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00:04Given recent events that have developed in Venezuela,
00:07in which a U.S. military helicopter raid snatched the country's president in the middle of the night
00:12and flew off with them without a single American fatality,
00:15I thought that it would be beneficial to reflect on a different American military helicopter raid
00:19that also sought to apprehend a wanted man that went much, much more disastrously
00:24than what just took place in Venezuela.
00:26The 1993 Black Hawk Down incident that took place in Mogadishu, Somalia.
00:31In 1991, a coalition of rebel groups overthrew then-Somali dictator Sian Barr,
00:38throwing the country into a devastating civil war.
00:40In December of 1992, then-U.S. President George H.W. Bush launched a U.S. intervention into Somalia,
00:47sending some 25,000 American troops at the tail end of his presidency.
00:51Their goal was to maintain order and, chiefly, protect U.N. aid workers
00:56who were struggling to distribute food to the hungry population amidst warring militias.
01:01Bush was already on his way out, having lost the latest election to Clinton.
01:05And so, he saw bringing the U.S. to Somalia as one last act of apparent humanitarian goodwill.
01:12But then, months later, well into the Clinton presidency,
01:15on the 3rd of October, 1993, in the midst of the Somali Civil War,
01:20U.S. soldiers conducted a raid in the hopes of capturing lieutenants of the Somali warlord,
01:25General Mohamed Farai Deed.
01:27But what began as a straightforward, supposedly hour-long mission
01:31would quickly spiral into something worse, much longer and more costly.
01:37The fallout would live on in infamy for the disaster that followed,
01:40with two Blackhawk helicopters crashing after being struck by RPGs,
01:45in a catastrophic incident that would become known as Blackhawk Down.
01:50In the 17-hour-long, brutal standoff that would ensue after the crashes,
01:55more Americans would be killed in a single battle
01:58than they had been in any other since the Vietnam War, up to that point.
02:03After Somalia's longtime ruler, Mohamed Sian Bar, was toppled in 1891,
02:08Somalia began a rapid descent into becoming what is now considered to be a failed state.
02:13After the war, UN troops had been deployed to Somalia in the hopes of maintaining border,
02:18in particular to address civilians' food needs in response to the famine
02:22that had gripped the country after the fighting had ended.
02:24In total, some 300,000 people in Somalia would ultimately starve to death.
02:30In March of 1993, the various warring factions had signed a peace settlement.
02:35However, one of the signatories, a militant political faction called the SNA,
02:40or the Somali National Alliance, disregarded the settlement entirely.
02:44Somali society was highly stratified between members of its five different clans
02:49and their various sub-clans.
02:51The SNA, then, was largely composed of members of the Abarg-Dir clan,
02:55a sub-clan of the Hawia clan,
02:58and headed by one of their own, General Mohamed Farai Deed.
03:01The SNA had formed an opposition to former President Mohamed Siyad Bar,
03:06who had been in power for 22 years,
03:09and whose dictatorial rule was marked by massive human rights abuses.
03:13When Siyad Bar's regime was overthrown in 1991,
03:17Deed played a significant role as a leader of the rebel faction,
03:20the United Somali Congress.
03:22And Deed himself came from an extensive military background.
03:26He had trained first at an infantry school in Rome,
03:29and then worked under the Italian police force in the 1950s.
03:32Then, following Somalia's independence in 1960,
03:36he became a lieutenant in the Somali National Army.
03:39In 1966, Deed later studied post-graduate military science at the elite institution,
03:45the Frunzia Military Academy in the Soviet Union.
03:48Well-trained, educated, and effectively in control of Mogadishu following the Civil War,
03:53A Deed would ultimately become one of the UN's most wanted men.
03:57Following an attack in Mogadishu on Pakistani UN peacekeepers in June of 1993 that killed 24 of them,
04:04and that was largely attributed to A Deed's forces,
04:06the UN issued a warrant for A Deed's arrest.
04:09But even with the presence of international forces, instability continued persisting.
04:14For one, Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia,
04:17was a big city home to over a million people,
04:20a large portion of whom were themselves heavily armed.
04:23Mogadishu was also difficult to traverse on land,
04:26usually heavily congested with traffic.
04:29The U.S. troops, therefore,
04:31especially favored the ease of traversing the city aerially with helicopters instead.
04:36On the 3rd of October, 1993,
04:38after receiving a tip about the location of two of A Deed's top men,
04:42U.S. forces consisting of a group of special forces known as Task Force Ranger,
04:46planned a mission to close in on it.
04:48The objective was to capture two of A Deed's lieutenants.
04:51His foreign minister, Omar Salad Elmi,
04:54and his top political advisor, Abdi Hassan Awale,
04:58who were both meeting in Mogadishu that day
05:00in the hopes that they would ultimately lead to A Deed himself.
05:03By then neutralizing A Deed,
05:05the hope ultimately was that the SNA might crumble
05:07and restore some semblance of stability to Somalia.
05:11And this wasn't the first time they had tried this either.
05:14The U.S. had previously attempted, unsuccessfully,
05:17to kill A Deed in July of 1993,
05:20in a raid that would later become known as Bloody Monday.
05:23On the 12th of July,
05:25U.N. helicopters had fired on a Habar-Gadir command center
05:28used by A Deed's gunmen,
05:30with 17 United States Cobra helicopter gunships
05:34and Black Hawk reconnaissance helicopters
05:35firing 16 missiles and more than 2,000 rounds
05:39of 20-millimeter cannon fire.
05:41Reportedly, the attack killed 13 and injured 11,
05:45though SNA members claimed far higher numbers,
05:48with their own claims of 73 killed and 200 wounded.
05:53The independent Red Cross count
05:55ultimately listed 53 casualties related to the incident.
05:59A Deed himself, it turned out,
06:00hadn't even been present in the building.
06:02Regardless, the attack significantly changed
06:04the public perception of U.S. forces
06:06as careless and murderous for the worse,
06:09increasing hostility towards their presence
06:11and validating the SNA's fierce anti-Americanism
06:15and their desire to rid Somalia
06:17of American influence completely.
06:20Following the attack, in response,
06:22an angry mob armed with guns and knives
06:24killed four journalists who were trying to cover the story.
06:28An Associated Press photographer from Germany,
06:30a Reuters photographer with British and American citizenship,
06:33another Reuters photographer,
06:35and a Reuters sound technician.
06:37Following this violent reprisal,
06:39U.S. Rangers were deployed to Mogadishu.
06:41And a couple months later,
06:43early on the morning of the 25th of September, 1993,
06:46not even a week before what would become an infamous operation,
06:50Somali militiamen shot down a Black Hawk helicopter
06:53with an RPG over at a Deed-controlled area of Mogadishu,
06:57killing three service members on board.
06:59It was in this delicate, hostile context
07:02that the U.S. planned yet another raid to try and capture a Deed.
07:06Around 1.50 p.m. on the 3rd of October, 1993,
07:10through a local informant,
07:12the CIA had confirmed that Salad Anawale
07:14would be meeting other high-ranking SNA clan officials
07:17about a block from the Olympic Hotel.
07:19The Olympic Hotel was in Mogadishu's Bakara Market area,
07:23an open-air market in a particularly hostile area,
07:26and the site of many illegal activities and forgeries.
07:30The area was especially dangerous
07:32because it was particularly heavily populated
07:34by the Hbarg-Adir clan,
07:36and therefore loyalists to a Deed.
07:39While they prepared,
07:40they surveyed the building with helicopters.
07:42The team included 160 men,
07:45the average age of whom was just 19.
07:48The equipment consisted of 19 aircraft,
07:50including 12 Black Hawk helicopters,
07:53and 12 vehicles were deployed for the operation.
07:56Each of the Black Hawks was also armed
07:58with 7.62-millimeter miniguns,
08:00each capable of firing 4,000 rounds per minute
08:03or 10 rounds per second per barrel.
08:06The objective was to approach the building with the aircraft,
08:09land 40 soldiers' worth of Delta Force teams
08:11on the street outside of the building,
08:13and then storm it,
08:14while the Black Hawks remained hovering above.
08:17Then, once the mission's objective was completed,
08:19forces would exit back to base via the convoy of 12 vehicles,
08:23nine Humvees,
08:24and three five-ton trucks,
08:26led by Lieutenant Colonel Danny McKnight.
08:29This kind of an exit was deemed necessary
08:31since it was impossible to safely land Black Hawks
08:33in the heart of Mogadishu.
08:35The ground convoy would wait behind the Olympic Hotel,
08:38under protective cover by the hovering Black Hawks.
08:41And in case anything went awry,
08:43they counted on the U.S. 10th Mountain Division
08:45in the west of Mogadishu,
08:46and U.N. Pakistani and Malaysian troops
08:49in Mogadishu's port as backup.
08:51With this plan,
08:52around 3.30 p.m.,
08:54the operation was set in a motion.
08:56The code word IRENE was transmitted,
08:58and the teams departed from base.
09:00At this point,
09:01they expected the whole operation
09:02to take no more than only 30 minutes.
09:05But what they thought was going to be a covert mission
09:07had already been undermined by the SNA's communications.
09:10Because despite trying to throw any observers off
09:13by flying past their target and doubling back,
09:15the Americans' movements were being closely watched
09:18and reported by the SNA's radio network
09:21that covered the entire city,
09:23warning of their arrival.
09:25On the ground below them,
09:26Somalis also communicated more covertly.
09:29They began to light tires on fire,
09:31a further way to send a message
09:32of an imminent American attack,
09:34and a signal to fighters to converge onto the area.
09:37At around 3.42 p.m.,
09:39the U.S. forces arrived,
09:40and the official assault began.
09:4216 helicopters left from the American base at the airport.
09:46Heading for the target building,
09:47there was only a four-minute flight time away.
09:49As planned,
09:50the Rangers roped down from the Blackhawks successfully.
09:53About 75 Rangers descended in four groups,
09:56called CHOCs,
09:57and positioned themselves at each corner of the block
10:00surrounding the target house.
10:01Almost immediately from this point,
10:03however,
10:04things began to go wrong.
10:06First,
10:07one of the CHOCs,
10:08CHOC 4,
10:09actually dropped in the wrong location,
10:11and was a block north away from the real target.
10:14And then,
10:15as he was descending,
10:16one of the Rangers in the CHOC,
10:1718-year-old Private First Class,
10:19Todd Blackburn,
10:21completely missed the rope
10:22and fell 70 feet straight down of the street.
10:26Knocked unconscious,
10:27he was severely injured,
10:28bleeding heavily from his face
10:30and required immediate medical attention.
10:33Meanwhile,
10:34on the orders of SNA Colonel,
10:36Sharif Hassan Yumale,
10:37himself on orders from a deed,
10:40hundreds of heavily armed Somali militia men had gathered,
10:43on foot and in trucks,
10:44in large crowds around the U.S. soldiers.
10:47They poured in from seemingly every direction,
10:50and began firing with rifles,
10:52machine guns,
10:53and RPGs.
10:54As they did so,
10:55they immediately hit one of the U.S. vehicles
10:57with an RPG,
10:58and rendered it unusable.
11:00Meanwhile,
11:01inside of the building,
11:02things had progressed quickly.
11:03At around 4.02 p.m.,
11:05some half an hour after the raid had first been launched,
11:08as expected,
11:09Awale and Salad had both been captured,
11:12along with another 22 other clan members.
11:15As the ground convoy moved up to take away the prisoners,
11:18the target operation itself
11:19seemed to have gone remarkably smoothly so far.
11:23We started clearing,
11:24and it was over with within a minute.
11:25We had captured the 12 guys we were supposed to get.
11:28Master Sergeant Nora Gruden,
11:30a member of the assault force,
11:32was quoted as saying.
11:33But this success inside occurred in the wake of the unrest going on outside,
11:38which had devolved into firefights between the U.S. forces
11:41and growing crowds of militiamen,
11:43who now potentially numbered as high as 3,000 strong.
11:47Then there was also the matter of the injured private Blackburn,
11:50who was being attended to by medics.
11:52Because of the heavy fire,
11:54evacuating him via helicopter was deemed to be untenable.
11:57So, as the ground convoy that was containing the captured targets prepared to retreat,
12:02Lieutenant Colonel McKnight had three of the vehicles separate off
12:05in order to treat Blackburn,
12:07and evacuate him safely back to base.
12:09A trip which, ideally,
12:11should have only taken about five minutes to do.
12:13At around 4.15 p.m.,
12:16Blackburn's medical convoy,
12:17along with a vehicle containing the 24 captured targets,
12:21Salad, Awale,
12:22and 22 other SNA members all began at a park.
12:25Meanwhile, Blackhawks Super 61,
12:28piloted by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Cliff Wolcott
12:31and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Donovan Briley,
12:33hovered over the whole scene at a low altitude,
12:36firing their miniguns to contain the crowd.
12:38But only a few minutes later
12:39came the first big hit that would change everything.
12:42At around 4.20 p.m. local time,
12:45one of the Blackhawks Super 61's gunners
12:47noticed an armed man pointing an RPG their direction.
12:50Before the helicopter could move enough to react,
12:53the man let loose his shot.
12:54The RPG struck the tail of the helicopter,
12:57setting it into a spin.
12:58As the helicopter plummeted,
13:00Wolcott's last words were heard through the radio.
13:036-1 going down.
13:05With that,
13:05about four blocks north of the target location,
13:08the Blackhawk crashed down to the ground.
13:10Upon impact,
13:11both of the pilots were killed immediately.
13:14But two Delta IV snipers,
13:16Staff Sergeant Daniel Bush
13:17and Staff Sergeant Jim Smith,
13:19who had survived,
13:20did their best to defend the crash site,
13:22which had immediately become rushed
13:24by the crowds of Somalis,
13:26both armed and unarmed.
13:28Many of the armed fighters
13:29appear to be hiding behind the unarmed civilians,
13:32using them as human shields.
13:34The bad guys had a tendency
13:35to kind of close in around crash sites
13:37because they knew we were going to come to them.
13:39Brigadier General William C. David,
13:42then Lieutenant Colonel,
13:43commanding the 214 Infantry.
13:45The location of this particular helicopter crash
13:48also happened to be just outside of the home
13:50of Saida Omar Mohamud,
13:52a woman who just that morning
13:54had just given birth to her daughter.
13:57Immediately after Wolcott's helicopter crash,
14:00a dozen U.S. soldiers ran into her house,
14:02laying wounded soldiers on her table.
14:04Although they were afraid,
14:06they made us scared as well.
14:08They turned our house into a stronghold,
14:10she later recalled in the Netflix documentary,
14:13Surviving Black Hawk Down.
14:14Above the chaos,
14:16another Black Hawk,
14:17designated as Super 64,
14:19and piloted by Chief Warrant Officer Michael Durant
14:21and Chief Warrant Officer Raymond Frank,
14:23then took the crashed Super 61's place in the sky.
14:27With this crash,
14:28what had begun as a targeted raid
14:29had now become something else entirely,
14:31a rescue and recovery operation.
14:33Only a few minutes after the first helicopter had crashed,
14:37as the fight on the ground broke out,
14:39the remaining ground forces,
14:41half of CHOP 2 and part of CHOP 1,
14:43were ordered to run three blocks from the Tariot building
14:46to reach and assist their comrades
14:48over at the crash site of Super 61.
14:50Together, this team formed a new defensive perimeter.
14:54Additionally,
14:55another combat search and rescue team
14:56fast roped from Black Hawk Super 68,
14:59piloted by Chief Warrant Officer 3,
15:01Dan Foyota,
15:02to assist the crew with a first crashed helicopter.
15:04As they approached, however,
15:06with men still on the ropes,
15:08Super 68, too,
15:10was hit by another RPG.
15:12An RPG has a very unique sound,
15:15Foyota said.
15:16There was no doubt in my mind
15:17I had been hit by something pretty heavy.
15:20Fear took over,
15:21so I immediately took in power,
15:23and I was getting out of there,
15:24he added.
15:26In the extremely unstable situation,
15:29Foyota still managed to get the Rangers off of the ropes
15:31and pilot the damaged helicopter
15:33all the way back to base.
15:35Once the Rangers eventually arrived
15:37at the site of the crashed Super 61,
15:39however,
15:40they found both of the pilots,
15:41Wolcott and Briley, dead.
15:43And the two crew chiefs,
15:44Staff Sergeant Ray Dowdy
15:46and Staff Sergeant Charlie Warren,
15:48both severely wounded.
15:50The Black Hawk itself
15:51was also damaged
15:52to the point of being unrecognizable,
15:54looking more like rubble
15:55than a helicopter.
15:57All the while,
15:58around 4.30 p.m.,
15:59the Humvee evacuation convoy,
16:01also carrying the SNA prisoners,
16:03was making its way
16:04through the city.
16:05The convoy had initially planned
16:07to return back to base,
16:08but after the Black Hawk crash,
16:10new orders came for the convoy
16:12to return back to the crash site.
16:14But this apparently simple task,
16:17merely traveling one block north
16:18and three blocks east
16:20while navigating the congested roads
16:22of Mogadishu
16:23through heavy dust and smoke,
16:25along with the angry mobs
16:26surrounding them,
16:27became very difficult.
16:29SNA militiamen
16:30were firing at them
16:31from all sides,
16:32from streets
16:33and from windows and roofs above,
16:35and the large,
16:36five-ton trucks
16:37were easy targets.
16:39This all became
16:40extremely disorienting
16:42as they tried to get through.
16:43We made a mistake
16:44on the ground in the Humvee
16:45and didn't share the load
16:47and land navigation,
16:48said then-sergeant and squad leader,
16:5024-year-old Jeff Stroiker,
16:52who was leading the convoy
16:53at the time.
16:54I think most guys thought,
16:56five major roads,
16:57who can't figure out
16:58your way around the city
16:59with five major roads?
17:00But when you get in this,
17:02it gets real hard,
17:03real fast,
17:04he added.
17:05At one point,
17:06then,
17:06the convoy made a wrong turn
17:08and got lost
17:09among the city streets,
17:10sustaining heavy casualties
17:12by Somali snipers
17:13and RPGs
17:14who fired on them
17:14from all sides.
17:16It was here
17:17that the ground mission
17:18sustained its first,
17:19but not last,
17:20fatality,
17:21Staff Sergeant
17:21Dominic Pilla.
17:23Pilla,
17:24who was firing
17:24one of the Humvees' guns
17:25on top of the vehicle,
17:27was shot in his head.
17:28Once we got on that ground,
17:30that real clear overhead view
17:31of the city
17:32became a maze
17:33of shacks and garbage,
17:35said Master Sergeant
17:36Norm Hoodin.
17:37Trying to navigate through that
17:39was pretty challenging.
17:40We moved up
17:41and started taking
17:42our first serious casualties.
17:44I remember what that did
17:45to us as a unit.
17:46It demoralized me
17:47to the point
17:48that what it really did
17:49was infuriate me,
17:51he added.
17:52Finally,
17:53after struggling,
17:54driving around
17:55for nearly 45 minutes,
17:57the convoy managed
17:58to return near the Olympic.
18:00But by this point,
18:01it had been far too damaged
18:02to be of any help
18:03to the crash site.
18:04Judging this,
18:05then Task Force Commander
18:07Major General
18:08William F. Garrison
18:09ordered the convoy to,
18:10this time,
18:11definitively return to base.
18:13By the time the convoy
18:14had actually managed
18:15to retreat,
18:16around 5.15pm,
18:18it was in very bad shape.
18:20All of the vehicles
18:20in it were severely damaged,
18:22and the convoy
18:23had sustained
18:24seven casualties,
18:26four soldiers,
18:27and three of the
18:27Somali prisoners.
18:2920 minutes after
18:30the first helicopter
18:31had been hit,
18:31another rocket-propelled
18:32grenade found
18:33Black Hawk Super 64,
18:35the one piloted
18:36by Chief Warrant Officer
18:37Mike Durant
18:38that had replaced
18:38Super 61.
18:40Super 64 hovered
18:41about 10 blocks south
18:42of the target location,
18:44and about half a mile south
18:45of the first crash site.
18:47As the RPG round
18:48hit the tail
18:49of Durant's helicopter,
18:50the vehicle began
18:51to spin uncontrollably,
18:52then plummeted,
18:53and crashed about a mile
18:55from where the first
18:55helicopter had fallen,
18:57smashing into several homes,
18:59and killing those
18:59who were inside.
19:00And just like
19:02with the first crash site,
19:03this one immediately
19:04began being swarmed
19:05by angry,
19:06armed Somalis.
19:08Another Black Hawk,
19:09Super 62,
19:10began firing its miniguns
19:11to try and provide support.
19:13But now,
19:14with a second crash site
19:15to defend,
19:16the already scrambling
19:17U.S. forces
19:18would be spread
19:19dangerously thin.
19:21Desperately,
19:22they tried to gather up help.
19:23A ranger relief column
19:25tried to reach them,
19:26but was pushed back
19:27by heavy fire.
19:28Around 4.45 p.m.,
19:31Durant's crash site
19:31received some more
19:32small support.
19:33Two Delta IV snipers,
19:35Sergeant First Class
19:36Randy Shugart
19:37and Master Sergeant
19:38Gary Gordon,
19:40who had been providing
19:40cover fire
19:41from the Super 62 above,
19:43requested to be inserted
19:44directly into the crash site
19:45itself,
19:46in order to help protect
19:47the injured Durant
19:48and his crew,
19:49all of whom
19:50had managed to survive.
19:51It was a huge gun battle.
19:53They say that 25 Somalis
19:55were killed by gunfire
19:57at crash site too.
19:58So that gives you
19:59some insight
20:00into how much shooting
20:01was going on,
20:02Durant said later
20:03while speaking to the BBC.
20:05At around 5 p.m.,
20:07Major Stroiker,
20:08who had previously
20:09led the evacuation convoy,
20:11then was directed
20:11to lead a quick
20:12reaction force convoy
20:13to the second crash site
20:15and rescue any survivors.
20:17Having narrowly survived
20:18navigating the mob once,
20:20he saw returning to it
20:21as a one-way trip.
20:23Personally,
20:24I was thinking
20:25it was a suicide mission.
20:26If I drive back through
20:28what I just went through,
20:29I'm going to die
20:30in the next few moments,
20:31no question about it,
20:33Stroiker said.
20:34Nonetheless,
20:36Stroiker was determined
20:36to reach his comrades.
20:38Despite his resolve,
20:40though,
20:40it would be too late.
20:41Durant's crash site
20:42was,
20:43by this point,
20:44overrun by the mob
20:45and impossible to reach.
20:47Stroiker's convoy
20:48would never make it
20:49to Super 64's crash site.
20:51Ambushed by fighters
20:52along the way,
20:53the attempted assistance
20:54got stuck deep
20:55in a 30-minute-long
20:57battle of their own,
20:58during which
20:58the roughly 100 U.S. soldiers
21:01fought back
21:01with nearly 60,000 rounds
21:03of fired ammunition
21:05and hundreds
21:06of thrown grenades.
21:08Depleted
21:08and with no path
21:09to Durant
21:10at around 5.30 p.m.,
21:12the convoy
21:12ultimately pivoted
21:13to retreat back to base.
21:15At the second crash site
21:17at around 5.40 p.m.,
21:18meanwhile,
21:19the Delta snipers
21:20Shugart and Gordon
21:21had run out of ammunition,
21:23and another RPG
21:24had also hit the side
21:25of their air support,
21:26Super 62,
21:27knocking the co-pilot
21:29unconscious
21:29and forcing the pilot,
21:30Chief Warrant Officer
21:31Michael A. Goffetta,
21:33to make a crash landing
21:34over in Mogadishu's port.
21:36Then,
21:36as the mob of armed Somalis
21:38overtook the second crash site,
21:40Shugart and Gordon
21:41were both killed.
21:42Eventually,
21:43both of them
21:44would posthumously
21:44receive the Medal of Honor.
21:46But before being overrun,
21:48the two men
21:49had still managed
21:50to extract Durant
21:51from the wreckage.
21:52Before running back
21:53into the fray,
21:54Gordon then handed Durant
21:56a fully loaded rifle.
21:57Shortly after that,
21:59both he and Shugart
22:00would be gone,
22:01leaving Durant
22:02as the only
22:03sole survivor
22:04who was present
22:05at the second crash site.
22:07This, however,
22:08wouldn't be known
22:08until much later,
22:10and so evacuation teams
22:11would return
22:12in search of other survivors.
22:13I spent the rest
22:15of the night
22:15flying over that city,
22:17getting rocked
22:18by RPGs,
22:19looking for those guys,
22:20only to find out later
22:22that the Somalis
22:22had found their radios
22:24and turned them on
22:25to give us false indications.
22:27Chief Warrant Officer 3,
22:29Dan Foyota,
22:30would later report.
22:31Durant himself,
22:32who suffered a broken leg
22:33and an injured back
22:34after being beaten
22:35by the mob
22:36that overtook the snipers,
22:37was taken captive
22:38by Somali militiamen,
22:40who recognized the value
22:41of possessing
22:42a living American hostage.
22:44By 5.45 p.m.,
22:46both the first
22:47and second evacuation convoys
22:48had returned
22:49back to the U.S. base.
22:51But back in hostile territory
22:52deep in Mogadishu,
22:54some 99 soldiers
22:55still remained
22:56in defensive positions,
22:58trapped
22:58and surrounded
22:59at the site
23:00of the first
23:00crashed Blackhawk Super 61.
23:02During this firefight,
23:0421-year-old Ranger Corporal
23:06Jamie Smith
23:07was shot
23:08in his femoral artery.
23:09As Smith began
23:10to lose
23:10significant amounts
23:11of blood,
23:12attempts began
23:13to evacuate him.
23:14But U.S. forces
23:15had been worn thin.
23:16They were stuck
23:17in a long-haul battle
23:19without having prepared
23:20for one.
23:21Task forces
23:21apparent confidence
23:22in their ability
23:23to carry out
23:24the operation
23:24in a short amount
23:25of time
23:25had left the soldiers
23:26without backup supplies
23:28that were now
23:28proving critical.
23:30Despite the temperature
23:31rising to over
23:31100 degrees Fahrenheit,
23:33the soldiers
23:34didn't even carry
23:35any water with them.
23:36And so,
23:37re-entering the fray
23:38at around 7.08 p.m.,
23:40another Blackhawk
23:41designated Super 66
23:43returned to resupply
23:45the pinned-down forces.
23:46It dropped a bundle
23:47including water,
23:48ammunition,
23:49and medical supplies.
23:50This, at least,
23:52brought the troops
23:52some stamina.
23:53But that was all
23:54the help it could offer.
23:56Super 66
23:57was too damaged,
23:58and the situation
23:59on the ground
24:00was too dangerous
24:01to attempt
24:01any kind of evacuation,
24:03including of the
24:04critically injured
24:05Corporal Smith.
24:06And indeed,
24:07about an hour later,
24:09in the thick of the battle,
24:10Smith ultimately
24:11succumbed to his injuries
24:12and died.
24:14Ultimately,
24:15it wasn't more support
24:16the stranded soldiers
24:17needed.
24:18They just needed
24:19to get out.
24:20But with a plan
24:20that had spiraled
24:21so far out of control,
24:23and with contingency plans
24:24that were ineffective,
24:25they were essentially
24:26trying to recreate
24:27a brand new plan
24:29all on the fly.
24:30All while the forces
24:31on the ground
24:31just were trying
24:32to hold out.
24:34Helicopters couldn't land,
24:35so what they really needed
24:36were armored vehicles
24:37down on the ground.
24:39And here in Mogadishu,
24:40those belonged
24:41to the Pakistani
24:42and Malaysian forces
24:43with the UN.
24:44Both stationed
24:45at the city's port
24:46several miles away.
24:48So at around
24:499 p.m. at night,
24:50Task Force Ranger
24:51and the 10th Mountain Division
24:53departed
24:53to gather reinforcements
24:54with the Malaysians
24:55and the Pakistanis.
24:56And at this time,
24:58deep in the Mogadishu
24:59battlefield,
25:00there was an internal debate
25:01going on
25:02within the SNA forces
25:03themselves,
25:04with the Americans
25:05holed up in their
25:05defensive positions
25:06across roofs,
25:07trees,
25:08and within residential areas.
25:09The best way
25:10to target them,
25:11Yomale surmised,
25:12was with a barrage
25:13of mortars.
25:14But as he ordered
25:15his men to prepare
25:16for such an attack,
25:17he was approached
25:18by one of his own officers,
25:19joined by relatives
25:21of those held captive
25:22by the Americans
25:22in their homes,
25:24who begged him
25:25to reconsider.
25:26A mortar barrage
25:27on the Americans' positions
25:28would absolutely,
25:30certainly,
25:30also kill
25:31Somali civilians,
25:32including many children.
25:34So they pled
25:35with Yomale
25:36to reconsider.
25:37And so with this,
25:38it was ultimately decided
25:39that the mortars
25:40would only be used
25:41against the US
25:42reinforcements instead.
25:44Elsewhere,
25:45at around 11.15pm,
25:46the Quick Reaction Force
25:48Rescue Convoy
25:48attempted to mount
25:49their rescue.
25:50Now with four
25:51Pakistani tanks
25:52and 28 Malaysian
25:54armored personnel carriers,
25:55the convoy moved out
25:57with 70 vehicles total.
25:59Ideally,
26:00they could have reached
26:00the trapped forces quickly.
26:02After all,
26:03they were only located
26:04three miles away
26:05as the crow flies.
26:06But this situation
26:08was far from ideal.
26:10SNA roadblocks
26:11and ambushes
26:11with RPG fire
26:13turned this three-mile stretch
26:14into a deadly slog
26:16of nearly two and a half hours.
26:19The language barrier
26:20between the various units
26:21participating
26:22didn't help either,
26:23and the soldiers
26:24struggled to communicate
26:25with each other.
26:26At one point,
26:27the Malaysian vehicles
26:28that were leading the convoy
26:29took a wrong turn.
26:30And when they did,
26:31both of the lead vehicles
26:33were hit by RPGs,
26:34destroying the vehicles,
26:36killing their Malaysian drivers,
26:37and wounding others
26:38who were inside.
26:40So,
26:40as midnight passed
26:42into the early hours
26:43of the 4th of October,
26:44dozens of U.S. rangers
26:45were still trapped
26:46inside of Mogadishu,
26:48tired,
26:48injured,
26:49and now ill-equipped
26:50to fight at night.
26:51In addition to not having
26:53brought any water,
26:54having foreseen this
26:55to only be a short,
26:56simple daytime operation,
26:58they had also not brought along
26:59their night vision goggles either,
27:01nor any extra batteries
27:02for their radios.
27:04Finally,
27:05nearing 2 a.m.,
27:06the Quick Reaction Force unit
27:08had managed to fight through
27:09just enough
27:10to reach Task Force Ranger.
27:12But even with their rescue
27:13now imminent,
27:14many still opted to stay,
27:16because there was still
27:17the matter of
27:18Super 61's pilot,
27:19Cliff Wolcott.
27:21At around 3 a.m.,
27:22in the pitch black
27:24of the night,
27:25half a dozen men
27:26were still struggling
27:27to extract Wolcott
27:28from the wreckage
27:29of his crash,
27:30to prevent his body
27:31from becoming desecrated
27:32by the SNA.
27:33This particular concern
27:35was well-founded,
27:36as after the previous
27:37shooting down
27:37of a U.S. Black Hawk
27:38that occurred in September
27:39in 1993,
27:40Somali militiamen
27:41had reportedly carried
27:42around the bodies
27:43of the helicopter's
27:44crewmen in sacks,
27:45displaying them
27:46to passerbys.
27:47Now,
27:48Wolcott's comrades
27:49refused to let
27:50the same fate
27:51befall anyone else.
27:53Meanwhile,
27:53the rest of the men
27:54had holed up
27:55in four homes
27:55on a street nearby,
27:57where they hoped
27:57to find shelter
27:58from the gunfire
27:59and treat their wounded.
28:01The house's inhabitants,
28:02which were mostly women
28:03and many children,
28:04were locked in
28:05and prevented from leaving.
28:07In later interviews,
28:08the U.S. soldiers involved
28:10stated that there was
28:10equal part fear
28:12that if they left,
28:12they would assist
28:13the militias
28:14in fighting against them,
28:15and also that they might
28:16become injured
28:17in the crossfire.
28:18If we could have
28:19taken those families
28:20and just moved them
28:21out of there,
28:21we would have,
28:22one senior officer
28:23later explained.
28:25We obviously
28:25couldn't do that
28:26because it was
28:26as dangerous
28:27for them out there
28:28as it was for us.
28:29It's not a part
28:30of our mindset
28:31to take hostages,
28:32especially women
28:33and children,
28:34the officer later added.
28:36Finally,
28:37at around 5.45 a.m.
28:39in the early morning,
28:40after trying for hours,
28:42using a Humvee
28:43with a tow rope,
28:44Task Force Ranger
28:45was able to retrieve
28:46Wolcott's body
28:47from the wreckage
28:48of Super 61.
28:49The 14th Infantry
28:512nd Battalion
28:52then made for
28:52Durant's crash site,
28:54where they found
28:55the entire crew missing,
28:57leaving behind
28:57only trails of blood.
28:59As the sun began to rise,
29:01there was finally
29:02an opportunity
29:03to get out.
29:04But since there wasn't
29:05enough room
29:05for everybody
29:06on board the convoy,
29:07the Rangers began
29:08to trek on foot
29:09towards the Pakistani stadium,
29:12where some 4,000
29:13Pakistani troops
29:14were stationed.
29:15This journey
29:16would later become known
29:17as the Mogadishu Mile.
29:19At around 6 a.m.,
29:20they convened
29:21at a rendezvous point
29:22at a bus stop,
29:23where the rest
29:23of the vehicles
29:24loaded everyone up
29:25and drove the rest
29:26of the way
29:26to the Pakistani stadium.
29:28They arrived
29:28by 6.30 a.m.,
29:30exhausted,
29:31having endeared
29:32SNA gunfire
29:33all along the way.
29:35By the time
29:35they had safely
29:36arrived at the stadium,
29:37it had been
29:38a grueling 17 hours
29:40since they had
29:41first set out
29:42for what they
29:42initially expected
29:43was only going to be
29:45a 30-minute mission.
29:47Nominally,
29:48the Battle of Mogadishu
29:49was deemed a failure
29:50for both the losses
29:51in equipment
29:52and in lives.
29:54As the casualties
29:55were tallied up,
29:5618 American soldiers
29:58would ultimately
29:58be confirmed
29:59to have been killed
30:00during it.
30:01One Malaysian soldier
30:02was also killed.
30:03Another American soldier,
30:05Durant,
30:05was taken as a prisoner
30:06of war.
30:0784 American soldiers
30:09were also injured,
30:10along with 7 Malaysians
30:12and 2 Pakistanis.
30:13But the operation
30:15had also managed
30:16to capture
30:16their intended targets.
30:18And despite their own losses,
30:19had also killed
30:20a significant number
30:21of Idid's fighters as well.
30:23Of the Somalis
30:24who were also killed
30:25by the fighting
30:26were also many civilians.
30:28The numbers of fighters
30:29and civilians
30:30declared by Somali leaders
30:31would put the total
30:32death toll
30:33at 312
30:34and those injured
30:36at 814 people.
30:38And the battle
30:39would leave deep,
30:40lasting scars
30:41on the people
30:42of Mogadishu as well.
30:43It was the Americans
30:44who destroyed my house,
30:46killed my husband,
30:47my two sons,
30:48and my brother,
30:49and left my family
30:50in lasting misery,
30:52said Binti Ali Wardhere,
30:54who was just 24 years old
30:56at the time,
30:57speaking in Netflix's
30:592025 documentary.
31:01Binti's 4-year-old son,
31:03who survived,
31:04was also permanently
31:05blinded by the fighting.
31:07At the very least,
31:08they must admit
31:09what they have done
31:10and compensate us,
31:11she later added.
31:13Durant,
31:13who was captured
31:14as a prisoner of war,
31:15was eventually released
31:1611 days after his capture
31:18with the help
31:19from the Red Cross.
31:20He shared that,
31:21while a prisoner,
31:22his captives,
31:23quote,
31:24beat him violently
31:25with their fists
31:26and with sticks,
31:28end quote.
31:28He also reported
31:29being stripped,
31:30carried around naked,
31:32blindfolded,
31:32and restrained
31:33across exuberant crowds.
31:36The Black Hawk Down
31:37fiasco
31:38spelled the beginning
31:39of the end
31:39for U.S. involvement
31:40in Somalia.
31:41On the 7th of October,
31:43President Bill Clinton
31:44announced that
31:45all U.S. troops
31:46would be pulled
31:46entirely out of the country.
31:48The United States
31:49has long had to face
31:50the challenge
31:51of determining
31:52to what degree
31:52it wants to participate
31:53in global peacekeeping efforts
31:55and whether or not
31:56U.S. lives
31:57should be put at risk
31:58for peacekeeping.
31:59Events in Somalia
32:00between 1992 and 1994
32:02threw that debate
32:03in a sharp relief,
32:05he said.
32:06Then,
32:07in January of 1994,
32:09the men
32:09whose attempted capture
32:10had cost so many lives,
32:12military and civilian,
32:14were ultimately released.
32:15On the 18th of January,
32:17Omar Salad Elmi
32:18and Mohamed Hassan Awale
32:20were both free
32:21to the enthusiastic celebrations
32:23of hundreds of Somalis
32:25who gathered on the 20th.
32:26And only a few months later,
32:28on the 25th of March of 1994,
32:31the U.S. had fully withdrawn
32:33all of their remaining forces
32:34from Somalia.
32:36And indeed,
32:37the man who all of this chaos
32:39had been for
32:39was ultimately killed
32:41just two years later
32:42in August of 1996,
32:45succumbing to a gunshot wound
32:46after a battle
32:47with his former allies.
32:49And as always,
32:51thank you for watching
32:51this episode on Nebula.
32:52Nebula.
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