Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Eversmann, one soldier on whose experience the book and recent movie Black Hawk Down is based, spoke to Army ROTC students yesterday.

Eversmann encouraged students to be dedicated and "morally straight" future military leaders, while outlining his experience in a firefight on Oct. 3, 1993 in Mogadishu, Somalia -- the event depicted in Black Hawk Down.

"We need great warriors in our army," Eversmann said. "If you are not committed to taking care of your subordinates on the battle field that is guilt you will never get rid of."

The battle, fought with about 150 U.S. soldiers in Mogadishu, began after two black hawk helicopters were shot down during a mission designed to capture Somali clan leaders in an area of the city filled with about 8,000 armed Somali soldiers, he said.

The battle changed Evermann's perspective on life, he said.

"If no one's shooting at you, it's a good day," Eversmann said. "Don't drive yourself to an early grave stressing over things that don't matter."

Comparing the adversaries he confronted in Somalia with terrorist forces in Afghanistan, Eversmann said America's perceptions of its enemies are often exaggerated.

"They aren't giants, they're thugs, and poorly trained," he said. "There were just a lot of them there that day."

Criticizing the poor fighting capabilities of the Somali fighters, Eversmann cited the number of casualties on either side of the battle. While 19 American soldiers died, 500-2,000 Somali died that day, he said.

Eversmann also said the movie over-dramatized many of the battle's details, and described his reaction after reading the movie's screenplay.

"I said to myself, 'My God, this thing sucks!'" he said. "It's a product of Hollywood."

Some aspects of the movie, such as the depiction of Pvt. 1st Class Todd Blackburn as "the new kid," certain conflicts between soldiers and his character's personality were false, he said.

"I thought it was kind of fruity when they showed Eversmann in the movie as an idealistic guy," he said.

He also said the movie should not have pegged him as its hero.

Delta Sgt. 1st Class Randy Shughart and Delta Master Sgt. Gary Gordon, two soldiers who died in the effort to save a wounded soldier, Chief Warrant Officer Mike Durant, were the true heroes of the firefight, Eversmann said.

"They both gave their lives trying to save Mike Durant," he said. "That's what we do. That's dedication." Eversmann said Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down, gave a good account of the battle in his book.

"I give Bowden an A on his depiction of a pretty complicated event in a 300 page book that everyone can read and understand," he said.

Evermann's speech received a standing ovation from about 150 Army ROTC students present, such as Ben Brownlee (freshman-engineering).

"Someday I'm going to rely on people like Sergeant Eversmann for guidance," Brownlee said. "I think there are definitely good lessons and good advice we can take away from this presentation."

Rebecca Ellis (senior-history) also appreciated the advice Eversmann gave.

"I found him very informative, very knowledgeable on the topic; and he gave a lot of knowledge to future officers," she said.