Thirty-three years ago today, the war came to the streets of Mogadishu.
It was supposed to be a one-hour raid. Task Force Ranger was hunting two of warlord Mohamed Aidid’s top lieutenants. Delta operators and Army Rangers hit the target building from low-flying Black Hawks. They grabbed the men. The mission worked.
Then the exfil turned into a nightmare. Somali fighters with RPGs dropped two American helicopters. Super 61 went down first. Then Super 64 crashed into a maze of tin shacks. A quick extraction became an all-night siege around a trapped crew.
Two Medals of Honor were earned that night. Delta operators Gary Gordon and Randy Shughart volunteered to guard the downed Super 64. They fought to protect the pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Mike Durant. Both men gave their lives. Durant was captured and later freed.
Rangers, Night Stalkers, SEALs, and Air Force controllers held the line. A rescue convoy of Pakistani, Malaysian, and American vehicles punched through the city at dawn. When it ended, 18 Americans were dead and 73 wounded. They had seized their targets, but the price was steep.
The lessons reshaped special operations. Fast-roping drills, suppressive fire, and air-ground coordination all changed. Troops got better armor. The military got smarter about urban raids. The courage never changed.
That same spirit drives the Descending Eagle series. Every book drops an operator into a mission where one bad call turns a raid into a rescue. The gear is real. The stakes are brutal.
Read the first one free. Start the saga with Descending Eagle, a free audiobook on Google Play, or grab the rest of the series at the Free Books page.
Download the free Eagle series at drwcballinger.com/free-books