Hey, dude, I hadn't seen the movie and I didn't want to read this until I'd seen it. Thankfully, Netflix has "Black Hawk Down" on streaming. Wonderfully done, man -- seriously.
I didn't think this one would appeal to you at all, actually. First story I've ever written that doesn't pass the Bechdel Test with flying colors (it also doesn't flunk, I don't think, because it doesn't have any female characters at all).
Glad you enjoyed it, my friend, and thanks for reading.
Yes, it's true that I prefer female protagonists but I do read and enjoy military (sci-fi) fiction with male protagonists. And as you said, you didn't flunk because "Black Hawk Down" doesn't have any female characters.
(Just out of curiosity, in reality were there any female medical personnel at the home base? Could there have been?)
The "rules" (in quotes because they were unwritten) back then precluded the deployment of female personnel to any but established bases. Beyond that, the US units deployed were drawn from the 75th Rangers Battalion and 10th Mountain Regiment: at the time they had no female personnel, not even attached to their headquarters administrative staff. As far as I know, there were no foreign female military personnel deployed to Somalia, either by the US or by other nations employed solely in UN peacekeeping operations.
There were female doctors and nurses employed by the UN, but they were civilians, and after direct threats were made against those women, they were immediately evacuated by the British and Malaysians. That was about 3 months before the events of Black Hawk Down.
Comment on All in the Grind
mayIreadtoday Mon 19 Aug 2013 02:20AM UTC
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Needled_Ink_1975 Mon 19 Aug 2013 03:06PM UTC
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mayIreadtoday Mon 19 Aug 2013 06:03PM UTC
Last Edited Mon 19 Aug 2013 06:04PM UTC
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Needled_Ink_1975 Mon 19 Aug 2013 06:49PM UTC
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mayIreadtoday Mon 19 Aug 2013 08:05PM UTC
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