{"id":60270,"date":"2024-10-03T00:03:50","date_gmt":"2024-10-03T05:03:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=60270"},"modified":"2024-10-02T22:02:10","modified_gmt":"2024-10-03T03:02:10","slug":"60270","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=60270","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

The Battle of Mogadishu: Firsthand Accounts from the Men of Task Force Ranger Paperback \u2013 Illustrated, July 26, 2005<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter how skilled the writer of nonfiction, you are always getting the story secondhand. Here\u2019s a chance to go right to the source. . . . These men were there.\u201d
\n\u2013MARK BOWDEN (from the Foreword)
\n<\/b>
\nIt started as a mission to capture a Somali warlord. It turned into a disastrous urban firefight and death-defying rescue operation that shocked the world and rattled a great nation. Now the 1993 battle for Mogadishu, Somalia\u2013the incident that was the basis of the book and film\u00a0Black Hawk Down<\/i>\u2013is remembered by the men who fought and survived it. Six of the best in our military recall their brutal experiences and brave contributions in these never-before-published, firstperson accounts.<\/p>\n

\u201cOperation Gothic Serpent,\u201d by Matt Eversmann: As a \u201cchalk\u201d leader, Eversmann was part of the first group of Rangers to \u201cfast rope\u201d from the Black Hawk helicopters. It was his chalk that suffered the first casualty of the battle.<\/p>\n

\u201cSua Sponte: Of Their Own Accord,\u201d by Raleigh Cash: Responsible for controlling and directing fire support for the platoon, Cash entered the raging battle in the ground convoy sent to rescue his besieged brothers in arms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough My Eyes,\u201d by Mike Kurth: One of only two African Americans in the battle, Kurth confronted his buddies\u2019 deaths, realizing that \u201cthe only people whom I had let get anywhere near me since I was a child were gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Was Left Behind,\u201d by John Belman: He roped into the biggest firefight of the battle and considers some of the mistakes that were made, such as using Black Hawk helicopters to provide sniper cover.<\/p>\n

\u201cBe Careful What You Wish For,\u201d by Tim Wilkinson: He was one of the Air Force Pararescuemen or PJs\u2013the highly trained specialists for whom \u201cThat Others May Live\u201d is no catchphrase but a credo\u2013and sums up his incomprehensible courage as \u201cjust holding up my end of the deal on a bad day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOn Friendship and Firefights,\u201d by Dan Schilling: As a combat controller, he was one of the original planners for the deployment of SOF forces to Mogadishu in the spring of 1993. During the battle, he survived the initial assault and carnage of the vehicle convoys only to return to the city to rescue his two closest friends, becoming, literally, \u201cLast Out.\u201d<\/p>\n

With America\u2019s withdrawal from Somalia an oft-cited incitement to Osama bin Laden, it is imperative to revisit this seminal military mission and learn its lessons from the men who were there and, amazingly, are still here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Battle of Mogadishu: Firsthand Accounts from the Men of Task Force Ranger Paperback \u2013 Illustrated, July 26, 2005 \u201cNo matter how skilled the writer of nonfiction, you are always getting the story secondhand. Here\u2019s a chance to go right to the source. . . . These men were there.\u201d \u2013MARK BOWDEN (from the Foreword) … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60270"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104735,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60270\/revisions\/104735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}