Everyone knows about the movies made and the books written about the Rangers and Delta Force operators in the Battle of Mogadishu. What many people don’t know is the story of the soldiers who went to rescue them when their October 3, 1993 mission went bad.
Books, documentaries, and even the Academy Award-winning film “Black Hawk Down” have covered what happened on that fateful day in October 1993. Task Force Ranger, comprised of special operations troops from the 75th Ranger Regiment, Delta Force, and Air Force special operations, were deployed to Somalia to dismantle the clan led by Somali warlord Mohammad Farrah Adid.
The part that was notably left out of the “Black Hawk Down” story is of the men who went to Mogadishu to rescue the members of Task Force Ranger who were trapped and badly outnumbered in the city. After two Black Hawk helicopters from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) were shot down, the Rangers and Delta Force operators moved on the ground to secure the crash sites. They found themselves surrounded by hundreds and perhaps thousands of Somali fighters who pummeled the men with small arms, machine gun, and RPG fire for hours.
The quick reaction force that went into the city to save the men of Task Force Ranger consisted of soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, and armored personnel carriers and tanks from Pakistani and Malay troops that were participating in the United Nations peacekeeping force in Somalia.
The force was successful in extracting the remaining Task Force Ranger troops, as well as the dead crews from both aircraft. Their story has not been included in the books and movies made about the Battle of Mogadishu. Until now. “Black Hawk Down: The Untold Story,” made by retired Air Force Colonel Randall Larsen, is available for streaming here or for pre-order on Amazon.
