Before becoming a war hero, Eversmann joined the army on a whim. After finishing his tenure as student court chairman at Hampden-Sydney, he had to take a semester break from school because of academic difficulty. The Army sounded fun, so he enlisted. He spent 4 years with the 10th Mountain Division in Watertown, New York, before joining the highly trained Ranger battalion. Two years later, his regiment was sent to Somalia as part of a U.N. peacekeeping operation. Warlord Mohammed Farrah Aidid and his guerillas had been stealing food from the starving Somalis, and America's best were being sent to raid a meeting and to abduct his top henchmen. In his first true combat mission, Eversmann was charged with leading a group of 12 Rangers into the city's teeming market to provide cover while Delta force made a quick snatch-and-grab.

The raid was to be hermetically precise-30 minutes max. But things went terribly wrong. Aidid's men had gotten wind of the planned raid and were fully prepared to ambush the interlopers. When the Rangers descended from their helicopters, they were met by a barrage of gunfire from all sides. Once the Rangers were on the ground, the embattled Mogadishu citizens, sick of U.S. interference, joined the militia in their attack against the soldiers.

Under heavy fire, Eversmann's men were pinned in their positions and in dire need of support. Black Hawk helicopters hovered overhead, attempting to provide covering fire and using their rotor wash to disperse the crowds on the streets. But when two of the $7 million choppers were shot down, the Rangers were on their own. For the next 15 hours, over 100 soldiers fought for their lives against an entire city that wanted them dead.

Holding fast to the Ranger creed-"I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy"-it was up to the Rangers, those initially in peril, to rescue the downed Black Hawk crews and recover their own men. By morning, 18 American soldiers were dead, many others wounded.

Mark Bowden first told the gripping story in his New York Times bestseller, Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War, which opens with a narrative about Eversmann and his crew. When the story was rewritten for the box office, Eversmann's character won top billing. Although flattered to be chosen as the protagonist, he is quick to point out that his character is a composite, assuming the actions of several soldiers in order to make the plot more streamlined.

The real Matt Eversmann '88 greets Chief Warrant Officer Sam Shemp at the Washington, D.C., premiere of Black Hawk Down. In the movie, Eversmann was portrayed by Josh Hartnett.

Aside from character representation, Eversmann feels the movie accurately depicts the harsh realities of the fight. "If you want to know what urban combat really feels like, go see this movie," he often tells young cadets. Thanks to grainy cinematography, abrupt editing, and dramatic use of sound (for which it won two Oscars), the film elicits visceral feelings of fear and confusion hauntingly familiar to Eversmann. But one thing will always be strangely unfamiliar-the sound of his own name echoing from the big screen. "It's the most absurd sensation I can describe," he told Larry King during a television interview.

Although Eversmann welcomes the day when he won't suspect journalists at the other end of every ringing phone, the media spotlight is not without its benefits, such as numerous trips to Los Angeles, where he got to know renowned director Ridley Scott and producer Jerry Bruckheimer and mingled with various other silver screen darlings. "But a great thing about this movie nonsense," he said, "is that it has put me back in touch with a lot of my Hampden-Sydney buddies."

In the fall of 2000, before his name became a Hollywood buzz-word, Eversmann accepted a Bachelor of Arts, honoris causa, at Hampden-Sydney's fall convocation. Nearly 20 of his classmates and Sigma Chi fraternity brothers came for the event. Reading the honorary degree citation, President Emeritus Samuel V. Wilson said, "From Natural Bridge, Virginia, to Mogadishu, Somalia, is a long and improbable journey in the best of circumstances, which hardly prevailed in October 1993.. There the testing-fires of combat would yield up one special, authentic hero."

Since the premier of the movie, many have attached the words hero and leader to Eversmann's name. However, he defers any claim to valor. "We were doing what we were trained for," he said. When asked about his expedient leadership that day, Eversmann credits his time at the College. "Being confident in your values and knowing how to treat people with respect are fundamental tenants to effective leadership, especially in trying circumstances," he said. "Hampden-Sydney instills those characteristics-honor and respect-and that's what I took away from my time there. Hampden-Sydney gentlemen have the right preparation to be leaders in any profession."