So, blow by blow: 1, one of the chalks was dropped in the wrong position, a block too far north, so they never had the four corners of the target building covered as they wanted. You can see this in the film on the aerial view the general gets, but it’s never mentioned. 2, Blackburn didn’t fall dodging an RPG, he was just in-experienced and didn’t hold his rope correctly and fell. 3, Delta secured the targets, but the trucks to carry away the prisoners were wating for them outside, and Delta thought the trucks were going to call them saying when it was clear, and the trucks thought that delta were going to call *them* to say they were coming out, so both just stood there on opposite sides of a closed door waiting for the other to call, giving militia time to build up in numbers. 4, civilians gathered to rubber-neck, an angry armed man riding a cow appeared distracting everyone, and the Somali national alliance had been studying previous US raids and planning for months how to use a downed helicopter as bait to lure in a rescue teams for an ambush, and how to quicky throw up road blocks on the most likely reinforcement routes, so it was a perfect storm of a good hostile planning and everything going wrong for the rangers at once. 5, in one of the crashing helicopters (I forget which one), the pilots intentionally steered himself into the ground nose- first, killing himself but saving the guys in the back. 6, This films only real flaw as I judge it is int underplays just how badass the Malaysian and Pakistani troops were, because once they were actually informed what was going on (the pentagon was concerned about them leaking secrets so never told them about the op), they actually did a lot of the fighting to contain the Militia so the extraction of the rangers could take place, with a Malaysian condor APC holding off waves of attacks with a 20mm cannon so the final vehicle column could extract.

Those Delta Snipers knew they were going to die by going back. They knew once they went in that there was a good chance. And they still made every bullet count. Mad respect.

Some of the pilots flying the Blackhawks in the movie were actually there during the battle.

Great movie choice for Memorial Day gents. "Gordy's gone man. I'll be outside" hits hard even after all these years.

Col. Dan McKnight said his calm, almost blasé attitude was intentional. He was very aware of the mortal danger, but as commander he had to appear calm so the young troops would stay calm & believe there was no need for alarm.

RIP to Tom Sizemore, he was an amazing actor gone to soon. no matter what film he played, his presence was bigger than life. one of my all-time favorite movies with him in it is The RELIC. now that is a film I recommend for you too see and react to it here with your viewers. I read the book as well back in '95 and the movie premiered in '97. please say you will give a try someday soon!!

I think the reason the emotionality of this so powerful is because everything is happening in real time. There's no back stories to make a death more impactful. Like he said, "It's just war."

22:50 A casualty is defined as someone who was injured or killed in battle. Blackburn, the guy who fell from the chopper, was thus the first casualty.

Four Blackhawks were actual shot down that day. Super 6-2 was heavily damaged by an RPG after dropping Shugart and Gordon at the 6-4 crash site. They managed to limp outside the city limits to the port and out down by the water. Super 6-8 managed to get back to the airfield after dropping the Combat Search And Rescue medics at the 6-1 crash. Super 6-6 made resupply runs during the night by dropping ammo and I think medical supplies inside courtyards the Rangers and Delta Operators occupied.

They came up with a powder that cauterizes wounds like the femoral artery wound because of this battle. They eventually developed it into a patch that is easier to control. What gets me is seeing the bodies of the troops being desecrated. That really happened and I believe I remember hearing that some of the family, unfortunately, saw photos and video of it on the news.

My favorite game to play is trying to guess whether or not the next week's movie will show up when James talks about it. Is it going to or not? We never know

The biggest weakness of the movie is that they didn’t make it clear roads were being blocked in real-time to stop the wheeled vehicles. Those stacks of tires were showing up n front of the convoy, and were hard to spot from the chopper in time to get the route learned.

I lived about a mile from where Micheal Durant and his wife lived when this happened. I also went to high school with Micheal Durants wife, though she was a year ahead of me. The unit that flies for Delta, Seal Team Six, and pretty much most of the Special Operations Units is here at Ft. Campbell.

Thank you for this. My cousin Gary passed away in this battle and we honor his memory every memorial day and his birthday.

"Combat Applications Group" aka Delta Force is a Tier 1 Special Operations force takes operators from the Ranger Regiment and Army Special Forces which are Tier 2 special operations forces. I don't think their existence is a secret at all, it's constantly acknowledged by many veterans in interviews - I may be wrong, but I think one even received the Medal of Honor very recently even being cited as being from a CAG unit. Air Force and Navy have their Tier 1 and Tier 2 units as well. I would think that basic weapon discipline would be more of a no brainer for them and just not having "pointless" rules that conventional forces have to follow, rather than just having total disregard for it, and that they would be more professional in terms of discipline.

This was just a huge clusterfuck. Those two guys who went to the crash site are legends!

just weeks before washington denied re quest for armor and an AC-130 gunship to be on hand. They said it would be aggresive looking.

Thank you for honoring this movie for Memorial Day gentlemen. You've earned a subscriber.

The grenade throw was made by Delta Operator Norm Hooten according to Bowdan's Black Hawk Down

One of my moms exs boyfriends was a veteran who wasnt there during this the mission but knew people who went on this mission and helped with the aftermath. He know those two men who sacrificed themselves to save Mike Durant. What he told me truly horrified still to this day. I wont go into details but those two deserved those medals and then some. I love this movie. Its just different especially since most war films are time period movies or focus on the world wars. The whole situation is so sad. Its still war. But this is one of those that wasnt won by anyone.

Something that gets overlooked in this film are the men of the Navy SEAL's Gold Squadron, who drove around in an unarmored Humvee with the convoy and the Air Force contingent of Combat Controllers. The Pararescuemen you see roping into Wolcott's crash site, Master Sergeant Scott Fales and Technical Sergeant Tim "Wilky" Wilkinson (Ty Burrell of Modern Family) are somewhat represented. There were like four or five Special Tactics Squadron airmen working as part of the Delta element, so their gear all looks the same. There is a great book called Battle of Mogadishu that has six stories from six men involved in the battle, including editor and former AF Combat Controller Dan Schilling and then Master Sergeant Matt Eversmann. The book Black Hawk Down does a good job capturing the chaos from both sides, including a few local Somalis caught in the fighting. The battle is so much more insane than you'd expect.

50:40 is a recoilless rifle. They’re anti armor guns basically like a tank cannon but smaller caliber. Something like a m40 but much shorter and mounted on a pretty low tech tripod or something that could fit on a truck.

"Stay away from the walls" Very true, at a shallow angle the ricochet sends them straight alongside that wall, never lean agains it.

This is a Ridley Scott movie. His films tend to potray lots of tension and intensity. This is by far the most intense war movie made in Hollywood. It's like a tsunami of combat, its non stop.

It's easy enough to _say_ it's obviously dumb to leave armor plates behind, but try running around wearing them sometime. That's a lot of weight, and it covers a pretty small portion of your body. Mobility is one of your weapons too, and giving it up for a very limited protection is not always the best choice. Especially when you haven't had a chance to read the script and know exactly what's going to happen in the future, and you have to guess...

Randy and gordon. Heroes, they went into that crash site knowing they were going to die and they did it anyway.

My step dad was a ranger in the humvees on this mission and made it through with just some cuts and bruises. His job was clearing buildings . He said the movie and all the events, even the “sombody needs to wash the blood out of the humvees” was real and in fact when they washed the humvees out, they reported brains, chunks of flesh and blood nearly 1” thick. Dan is an absolute living legend for surviving this. Love him so much! He even gave talks about this specific day to multiple classes at my school, for history of course.

A friend of mine Chris Beetem was in this he played the guy who got shot in the back cause he took the plate out of his vest. He said they all went through training in a real military boot camp and it was hella hard work. It paid off though it added to the realism of the movie

For anyone interested in the history "The Operations Room" did an episode on the battle of Mogadishu. It's pretty good

16:39 For the production, all of the big name Ranger actors went to a 1 week version of Ranger School to familiarize them with terminology, tactics, how to hold a rifle accurately, etc. The Delta Force actors actually went to the 1st Special Warfare Training Group at Fort Bragg for an intensive 2 week commando course. The actors playing the pilots were given multiple lectures by Mike Durant himself, and a lot of one-on-one coaching to make sure all their movements and terminology were dead on right. For any airborne scene that isn't close enough to show faces, those were active Rangers in 2001 from 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, with all of the Little Birds and Black Hawks provided by, and flown by, the 160th SOAR, the same unit that was there in 1993. The pilot waving to the kid at 16:51 is Keith Jones, who was actually there on Oct 3-4, 1993. In fact, almost all of the pilot extras (ie not the "hero" characters) were aviators and operators actually involved in the Battle of Mogadishu, with some even getting a few speaking lines.

Not sure if it’s coming up but Hacksawridge is a fantastic war movie to watch if you haven’t already

There is not a Ranger or Delta guy who wouldn't go back out there, or volunteer to fight against all odds. That's just the type of dude you are dealing with in these kind of units. There were also a few DevGru operators at that fight, as well. Gary Gordon and Randy Shughart are the two Delta snipers who asked to go down alone to rescue the downed pilot. Heroes and Medal of Honor recipients.

Do you remember when this happened??

Worth checking out The Operations Room to see just how accurate this is to what really happened - really informative video

So to give more detail into the situation and to answer some of your logic: 1. The area which they show in the movie isn’t completely accurate to Somalia at the time. While the main market area was slightly more urbanised it wasn’t anything on the level which the movie shows. Most of the buildings were more on par with shantytown shacks including around both areas the helicopters went down. 2. The Black Hawk and Little Birds were actually apart of a linked Special Operations unit who had quite a bit of experience in these types of operations and having supported Delta in several operations prior. 3. Blackburns slip wasn’t due to a RPG but just sheer bad luck and inexperience. 3.5. The hit on the first Blackhawk also wasn’t as planned as the movie shows. It was actually more like the 2nd with a spontaneous RPG shot from the ground. 4. Delays between the convoy and Delta in communication didn’t help the situation. Both were in idea that the other would inform eachother to evacuate the prisoners to one another. This delay actually helped allow the militia to build up across the city and push closer to the convoy. 5. Throughout the movie you constantly question why the convoy isn’t getting out immediately with the prisoners. This is actually a rule of the US military to never leave a man behind, that includes the dead and wounded. A convoy like there’s being deployed to secure the crash site and alongside a CSAR would be quite effective at holding and evacuating the area quickly. 4.1. One thing the movie kind of misplays towards the two air controllers trying to assist the convoys movements is that the reason they couldn’t coordinate the barricades was that they were literally being built by the second as the convoy moved. On several occasions the Ranger convoy came upon them actually being constructed in their front to direct them away and into confusion. This was an actual tactic developed by the Somali militia due to prior raids by UN and US forces. 4.2. The movie also downplays the crash site 1 situation quite a bit. The lone delta holding himself was true and he died after evacuation having suffered I think 16 wounds. What they do miss is the 15 men deployed to secure the sight even before Blackburn arrived. This was a group of 5 Delta, 7 Rangers, 2 Pararescure Jumpers and a Combat Controllers. This is known as a Combat Search and Rescue formation designed for this type of situation. These guys actually set up the perimeter and held the area as more men came in across the day and evening. 5. The second crash site also wasn’t fully neglected either. A part of McKnights convoy was sent towards it, however like the primary convoy it to met the same situation as the 1st with hasty barricades and mass small arms fire proving to much. Both convoys would relink after a time and with half their number wounded or KIA they had to make the call to retreat. The 1st split off of the 3 humvees does play out quite accurate to how it happened tho by the time they got out almost everyone in it was wounded. - the Humvees were very lightly armoured with only their thin Kevlar plates to hold back the fire. Yeah it was a lot more sketch that you think. 6. The movie does misplay the contribution of 10th Mountain Ranger and the Pakistani Forces in the area. Not only did both units have troops already sent out into the city on hearing the situations growing stress, they also had their own hard and brutal fight to get to the crash site alone. 6.1. Interestingly a Pakastinian version of “black hawk down” wasn’t taking place to far away from the main one either. Tho without the helicopter. During the advance to get the Rangers and CSAR around the crash site, 2nd platoon of Company A had become separated and hit in ambush. The Malaysian crewmen alongside the 10th mountain troops ended up in a long drawn out firefight for hours until relived by fire support from a USMC super cobra and a 160th SOAR Black Hawk (same unit that the two other black hawks came from). 6.2. It’s also notable that the UN Pakistanian and Malaysian were already doing hard fighting around the “hot zone” for many months before and after the operation. And even during the operation many of these units were dealing with the spill over of fighting into their areas. 6.3. As for them being unaware the the situation fully. Yes and no. The US heads had not fully informed the UN forces of the situation as to stop a leak of information (the UN forces did have Somali members assisting them in work and operations and the US forces having a bad bias towards the UN forces thinking they’d be loose lipped if given information). However, their was contact about stuff that was shared as well as the fact that once the operation was underway and ongoing the UN forces did have an idea of what was happening. 7. For the minor things you asked about. 7.1. Why were the Rangers being cocky? Well simply for many it was their first time in combat, others had seen combat but the situation were more overwhelmingly in their favour which breeds a thinking towards that (good example was alot of the Ukrainian volunteers who went over initially left due to this. Alot of those with prior military experience had it from being in Afghanistan and Iraq where they had overwhelming firepower and support. Being on the opposite side of that didn’t bode well for many who ended up leaving quick); and cause they did expect this to be an in and out situation. 7.2. Every branch has their rivalry, it’s more inter branch/service dun to pick on one another and upshot the other guys who’s the better unit. You can see it during the movie with the safety situation. Special Force operators do keep them on safety but some don’t, and when the Ranger Captain tried to big chest on the Delta, the remark “this is my safety” was the reply to get bent. Both have experience but the Delta lads known when to be disciplined and when to be lax more. The Ranger Captain was more trying to set example for his own lads too, to not go overly acting like advanced operators when clearly not. 7.3. As above “no man left behind” pulling the convoy out wasn’t an option at that point. Remember they still expected to have the element of surprise, speed and firepower to get them through this quick. Problem was the small delays and splitting of forces caused all 3 to fall out of favour and into the militias hands. 7.4. Throws like that do happen. Remember alot of these guys back in their youth and younger days could have been quite decent sports players and many who end up serving could oh actually went further in their sports careers but choose s military one instead. So a throw like that very likely could of happened. - if memory serves the guy who did it was known to be a pretty decent baseball player in his senior years. 7.5. You can probably see why he’s going back out reading the above. Members of 10th Mountain alongside UN forces were still engaged at this point and in truth for several days after. 7.6. The crash site 2 situation is very real. Those two delta sniper done a extremely impressive job with that one. 7.7. One bit of interesting exaggeration the movie does is actually in the Somali favour. The man they capture at the start in his car does happen. However, after shooting his cars radiator he didn’t just sit their and get captured, nah he fled to a gas station where he was eventually apprehended.

This is arguably the most accurate portrayal of a modern battle, it blows line survivor away

I highly recommend you watch BAND OF BROTHERS, an award winning epic WWII Miniseries based on a true story about Easy Company of the 101st Airborne Division.

Those Delta guys hard carried that mission. holy crap.

Because it was basically sponsored by the US army it's quite censored. It doesn't mention the fact that approximately 80% of the Somali casualties were civilians (gunmen used crowds as human shields, and the rangers opened fire on the crowds). Or how badass the Pakistani and Malaysian soldiers were rescuing the Rangers/Delta. Operation Gothic Serpent was an overall failure. Grimes wasn't a real person either. But impressively the run out is real, it became known as the Mogadishu mile.

Black hawk down is a great war movie.

Becoming one of my favorite reaction channels. Love your choices of movies and also the decent knowledge you have about the military in general to understand the subtler aspects of what the stories are about.

On Helicopters. The Tail Rotor is how a helicopter Turns Left and Right, or stays oriented. Without the tail rotor, the helicopter will begin an uncontrollable spin because of the rotation of the Main Rotors, and inevitably, crash. On unexplored ordinance. Yes, when a rocket, a grenade or an artillery shell land but do not explode, that doesn’t mean that they *wont* explode. The explosives are still in them, and can be detonated if mishandled. Thousands of tons of unexploded bombs and shells are found all over the world from wars long gone, and people mistakenly believe that they are inert, and as a result, many people die by messing with them.

Not often, do I find myself wanting to comment twice on a video. But one other thing that I wanted to mention. Each, and every actor that participated in the film, all went through a "boot camp" where they learned what it meant to be a Ranger, and a Delta Force operative. And at the end of the school, each actor received a letter placed under their door. Written, and signed by a member of the Ranger Regiment whom participated in Operation Gothic Serpent, which read "Thank you for telling our story accurately". And per your question, as to whether or not people knew of the existence of "Delta Force" It was because of this mission, that Clinton had to reveal it's existence. Before this, Delta Force was about as black ops as you could get.

FYI...Gary Gordon...aka "Gordy" was played by Nikolaj Coster Waldau...aka...Jaime Lannister from Game of Thrones. Also...even more unexpected...the Pararescue soldier that was hanging the IV inside the first downed helicopter, was played by Ty Burrell...aka...Phil Dunphy from Modern Family. I served from '97-2001 and had the honor of crossing paths with some of the soldiers that took part in Operation Gothic Serpent. Heroes!

37:06 Jeff Struecker, the motivator, became a priest and finished his carreer as a major

What most people don't know is that SEAL Team 6 or DEVGRU was also there to. Some of them were giving sniper cover. One SEAL Team 6 member said he had to bribe a fishermen to hide and get to safety.

the US Bombed a meeting full of clan elders that wanted to presure Aidiid to stop fighting they thought he was there, they killed 200 that's when the whole city went mad ps. it's funny how they left it outta movie 😒

There were a couple other helicopters that were damaged but did not go down. They were landed outside the city.

At this point Delta is acknowledged to be a thing but really wasn't back then. They 're a Tier 1 special forces unit along with DEVGRU (aka SEAL Team 6). They're also considered the best of the best. Another fun fact any branch of the military technically can join that means SEALS.

Col Steele was my Brigade Commander during my 2nd deployment to Iraq 2005-2006. He was commander of 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. He was an awesome commander. If we needed anything he made sure we got it.

My father actually knew multiple people in this mission being a ranger in the same time and this movie hits hard for him everytime…

Slawomir Idziak's cinematography is breathtaking And really ahead of its time

The Army provided help’s and pilots, a company of Rangers and advisors for the filming.

Two interesting things i know about the op. are: 1) The op. pattern used by the US for the movie raid was the same pattern for other raids done before the movie raid. That's why insurgents are so effective and reactive against US troops. That was a bold move by US, classic underestimating the enemy like in 'nam. 2) There was a large Italian detachment which was not involved in the raid due to American suspicions of the Italians: They thought the Italians were providing information to Aidid's troops. The fact is that was obviously not true and the Italians could have provided armored support to the op.

Gosh while I remembered a few known actors from this the 1 time I tried watching it, I now recognize quite a few others who are better known now. Like- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau from GOTs, Tim Hardy, and etc. Can't remember if y'all have already watched it but, try out- 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, Zero Dark Thirty and 12 Strong. All based on true stories.

Its not cocky its hiding the fear to be brave enough to walk into danger.

Reality is often a lot more incredible than fiction, Hacksaw Ridge is a great example of this. Mel Gibson said they actually removed the crazier things that actually happened from the movie because he thought the audience wouldn't be able to believe it.😅

My favorite war film. I was amazed when i was a kid and spent alot of time over the years breaking down everything. Watched documentaries, interviews from soldiers and real news footage. The movie is pretty accurate. Some people complain that it's not like the book But I think the movie is just more focused on the event.

So in the real mission, the American forces had 10 blackhawks total. They crashed or disabled 8 of them in this operation. The 2 that crashed in the city, 1 crash landed at the stadium, 2 at the port area, and the rest at the airfield. Those aircraft got shot up so bad, yet were able to preform and hold together until the aircrews could get into a safe location.

The helicopters were flown by members of the 160th SOAR, which is the unit that was actually in this battle.

Oh dang this is one of the most epic war movies. Like every actor is in this movie too. Tobey, Tom Sizemore, Tom Hardy, Matt Hartnett, Aaron Eckhart maybe, William Fichtner, Obi-wan Kenobi himself Ewan MacGregor, and more.

Delta Snipers Randy Shugart and Gary Gordon were both posthumously awarded the Purple Heart. They held off the crowd by themselves for about 3-4 hours and only died due to the crowd size and because they ran out of ammunition.

I just saw this like 1 or 2 weeks ago so this timing is insane! 😂

The average human being would not want to go back in there. Respect to the guys who chose to go back

A Malaysian Movie coming out in August 2023 titled "MALBATT: Misi Bakara" is a movie about the same event from the perspective of the UN Peacekeepers from Malaysia assisting with the rescue mission.

A crazy thought for me is that I was only 23 days old when these events took place IRL.

1st SFOD-D is the technical name for the Delta guys, they “didn’t exist” for a long time but you can’t keep everything a secret. Besides even just knowing a name doesn’t really give away their tasks and purpose. But they are selected from other special operations units, so they are the best of the best.

i love it when reactors suggest tactics and advise what to do in the middle of a chaotic battle scene. it might be hard to tell in printed word, but that was sarcasm.

My one brother-in-law who is the brother I never had was FIVE YEARS OLD when this happened and lived through this hell. I can’t even imagine 😭

one of the few movies where they get the sound of a gatling gun right

I forget his name but the soldier with the rocket in him actually survived.

The Book is more or less a transcription of events on what actually happened. Lots of extra details and a more accurate telling of what happened and when. The movie is of course a Hollywood "remix". Some things are shuffled around for the sake of simpler story telling and movie run time. Big picture tells the story well enough. Would definitely recommend the book to anyone who would like to learn more about the events that took place.

Aidid was a well (self) educated man. he knew how to abuse american ethics and ROE. the militia intentionally shot the blackhawks at their tail rotors, instead of outright destroying the birds mid-air or w/e. they specifically wanted to get them down to so the americans would be forced to rescue their own, which threw a completely unexpected curve ball at the americans. meanwhile they were setting up barricades to limit their movements. basically they used very clever guerrilla tactics. the way the americans responded to all of this was rather stellar. their ability to adapt to the situation was admirable! shooting down super-64 was key in all of why the battle became so hard and thus well known, and it was completely intentional to just bring both 61 and 64 down instead of trying to immediately kill the crew.

I remember watching them drag the bodies through the streets on the news after this happened

At 7:37 with the "This is my safety" it went down a bit differently IRL. The m16/m4 can't go on safety when the hammer is forward. His rifle is empty chamber with the hammer down and a loaded mag and he got tired of trying to explain that to the Captain so he made a sarcastic remark.

This is one of those movies i can only watch once

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has a multiplayer map based on this named Bakaara, complete with a downed Black Hawk at the center of the map with a usable side-mounted minigun. 8:00 Correct. The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (aka. Delta Force, Combat Applications Group (CAG), Army Compartmented Elements (ACE), "Task Force Green" within join operations) is a highly-classified (and paradoxically well-known) Spec Ops unit of the US Army. It is the Army's equivalent the Navy's DEVGRU (aka. SEAL Team Six) and the Air Force's 24th Special Tactics Squadron (they don't have a cool nickname). Pretty much everything about Delta Force is kept absolutely secret, with the unit only being publicly acknowledged whenever they take part in a major operation or someone from it dies. While it consists mostly of Army personnel, members of other branches have been part of it.

The car that was attached to something like a rocket is actually a super bazooka built and used by the U.S. Army in the 1950s.

There are a lot of differences between what happened and the movie, it would take reading the book to get them all. The US did send in a large force of Marines and others as the core of a UN mission. These were withdrawn because the locals more or less cooled it so they would be withdrawn. Once they were gone the troubles started up again. This Ranger force was about 400 men, maybe 450 all inclusive. Washington wanted to keep the mission profile low and took basically the middle option they were presented with, and then cut it down even more. For example, they were supposed to have had an additional platoon for security and quick reaction but it was removed at the last minute. There was a concern even about defending the airfield with those numbers as some of the UN troops there did not seem reliable. The man in the beginning who mimed shooting and rpg was a reference to a 10th Mountain Blawk Hawk that had been shot down earlier. This seemed to have been considered a lucky shot that could not happen again. This was strange given the history of how many choppers were shot down in Vietnam and some shot up in Grenada. The first chopper actually crashed in a narrow alley. Several members of the SAR team were also hit either on the rope or shortly after getting on the ground. The second went down in a shanty town area. It was not easy to get to because there were no clear streets in there, but the Delta men managed to find it. In the mean time, the Blawkhawk that dropped them was hit by an RPG and nearly crashed, and took the leg off of a third Delta man who had remained on board to operate a minigun because the crew chief had been hit. The QRF that was sent out from the airport ran into a heavy ambush that nearly wiped them out but it was sprung too early. They met the main convoy and both went back to the base. A Blawkhawk did fly out after dark to drop supplies to the first crash site and it was nearly shot down. The supplies helped because the men were nearly out of ammo and some of the men thought that a coordinated oush might have overrun them. Fortunately for them the little birds made moving large groups very difficult and the Somalis could get such a push together.

Guys, if youre on a war movie binge, then please, PLEASE, watch Tears of the Sun if you havent already. It is such a CRIMINALLY underrated movie, and honestly one of Bruce Willis' best movies IMO.

Guys just listen to the soundtracks available in you tube for this movie..one of the best Hans Zimmer tracks

Besides the original "Black Hawk Down" book by Mark Bowden, I recommend "In the Company of Heroes" by Michael Durant, the pilot of Super 64. It goes into his time in captivity as well as some of his events and actions leading up to Mogadishu, such as Desert Storm and his time in Korea. There's also some insight that may seem contrary to what the book and film portray, such as Durant getting smacked in the face with a severed arm instead of a rifle.

30:07 the real DeTomasso was unhappy about that movie scene. He was a Lieutenat, Eversman a Staff Sergeant at that time. In reality, he was the commanding officer at the crahside because Captain Steel was on the way, but only gave orders over radio.

black helmets are delta force, literally the most secretive and most trained forces in the US military... rangers are also elite but not quite that caliber. the black birds and black hawks are from SOAR which are basically the delta force of aviation... they are the best trained pilots

On a side note in the early 2000s the Blackhawk Down pc game was awesome! The multi player was a blast

My grandmother used to baby sit one of the men who was sent in after the initial attack and who lost his life. He was from Iowa and a very kind person.

Thanks for this. Great reaction!

Sorry just gonna drop another comment. The youtube page american veterans center has a great interview with The lead Hummer driver that evacuated the first soldier out the Cell out of helicopter. The video was called the real blackhawk Down.

I remember when this came out it made waves & it was SO visceral, phenomenal film!

Quick answer: “No” you cannot fly a chopper without a tail rotor! The tail rotor provides counter rotation to allow for stability. Without it, the chopper will rotate in the opposite direction of the main rotor and your foot pedals (which control yaw) become useless. I’ve flown a Robinson R-44 helicopter several times. If a chopper looses a tail rotor, it’s going to crash most likely in a flat spin (as depicted here). *Retired Air Force aircraft maintenance technician.

We traded the prisoners back for Mike Durant the pilot

This battle included the elite units Army Rangers, Delta Force, and Air Force Combat Controllers. Delta had on black helmets and the Controller was the guy that lost his thumb. They are the hardest pipeline of all elite forces bc they can do everything Delta, the Seals, Marine Recon, and Berets and can do while also be air traffic controllers in the middle of the battle

Damn. Good pull on Lucius, i've seen this movie so many times and never connected it

If you guys are curious, Grimes' character is fictional. His real life counterpart got arrested a year before this movie came out for child rape, which is why they gave McGregor's character a new name.

13:05 its not cocky.. its a matter of convenience. Trauma plate was just damn uncomfortable. You still have your vest but that thing was like wearing a car door on your chest. When you do this stuff day and night you start giving in to a little more risk to be comfortable.

I remember this very well and am familiar "with a few things". First, the movie was to tell a story of what happened but to also bring awareness to the harsh reality of the situation. Secondly, though you see this and can look at it one way, the reality is that the overall mission was successful, there were other factors that weren't disclosed completely in this movie but the primary objective was completed. Still, watching this still brings some fury but especially heartbreak knowing what happened to some of our brothers.

A lot of the soldiers were actually Rangers that served there.

Listen to the voice that starts narrating at 57:55 when the credits roll, that's Nikolaj Coster Waldau aka Jaime Lannister. He played one of the snipers that tried to defend the black hawk with the pilot that was captured by the militia.

8:00 Back in the 1990s and early 2000s, it was "neither confirm nor deny" territory, but it was formed as a response to the string of terrorist attacks in the 1970s in 1977. Their primary mission is counter-terrorism, but they also do hostage rescue, direct action (aka assassination), covert infiltration, and special recon. The official title is 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment Delta (SFOD-D), but they are also known as Delta Force, The Unit, Combat Applications Group, or by their Spec-Ops title, Task Force Green. They have special permission to wear civilian clothes, grow their hair out long, grow beards, and the like so that they can blend in with a group or population while gathering covert intelligence. They are one of the three Tier 1 spec ops groups, with the other two being the 24th Special Tactics Squadron of the Air Force, and the Navy's DEVGRU (aka Seal Team 6). Once the internet became prolific, Delta was officially acknowledged as existing and its Tier 1 rating was revealed. The Delta Force operators in Mogadishu were from C Assault Squadron. They have 6 squadrons, A through G, with A-D being assault, E being aviation (that has some serious black ops history with the CIA, look up "Seaspray"), and G is the Advanced Force Operations squadron tasked with clandestine operations and covert intelligence, including long-term infiltration of terrorist groups

Can you imagine not intervene as UN in Africa? Rwanda, Ghana, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Mali, Niger and Nigeria. Many nations fight against themselves many nations are falling apart from inside thanks to clans and warlords. It is since end of colonialism and it been there since ancient times. Literally Africa (mostly Sub-Saharan part) will never change thanks differences in faith and ethnic groups. From worldwide perspective it is mostly a waste of recourses or men power when you try to make it change.