grenades. You got five.
Struecker (sees Sizemore suited up): Sizemore, where are you going?
Sizemore: With you guys.
Struecker: Not with that cast on, you're not. (Sizemore tries to cut cast with knife) okay-okay-okay, go get your K-pot.
Struecker: Hey - talk to me.
Thomas: I can't go back out there.
Struecker: Thomas, everyone feels the same way you do, all right? It's what you do right now that makes a difference. It's your call. Hoo-ah?
Thomas (after long pause): Hoo-ah.

View Quote Sgt. Eversmann: There's a Black Hawk down. Twombly, Nelson — you're gonna stay stay here and hold this corner and then exfil with the humvees. Galentine, Schmid — your'e coming with me. All right? Let's go.
Nelson: How come I gotta stay back here?
Eversmann: Because you're dependable. (To Schmid and Galentine) All right, let's go!
Nelson: I hate being dependable man.

View Quote Sgt. Sanderson: Captain Steele, we gotta move or we're gonna get pinned down!
Capt. Steele: We are moving just as fast as we can. Now you do your job and let me do mine. Over.
[...]
Capt. Steele: What the **** are you doing out there?
Sgt. Sanderson: I'm doing my job. Now we gotta get to that crash site. We gotta get out on that street, and we gotta move. And you have got to keep up, sir!
Steele: Don't you ever give me orders, Sergeant! We are combat ineffective, you understand me? We got too many damn wounded to move!
Sanderson: Then give me some of your shooters and I'll circle us to the bird.
Steele: Grimes, you're with Chalk Four? (Grimes nods) All right, hook up with Delta and link up with Sergeant Eversmann. The rest of you men secure this position and treat the wounded. We'll wait for the convoy. Then we'll rally at the crash site. Roger?
Sanderson: My guys, let's go!

View Quote SSG Eversmann: You know, it's kind of funny. Beautiful beach, beautiful sun... this could almost be a good place to visit.
Hoot: Almost.
Eversmann: You don't think we should be here.
Hoot: You know what I think? It don't really matter what I think. Once that first bullet goes past your head, politics and all that shit just goes right out the window.

View Quote (A hasty planning session outside the target building.)
Sgt. "Griz" Martin: We still got guys inside.
Sgt. Sanderson: All right, all right. I'm gonna go to the crash.
Martin: You take the rest of the team, I'll finish loading the prisoners.
Capt. Steele: Negative! We'll proceed to the crash site together, secure the perimeter, and wait for the humvees. Roger, sir?
Lt.Col McKnight: Roger that.
Capt. Steele: Follow my lead. Sergeant, are you receiving me?
Sanderson: Yeah, I heard you. We should be leaving soon.
McKnight: All right, we need to move out now! I'll finish loading the prisoners and pick you up at the crash site.
Steele: Let's move out!

View Quote (Captain Steele is visiting his wounded in a makeshift hospital.)
Capt. Steele: Ruiz? Sergeant?
Sgt. Ruiz (weakly): Captain.
Steele: Lorenzo, how you doing?
Ruiz: It went in and out, so the medic said I should be okay in a couple of days.
Steele: That's great news.
Ruiz: Are we going after them?
Steele: You bet your ass we will! We gotta regroup.
Ruiz: Don't go out there without me. Don't go back out there without me. I can still do my job.

View Quote (CWO Durant has been taken prisoner.)
Somali Militiaman: You are the Ranger who kills my people?
CWO Durant: I'm not a Ranger. I'm a pilot.
[...]
Durant: What do you want with me?
Militiaman: You have taken hostages. We... have you.
Durant: My government will never negotiate for me.
Militiaman: Then perhaps you and I can negotiate, huh? Soldier to soldier.
Durant: I'm not in charge.
Militiaman: Course not. You have the power to kill, but not negotiate. In Somalia, killing is negotiation. Do you really think if you get General Aidid, we will simply put down our weapons and adopt American democracy? That the killing will stop? We know this: without victory, there can be no peace. There will always be killing, you see? This is how things are, in our world.

View Quote (CWO Mike Durant's helicopter has taken an RPG hit.)
Col. Matthews: Super Six-Four, you all right?
Durant: This is Super Six-Four. We're good.
Matthews: You sure? You look like you got clipped pretty good.
Durant: Instrument panels are okay. No, we're good. Got a slight vibration in the pedals, but we're good.
Matthews: All right, put her down on the airfield, Super Six-Four. Have it checked out just to be safe.
Durant: Roger. (To copilot) Ray, I'm getting a lot of movement in these pedals. Check the systems again.
(En route to the airfield, tail rotor assembly disintegrates.)
Durant: We lost the tail rotor, it's gone. Six-four is going down! Six-four is going in hard! Six-four is going down! We're going down! RAY!
[...]
Gen. Garrison: Get Struecker's column back out there. They need to get to Durant's crash site fast. I want 'em out of there. All of them.