Operation Gothic Serpent
In 1993, Somalia was engulfed in a devastating civil war. The United Nations had deployed a peacekeeping force, and the United States had sent Task Force Ranger — an elite unit composed of Delta Force operators, Rangers from the 3rd Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment, and Night Stalker helicopter crews from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment — to capture the top lieutenants of warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid, whose forces had been attacking UN peacekeepers and blocking humanitarian aid.
On October 3, 1993, Task Force Ranger launched its 7th mission — a daylight raid on the Olympic Hotel in the Bakara Market, one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the world. The mission was expected to take no more than an hour. Instead, it became an 18-hour battle that would change American military history.
The Battle Unfolds
Task Force Ranger launches a daylight raid on the Olympic Hotel in the Bakara Market district of Mogadishu, targeting two top lieutenants of warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. Four Black Hawk helicopters and a convoy of ground vehicles insert 160 operators and Rangers.
Black Hawk Super Six-One, piloted by CW3 Cliff Wolcott, is struck by an RPG and crashes into a narrow alley. Wolcott and his copilot CW3 Donovan Briley are killed on impact. Rangers fast-rope down to secure the crash site.
A second Black Hawk, Super Six-Four, is hit by an RPG and crashes approximately one mile away. The crew — SSG William Cleveland, SSG Thomas Field, CW4 Ray Frank, and pilot CW3 Mike Durant — is stranded deep in hostile territory.
Delta Force snipers MSG Gary Gordon and SFC Randy Shughart voluntarily request insertion at the Super Six-Four crash site. Knowing they are vastly outnumbered, they insert three times before permission is granted. Both men fight until they are killed. Their actions save pilot Mike Durant's life.
The ground convoy, taking heavy fire, becomes lost in the maze of Mogadishu's streets. Multiple soldiers are killed and wounded as the convoy attempts to reach the crash sites. The battle spreads across the city.
A multinational relief column — including 10th Mountain Division soldiers, Malaysian APCs, and Pakistani tanks — finally reaches the besieged forces. The long, brutal extraction begins.
After 18 hours of fighting, the last American forces are extracted. 19 Americans are dead, 73 are wounded. An estimated 500–1,000 Somali combatants are killed. The battle becomes the longest sustained firefight involving American forces since Vietnam.
