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00:00The Battle of Magadushi
00:05This was a battle between U.S. forces and Somalia's militia fighters in Magadushi, Somalia,
00:11in October 1993.
00:13U.S. forces had entered Somalia to protect the distribution of food aid, which was being
00:19hampered by local warlords in the absence of a professional government.
00:25Leaving from the country since the dictatorship of Muammar Saad Barre was overthrown in 1991,
00:32the United Nations had taken on the task for nation building by attempting to build a coalition
00:39government.
00:40And at the order of President George Bush and Bill Clinton, the U.S. Army took the lead
00:52in this work, dubbed Operation Restore Hope.
01:00The Americans decided they had to neutralize the warlord they identified as the worst offender,
01:07Muhammad Farah Adid, who had refused to participate in any power-sharing agreement and whose Habib
01:16Klan militia had been principally responsible for ousting Saad Barre.
01:24Major General William Garrison was tasked with leading a raid by U.S. Special Operations
01:32Forces, composed of Army Rangers, 10 Mountain Division soldiers, and Delta Forces fighters
01:44on the Olympic Hotel in Magadushi, where Adid was thought to be hiding.
01:49On October 3, Operation Gothic Serpent began.
01:54Landed from helicopters, an assault group secured the hotel and took 24 prisoners, although
02:01not Adid, who was absent.
02:04Special Operations Forces in a column of vehicles following the extradition from the hotel were
02:10delayed by Somalian roadblocks and subjected to continual fire.
02:15Two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down by rocket-propelled grenades, leaving surviving
02:22aircrew at risk at the helicopter crash site.
02:28Most of the troops fought through to the first crash site, but they were then pinned down
02:32under heavy fire.
02:34The troops could only shelter in nearby houses and wait for morning.
02:40Two U.S. soldiers reached the second crash site and fought off Somalian fighters for
02:46a short time before they were killed and a helicopter pilot captured.
02:54The next morning, a U.S. and U.N. relief force of about 100 vehicles fought its way to the
03:01first crash site and extracted survivors, fighting a running battle every step of the
03:08way.
03:09The bodies of dead Americans were dragged through the street by Somalians.
03:16The battle was considered a fiasco for U.S. forces, and it effectively spelled the end
03:23of the U.S. mission in Somalia, with Clinton pulling troops out soon afterward.
03:31U.S. casualties in the Battle of Magadushi numbered 18 dead and 84 wounded among fewer
03:37than 200 personnel involved in the initial assault.
03:42Perhaps 700 to 1,500 Somalians died.
03:47The figure is still unknown.
03:50There were also 13 casualties among the U.N. personnel.
03:54The Battle of Magadushi incurred the largest number of U.S. casualties in direct conflict
04:00since the Vietnam War.
04:05Despite the loss of life and the subsequent withdrawal, the U.S. Army considered the Battle
04:10of Magadushi to be a tactical success, in which a force of fewer than 100 held off a
04:16heavily armed opponent at least 10 times stronger than theirs.