By: J-Town (J-Money, J-Wil, J-Train, J- Wow, J-Wezzy, J-Williger)

Jan Somalia pres. Mohammed Siad Barre was overthrown 2 main factions took control of Mogadishu led by: Ali Mahdi Muhammad (president) Mohamed Farrah Aidid Ceasefire was agreed upon but later in September, heavy fighting broke out in the city for political control. Build Up

Over 20,000 people were killed Destroyed Somalia’s agriculture Caused massive starvation throughout the country, mainly in Mogadishu Aidid’s clan was too powerful and gained control of the Mog He would intercept food transports and trade food for weapons Est. 300,000 civilians died in the Mog alone

December 1992 Attempt to bring peace back to the area 500,000 had already died Secured over 1/3 of the city, the ports and airport within first 2 weeks Once secured, operation was to oversee distribution of food to civilians Operation Restore Hope

March 15, 1993 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Meeting was to bring peace and democracy between all 15 political parties in Somalia However…Mohamed Farrah Aidid was not having it On June 5 th, 1993, in retaliation, Aidid ordered his militia to attack a Pakistani inspection force leaving 24 dead and 61 wounded June 6 th, UN declared war on Aidid and his militia Conference on National Reconciliation of Somalia

$25,000 bounty placed on Aidid’s head Many battles and fights broke out while in search of him August 8 th, 1993 Aidid detonated a bomb killing 4 Americans and a week later, set off another bomb injuring 7 more In response, President Bill Clinton deployed Task Force Ranger

Task Force Ranger Forces arrived August 22, elite troops consisting of US Army Rangers and Delta force operators Commanded by Major General William F. Garrison Sept 21, Task Force was able to capture Aidid's advisor Osman Ali Atto

The Plan: Oct 3, 1993 Task Force Ranger was to capture Aidid’s special personal and political advisers Delta operators would assault the target building and secure the hostages. The Ranger Chalks fast roped down at each corner of the building to provide cover for the Delta’s. Then a column of Humvees and flatbed trucks would come up the main street to evacuate the prisoners and the troops. The black hawks would provide cover from above. It was supposed to take no more than 30 minutes “Black Hawk Down”

Plan was going smooth until and rpg was fired at Super Six- one The pilot tilted the chopper so the rpg would miss Todd Blackburn fell out of the helicopter and hit the ground This created chaos for the rest of the mission A few minutes later, an rpg struck Super Six-One causing the chopper to crash The ground forces moved to the crash site instead of going back to base with the convoy When doing so, there was miscommunication between the chalks which resulted in scattered troops throughout the city. Eventually throughout the night, everyone was able to rejoin at the first crash site. Super Six-One

While providing cover for the first crash site, and rpg hit the tail of the helicopter and this one also crashed. The problem was, all the ground troops were defending the first crash site and the convoy was on its way back to base to rearm 2 soldiers volunteered to be the rescue squad: Sargent First Class Randy Shughart Master Sargent Gary Gordon They were told they might not get any help for along time but they understood the circumstances and wanted to do it anyways. When they arrived, they found pilot Mike Durant alive but with a broken leg and a fractured spine. They pulled him from chopper and hid him in a room behind the crash site. Super Six-Four

The 2 men went back to the chopper and fired at the enemy while Durant covered the back. They were severely outnumbered and eventually ran out of ammo Both men were killed Their bodies were brutally abused and drug through the streets Both men received the Medal of Honor for their actions Michael Durant was found and taken prisoner He was released after 11 days of captivity

Finally around 2:30 on the morning of October 4, the convoy arrived with more support at the first crash site where all the ground troops fought the entire night It took an extra 2 hours to extract the men from the helicopter and the convoy finally left around 5am However….there was no room left in the convoy due to the wounded and the rest had to run back to base These men were being shot at and constantly had to stop and fight in the middle of the street Finally once back to base, the men were greeted with ice cold water that they have been deprived of for almost an entire day Mogadishu Mile

19 US soldiers were killed and another 73 were wounded Approximately 2-3,000 somalians were killed or wounded Mohamed Farrah Aidid was never captured In 1996, Aidid was wounded and later died of a heart attack after surgery The day after he died, Major General Garrison retired He took full responsibility for the terrible outcome of the mission Aftermath

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