The Sammies were armed with many RPGs that prevented the helicopters from landing and pulling the troops out. The ground convoy made up of Hummers and flat bed truck that planned to pick up the soldiers started to receive massive volleys from the Somalis. The Somalia militia quickly swelled to a large number and the grounded convoy started to suffer a high number of casualties. Then things really started to heat up and the Somalis down another Black Hawk Helicopter. The ground convoy did not have the numbers, armor, or the firepower to draw the Rangers out, forcing the team to fortify a position near the first downed helicopter. The army would be forced to seek help. Italian and Malaysian U.N. troop were also in the area and they agreed to help extract the Rangers from the city of Mogadishu. The Malaysians provided four tanks and the Italians provided some Deutsch built armored cars. The international convoy eventually extracted the Ranger, but not till almost five in the morning. There was one prisoner of war, but he was released in the following weeks. Those not so lucky to make it out of had their corpses drug though the dusty streets with ropes and were spit on, kicked, and generally dismembered by the savages. As a result of this battle, Washingtons will to fight was broken. The hunt for Aidid was called off. The international campaign to help the Somalis form a government collapsed, and within 18 months the United Nations had packed up and left the country. Somalia still does not have a Democratic government. Before this book was published, surprisingly little has been written about this conflict. Especially when you consider that it is one of our larger firefights in resent history. One thing in particular that stuck me as odd was that Washington considered the battle a lost. The battle was not lost. On the American side eighteen men were killed, and on the Somali side five hundred men we...
