10/03/2026
🇺🇸 33 YEARS AGO: THE BATTLE OF MOGADISHU
On October 3, 1993, American servicemen launched what was expected to be a short mission into Mogadishu, Somalia.
It became one of the fiercest urban battles fought by American forces in modern history.
Operation Gothic Serpent had been established to capture key leaders of Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. On October 3, members of Task Force Ranger launched a daylight raid into Mogadishu to capture senior members of Aidid's organization.
The force included soldiers from the 75th Ranger Regiment, 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (Delta Force), and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), the Night Stalkers, with conventional Army forces, including elements of the 10th Mountain Division, becoming critical to the rescue effort.
The operation changed dramatically when Somali fighters shot down two MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.
What had been planned as a relatively brief raid became an overnight fight through the streets of Mogadishu.
American soldiers fought to reach and defend the crash sites, rescue their wounded, recover their fallen, and bring their brothers home.
18 American servicemen were killed.
73 were wounded.
One was captured and later released.
Among the fallen were MSG Gary Gordon and SFC Randall Shughart, Delta Force snipers who voluntarily inserted near the crash site of Super Six Four to protect injured pilot CW3 Michael Durant.
Both men were killed while defending the crash site and were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
The Battle of Mogadishu became known to much of America through the book and film Black Hawk Down. But behind that title were real soldiers, real families, extraordinary courage, and sacrifice that must never be reduced to a movie.
Today, 33 years later, we remember the 18 Americans who did not come home and every servicemember who fought through those long hours in Mogadishu.
We remember the Rangers.
We remember Delta.
We remember the Night Stalkers.
We remember the soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division and the others who fought their way into the city to bring their fellow Americans out.
Most importantly, we remember the fallen.
🇺🇸 Courage. Sacrifice. Brotherhood.
Lest We Forget.