Surviving Black Hawk Down Explores the Continued Devastation of the Battle of Mogadishu

[Deeq A.]

A wrecked American helicopter in Mogadishu, Somalia, October 14, 1993. Scott Peterson/Liaison—Getty Images

Ridley Scott’s Oscar-winning 2002 movie Black Hawk Down famously portrayed the story of the Battle of Mogadishu, when Black Hawk helicopters were shot down by Somali forces in 1993.

But the film was fictional, largely focusing on the perspective of U.S. soldiers. Now a new Ridley Scott Associates’ docu-series Surviving Black Hawk Down, out on Netflix Feb. 10, aims to tell an unfiltered story of that battle through the perspectives of not only the American military personnel who were there, but also the Somalis.

Here’s what to know about the Battle of Mogadishu, the most devastating moments in the docu-series, and how U.S. veterans interviewed are grappling with the battle today.

The goal of the U.S. intervention in Mogadishuin 1992 was supposed to be straightforward: feed people starving from a famine. Americans hoped to prevent attacks on UN Relief operations by followers of Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. 

But U.S. troops encountered a great amount of resistance. As TIME reported in its Oct. 18, 1993, issue, at 3:30pm on Oct. 3, 100 U.S. Rangers and 12 Blackhawk helicopters raided a site where followers of Aidid were meeting. Forty-five minutes later, the Americans captured 19 prisoners and were ambushed by Somali militia members. Black Hawk helicopters came crashing down. Over four days, at least 18 Americans died.

An estimated 200 Somalis died, but the death count has never been finalized. “Americans did not see pictures of the Somali casualties, though,” according to the magazine. “What they did see were ghastly photos of a white body, naked except for green underwear—apparently the corpse of a downed helicopter crewman—being dragged through the street while Somalis kicked and stamped at him, plus TV footage of a terrified helicopter pilot, Michael Durant being questioned by Somali captors.”

Durant was released after 11 days. He told a Red Cross worker and two journalists who visited him in captivity that Somalis “beat me violently with their fists and with sticks” and then ripped off his clothes so they could hoist him naked, blind-folded, hands bound, over the heads of raging crowds.

Read more at Time magazine 

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