Respect á þennan mann og félaga hans. Rosalegt hugrekki

Sergeant First Class (SFC) Shughart, U.S. Army, distinguished himself by actions above and beyond the call of duty on 3 October 1993, while serving as a Sniper Team Member, United States Army Special Operations Command with Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu, Somalia.

Shughart provided precision sniper fire from the lead helicopter during an assault on the target building and at two helicopter crash sites, while being subjected to intense automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade fire. While providing critical suppressive fire at the second crash site of Super 64, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader, Master Sergeant Gary Gordon, learned that ground forces were not immediately available to secure the site. Shughart and his team leader unhesitatingly volunteered to be inserted to protect the four critically wounded personnel, despite being well aware of the growing number of enemy personnel closing in on the site.

After their third request to be inserted, Shughart and his team leader received permission to perform this volunteer mission. When debris and enemy ground fire at the site caused them to abort the first attempt, he and his team leader were inserted one hundred meters south of the crash site. Shortly after, the Blackhawk that had inserted Gordon and Shughart was hit by an RPG, but managed to crash land back at the U.S. controlled airport.

Equipped with only his M-14 rifle and a Colt M1911 .45 caliber pistol, SFC Shughart and his team leader, while under intense small arms fire from the enemy, fought their way through a dense maze of shanties and shacks to reach the critically injured crew members of Super Six Four. He pulled the crew members, including pilot Mike Durant, from the aircraft, and established a perimeter which placed him and his fellow sniper in the most vulnerable position.

Shughart used his rifle and side arm to kill an undetermined number of attackers while traveling the perimeter, protecting the downed crew. After his team leader was fatally wounded and his own rifle ammunition exhausted, Shughart recovered Gordon's CAR-15 and searched the helicopter's wreckage, recovering several of the crew chief's M-16s. He returned to Durant, giving him Gordon's CAR-15 with only the last magazine half full. Gordon had managed to fire all but 15 rounds before being fatally wounded. Shughart then returned to the wreckage without saying another word. When he finished the M-16s' ammunition, SFC Shughart continued to fight armed only with his Colt .45 pistol until he was fatally wounded. His actions saved Durant's life.

In the 2001 movie adapted from the Battle of Mogadishu (Black Hawk Down by Ridley Scott), SFC Shughart was portrayed by actor Johnny Strong.