Remember

This is not strictly about art but I feel the need to mark this memory.

This post is dedicated to the soldiers of Task Force Ranger who, 20 years ago today, met overwhelming numbers in the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia. October 3-4, 1993 more than one hundred soldiers comprised of Army Rangers, Delta Force Operators, Seal Team 6, and other special forces believed they were going on a brief raid to capture high-ranking members of Mohammad Farah Aidid's party. The Raid was hoped to bring a sooner end to the strife and inter-clan fighting.

What resulted, was 17 hours of vicious house-to-house fighting culminating in a final dash for safety. Two Blackhawk helicopters were shot down by what was believed to be an inferior forces and 18 men lost their lives with more than 80 wounded.

This story has been a source of fascination for me for several years now. At the time I was in college and have vague memories of seeing the CNN coverage. I remember the images of pilot Mike Durant and catching glimpses of the video he made while in captivity. At the time the gravity of the event was lost on me as it was on many of the people around me. We were busy trying to make good grades in class and figure out what we were going to do after graduation. Now, years later, the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993 has been placed in perspective for me. Personally and historically.

Out of high school I was very unsure of what to do with myself. At one point I had seriously considered the Army mainly because I felt the regimentation and discipline might do me good. It is conceivable that I might have wanted out right away but I also think that I might have wanted to be among the best. That would be the Rangers. Had my life taken a different turn, maybe I would have known some of the men involved. Being the same age as many of the men who were there I feel a temporal kinship.

What many people do not realize is that Osama Bin Laden was believed to have offered military advice to Aidid on how to bring down a superior force having fought the Soviets in Afghanistan to a standstill.
We all know what Bin Laden went on to from there, but it is believed that the pullout of American troops after this incident may have emboldened him. He felt that Americans had no stomach for prolonged bloody conflict and the Mogadishu battle underscored that belief.

Would things have been different? Perhaps in some alternate universe.

Even today, Somalia is a lawless country and a source of distress for much of the world. Klan fighting continues and Somali pirates attack commercial shipping regularly. It is a troubled place that my generation faced first-hand and it still haunts us so many years later.

I recommend Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War by Mark Bowden, SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper by Howard E. Wasdin, and the dramatized but broadly accurate movie Black Hawk Down starring a fantastic cast and directed by Ridley Scott.