1
00:00:06,111 --> 00:00:07,695
[somber music playing]

2
00:00:10,573 --> 00:00:12,117
[wind rustles]

3
00:00:13,910 --> 00:00:16,037
[birds chirping]

4
00:00:22,961 --> 00:00:25,755
[woman in Somali] Early morning
that day was peaceful.

5
00:00:27,966 --> 00:00:30,635
Soon after, I felt some slight labor pain.

6
00:00:30,718 --> 00:00:33,263
-[somber music playing]
-[indistinct chatter]

7
00:00:33,346 --> 00:00:35,223
[women murmuring]

8
00:00:35,306 --> 00:00:37,058
[woman strains]

9
00:00:37,142 --> 00:00:39,185
[baby crying]

10
00:00:40,311 --> 00:00:42,480
[woman] I was blessed with baby Amina.

11
00:00:43,773 --> 00:00:45,608
She was a beautiful baby girl,

12
00:00:46,776 --> 00:00:48,194
thanks to God.

13
00:00:51,281 --> 00:00:52,115
[baby crying]

14
00:00:53,241 --> 00:00:57,537
I was expecting
my relatives to visit and bring gifts,

15
00:00:58,163 --> 00:00:59,831
but then the shooting began.

16
00:01:00,707 --> 00:01:02,876
[guns firing rapidly]

17
00:01:03,710 --> 00:01:04,794
[indistinct clamoring]

18
00:01:04,878 --> 00:01:08,214
[Saido] Helicopters were hovering above.

19
00:01:11,050 --> 00:01:12,427
There was chaos all over the city.

20
00:01:14,596 --> 00:01:16,306
Then one helicopter was shot down.

21
00:01:17,724 --> 00:01:20,435
[helicopter crashing]

22
00:01:21,853 --> 00:01:23,313
It crashed right outside our house…

23
00:01:25,481 --> 00:01:27,025
and I passed out.

24
00:01:27,942 --> 00:01:29,319
We thought it was all over.

25
00:01:30,028 --> 00:01:32,322
[ominous music playing]

26
00:01:33,907 --> 00:01:36,075
[indistinct shouting]

27
00:01:36,159 --> 00:01:39,162
[helicopter whirring]

28
00:01:41,206 --> 00:01:43,249
[guns firing rapidly]

29
00:01:44,125 --> 00:01:46,044
I just couldn't believe
what was happening.

30
00:01:47,420 --> 00:01:48,671
[gun firing]

31
00:01:50,131 --> 00:01:51,549
[David] Holy shit.

32
00:01:51,633 --> 00:01:53,259
A black hawk crashed in front of me.

33
00:01:53,343 --> 00:01:54,510
[crashing]

34
00:01:54,594 --> 00:01:56,262
[soldier] Down! We got a black hawk down!

35
00:01:56,346 --> 00:01:57,430
It was hectic, man.

36
00:01:59,307 --> 00:02:01,476
I knew, I… I mean, I knew we were fucked.

37
00:02:01,559 --> 00:02:04,145
[guns firing rapidly]

38
00:02:04,229 --> 00:02:06,147
I'd never trained to have
a helicopter shot down.

39
00:02:06,231 --> 00:02:08,107
-[tense music plays]
-[gunshots continue]

40
00:02:08,858 --> 00:02:09,859
This is new territory.

41
00:02:11,861 --> 00:02:13,363
[Tom] I'm listening to my team leader.

42
00:02:14,030 --> 00:02:16,699
He's listening higher,
and that guy's listening to everybody.

43
00:02:17,825 --> 00:02:19,994
[indistinct chatter over radio]

44
00:02:20,078 --> 00:02:22,163
[Tom] It's like, okay, what do we do now?

45
00:02:26,918 --> 00:02:28,920
[man on radio] We got
a black hawk crash in the city.

46
00:02:29,003 --> 00:02:30,129
It's 6-1.

47
00:02:30,213 --> 00:02:32,674
I'd been a platoon leader
for 3rd Ranger Battalion

48
00:02:32,757 --> 00:02:33,967
for all of ten months.

49
00:02:34,801 --> 00:02:38,221
To say I was scared, yeah, I… I was.

50
00:02:38,888 --> 00:02:41,933
But the one thing
I can do as a leader is stay calm.

51
00:02:42,767 --> 00:02:45,311
It would be so much
worse if they saw me lose my shit.

52
00:02:45,395 --> 00:02:47,063
-[indistinct chatter]
-[guns firing]

53
00:02:47,146 --> 00:02:49,023
[Larry] We were at the target building,

54
00:02:49,107 --> 00:02:51,901
I'm monitoring the radios,
trying to get a sense of the situation.

55
00:02:52,610 --> 00:02:53,528
[soldier] On your left!

56
00:02:53,611 --> 00:02:57,156
The mission had been getting two
of Aidid's key lieutenants

57
00:02:57,240 --> 00:02:58,449
that were having a meeting

58
00:02:58,533 --> 00:03:00,994
in this area called the Bakara Market.

59
00:03:01,661 --> 00:03:02,704
We had done our mission.

60
00:03:02,787 --> 00:03:04,122
The prisoners had been captured.

61
00:03:04,205 --> 00:03:07,917
-[tense music plays]
-[indistinct chatter over radio]

62
00:03:08,001 --> 00:03:09,294
[Larry] Black hawk goes down,

63
00:03:09,377 --> 00:03:11,921
two, two and a half blocks
away from our location.

64
00:03:13,131 --> 00:03:14,590
Our mission's just changed.

65
00:03:14,674 --> 00:03:15,800
It was no longer a raid.

66
00:03:16,509 --> 00:03:18,303
It was now going
to become a rescue mission.

67
00:03:19,804 --> 00:03:21,264
[indistinct chatter]

68
00:03:21,347 --> 00:03:23,474
[Larry] Dead and alive,
we need to get to them.

69
00:03:23,558 --> 00:03:24,892
And if there's any survivors,

70
00:03:24,976 --> 00:03:27,603
we need to get them
and get them out of here quickly.

71
00:03:28,938 --> 00:03:30,315
[man on radio] We got a bird down.

72
00:03:30,398 --> 00:03:33,568
I need you to move on out
to secure that location.

73
00:03:33,651 --> 00:03:38,740
It was decided we would all link up
at the crash site, everybody.

74
00:03:40,908 --> 00:03:44,078
The Rangers and Delta,
we're all kind of together.

75
00:03:44,162 --> 00:03:45,496
-[indistinct chatter]
-[gun fires]

76
00:03:45,580 --> 00:03:47,415
All of a sudden,
it was like, "We gotta go."

77
00:03:47,498 --> 00:03:48,958
[soldier] Move, move.

78
00:03:50,043 --> 00:03:51,544
[Tom] We had to move to the crash site.

79
00:03:51,627 --> 00:03:54,047
You're like, "Okay,
everything's changing now."

80
00:03:54,839 --> 00:03:58,634
[Randy] At the downed aircraft,
I had no idea who made it, who didn't.

81
00:03:59,761 --> 00:04:03,389
Frankly, I was scared
that if we didn't get to that crash site,

82
00:04:04,432 --> 00:04:08,061
we knew what the Somalis
would do to those that survived.

83
00:04:09,187 --> 00:04:11,189
So that's when the race started.

84
00:04:11,981 --> 00:04:15,943
-[tense music plays]
-[vehicle engine roaring]

85
00:04:23,409 --> 00:04:26,371
[in Somali] There was a plan
presented to us by General Aidid.

86
00:04:26,996 --> 00:04:31,542
If you get the chance,
capture the US soldiers alive,

87
00:04:32,085 --> 00:04:33,711
if not, kill them.

88
00:04:34,295 --> 00:04:36,130
-[indistinct chatter]
-[ominous music playing]

89
00:04:36,839 --> 00:04:41,636
Somalis were yelling
at each other to come out and fight.

90
00:04:46,641 --> 00:04:49,102
[tense music continues]

91
00:04:51,229 --> 00:04:52,605
[Yasin in Somali] This is our land.

92
00:04:53,773 --> 00:04:55,358
If you touch a man's balls,

93
00:04:55,441 --> 00:04:57,610
he will fight you off
with his hands and legs.

94
00:05:01,406 --> 00:05:04,200
[Tom] It was like hundreds
of hundreds of people paralleling us

95
00:05:04,283 --> 00:05:06,244
towards the crash site,
trying to beat us to it.

96
00:05:07,161 --> 00:05:10,039
-[tense music plays]
-[guns firing]

97
00:05:10,123 --> 00:05:11,457
[indistinct chatter]

98
00:05:11,541 --> 00:05:13,376
God, I kept seeing them coming.

99
00:05:18,381 --> 00:05:21,050
[in Somali] Even if 1,000 people died,
it doesn't matter.

100
00:05:21,134 --> 00:05:22,635
It's no problem.

101
00:05:22,718 --> 00:05:26,764
Our objective was the freedom of Somalia.

102
00:05:29,308 --> 00:05:32,645
Bullets are flying and you're like,
"Where is it coming from?"

103
00:05:33,521 --> 00:05:35,857
Out of an alleyway, behind a gate.

104
00:05:37,108 --> 00:05:38,734
But I'm Delta Force.

105
00:05:38,818 --> 00:05:39,944
All the training kicks in.

106
00:05:40,027 --> 00:05:42,196
-[indistinct chatter]
-[gunshots continue]

107
00:05:42,280 --> 00:05:43,322
I think I'm robotic.

108
00:05:43,990 --> 00:05:46,284
It's happening without
me even thinking about it.

109
00:05:46,993 --> 00:05:49,203
It's, "You're a threat. I'll kill you."

110
00:05:50,705 --> 00:05:52,957
-[tense music playing]
-[crowd screaming]

111
00:05:57,086 --> 00:05:59,922
[ominous music plays]

112
00:06:06,554 --> 00:06:10,224
[Ahmed] When I reached
that area of Bakara Market,

113
00:06:10,308 --> 00:06:12,935
I reached the front line.

114
00:06:15,354 --> 00:06:17,064
I took out my camera

115
00:06:18,107 --> 00:06:19,567
to record what's going on.

116
00:06:25,698 --> 00:06:28,493
I saw Somalis running.

117
00:06:31,287 --> 00:06:33,664
I can't see Americans.

118
00:06:34,415 --> 00:06:35,917
If you see, you will die.

119
00:06:36,667 --> 00:06:38,336
[helicopter whirring]

120
00:06:39,378 --> 00:06:41,130
I was shocked.

121
00:06:41,214 --> 00:06:44,008
That area where I'm filming,

122
00:06:44,884 --> 00:06:47,094
it's full of civilian houses.

123
00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:49,138
Residents!

124
00:06:49,222 --> 00:06:51,891
But now, it's a battleground.

125
00:06:53,434 --> 00:06:55,686
[children screaming]

126
00:06:59,524 --> 00:07:01,067
[Ahmed] And in that battlefield,

127
00:07:01,150 --> 00:07:04,028
I was horrified to see a school.

128
00:07:07,490 --> 00:07:10,576
[tense music playing]

129
00:07:12,161 --> 00:07:13,454
[loud thudding]

130
00:07:19,794 --> 00:07:21,546
[Halima in Somali] When
we were in the school,

131
00:07:21,629 --> 00:07:26,717
I had never heard artillery
or anything as loud as this before.

132
00:07:26,801 --> 00:07:29,011
[guns firing in distance]

133
00:07:30,471 --> 00:07:34,559
The teacher stood up
and told the prefects to lock the doors.

134
00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:37,645
We didn't know what was going on outside.

135
00:07:41,774 --> 00:07:46,070
[Ahmed] I saw there
was a teacher outside of the… the…

136
00:07:46,153 --> 00:07:51,284
the school and…
lifeless lying on the… the ground.

137
00:07:52,618 --> 00:07:54,787
-[people crying]
-[helicopter whirring]

138
00:07:56,038 --> 00:07:58,666
And then I recorded one boy

139
00:07:58,749 --> 00:08:03,379
come out the school
with blood on his clothes.

140
00:08:03,462 --> 00:08:05,548
[guns firing in distance]

141
00:08:08,759 --> 00:08:11,512
I'm afraid. The remaining students…

142
00:08:12,263 --> 00:08:14,015
what is their situation?

143
00:08:21,564 --> 00:08:23,858
[in Somali] Around 20 children
were huddled on top of me.

144
00:08:23,941 --> 00:08:28,446
Some were vomiting and others passed out.

145
00:08:28,529 --> 00:08:31,365
I told myself, this is where I will die.

146
00:08:32,074 --> 00:08:33,868
I'll never see my parents again.

147
00:08:38,998 --> 00:08:41,000
I'm terrified. You know,

148
00:08:42,293 --> 00:08:44,378
you can kill a lot of children.

149
00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:47,632
When the children are there,

150
00:08:48,674 --> 00:08:50,092
why are you firing?

151
00:08:50,176 --> 00:08:53,054
[mimics gunfire]

152
00:08:55,473 --> 00:08:56,974
I was thinking…

153
00:08:58,684 --> 00:09:01,437
do they want everybody to die?

154
00:09:07,026 --> 00:09:09,528
[somber music plays]

155
00:09:10,905 --> 00:09:13,491
[tense music playing]

156
00:09:16,327 --> 00:09:19,497
We were moving closer to the crash site.

157
00:09:20,164 --> 00:09:23,584
When we turned left
to go down that extra block…

158
00:09:25,336 --> 00:09:28,631
it was like, I swear, a wall of lead.

159
00:09:28,714 --> 00:09:30,800
-[guns firing]
-[indistinct clamoring]

160
00:09:32,885 --> 00:09:37,431
It was like gnats or just bees
snapping along the street.

161
00:09:38,641 --> 00:09:39,684
[soldier] Get down!

162
00:09:41,018 --> 00:09:45,690
[in Somali] In combat, the layout
of Mogadishu is to our advantage.

163
00:09:45,773 --> 00:09:48,275
We use the backstreets
so they can't see you.

164
00:09:50,903 --> 00:09:53,406
That's when we really
started taking lots of casualties.

165
00:09:53,489 --> 00:09:54,699
[guns firing]

166
00:09:54,782 --> 00:09:56,158
[shouting]

167
00:09:56,242 --> 00:09:59,203
[Randy] All of a sudden,
I saw this guy being shot in the face.

168
00:09:59,912 --> 00:10:03,040
It was the most
violent thing I've ever witnessed.

169
00:10:03,124 --> 00:10:04,625
[guns firing]

170
00:10:05,126 --> 00:10:06,669
[Randy] I actually got scared.

171
00:10:08,212 --> 00:10:10,798
Then I realized he was in Delta Force.

172
00:10:10,881 --> 00:10:11,799
[soldier shouting]

173
00:10:11,882 --> 00:10:13,884
[Randy] Those guys do everything right.

174
00:10:13,968 --> 00:10:15,845
And if they're doing everything right,

175
00:10:15,928 --> 00:10:17,555
and they're still getting killed,

176
00:10:18,305 --> 00:10:19,682
what does that mean for us?

177
00:10:23,519 --> 00:10:25,896
[guns firing rapidly]

178
00:10:29,024 --> 00:10:32,111
[in Somali] These men they brought here
had never been in a single battle.

179
00:10:32,194 --> 00:10:33,821
They were schoolboys.

180
00:10:33,904 --> 00:10:37,825
I was a fighter
with 30 or 40 battles under my belt,

181
00:10:38,617 --> 00:10:40,536
and for four months,

182
00:10:40,619 --> 00:10:43,122
we have been defending
our territory in Mogadishu.

183
00:10:44,582 --> 00:10:46,250
[tense music playing]

184
00:10:48,794 --> 00:10:49,754
[exhales]

185
00:10:50,629 --> 00:10:52,506
[helicopter whirring]

186
00:10:53,466 --> 00:10:56,051
[Larry] Around me,
we've taken so many wounded.

187
00:10:57,428 --> 00:10:59,680
I'd heard over the radio that the convoy,

188
00:10:59,764 --> 00:11:02,725
they're separating a couple vehicles
to pick up some of these casualties

189
00:11:02,808 --> 00:11:04,602
and take them back to base.

190
00:11:07,688 --> 00:11:09,482
[gun firing rapidly]

191
00:11:09,565 --> 00:11:12,651
[Brad] The vehicle convoy,
they divided it two ways.

192
00:11:14,653 --> 00:11:16,572
One section would head for the crash site,

193
00:11:17,364 --> 00:11:18,908
but my part of the convoy

194
00:11:18,991 --> 00:11:22,119
was told to evacuate some
of the casualties back to the hangar.

195
00:11:22,828 --> 00:11:26,332
[engine roaring]

196
00:11:27,666 --> 00:11:31,378
-[soldier speaks indistinctly]
-[Brad] I'm in the backseat of the Humvee.

197
00:11:31,462 --> 00:11:33,047
I'm trying to stay alive,

198
00:11:33,130 --> 00:11:36,717
you know, engage and shoot at bad guys,
you know, mass chaos.

199
00:11:36,801 --> 00:11:38,469
[guns firing]

200
00:11:38,552 --> 00:11:42,598
[Brad] We had injured Rangers loaded into
the back of one of our Ranger Humvees.

201
00:11:42,681 --> 00:11:45,309
-[soldier 1 shouting] Now!
-[soldier 2] Move out!

202
00:11:45,392 --> 00:11:48,062
I don't know if they're killed,
if they're just injured.

203
00:11:50,147 --> 00:11:51,774
A wake-up call to,

204
00:11:51,857 --> 00:11:54,443
"All right, this could be
any one of us at this point."

205
00:11:55,569 --> 00:11:57,363
-Go! Let's go!
-[soldier] Let's go!

206
00:11:57,446 --> 00:11:59,698
[Brad] We're going to return to base.

207
00:11:59,782 --> 00:12:01,408
Maybe two miles.

208
00:12:02,451 --> 00:12:04,995
You would think
it would be very easy to get there.

209
00:12:07,289 --> 00:12:08,958
But in a matter of minutes,

210
00:12:09,041 --> 00:12:11,502
we encountered a real
kind of set-up ambush.

211
00:12:13,003 --> 00:12:14,880
All hell breaks loose.

212
00:12:16,048 --> 00:12:18,217
-[guns firing]
-[indistinct chatter]

213
00:12:19,343 --> 00:12:22,221
[Brad] Imagine doing a nine-point turn

214
00:12:23,722 --> 00:12:25,808
in the middle of a skinny little street,

215
00:12:25,891 --> 00:12:28,018
in the middle of a fucking gunfight.

216
00:12:29,061 --> 00:12:30,354
Let's go!

217
00:12:33,732 --> 00:12:35,359
And then to try and go back

218
00:12:35,442 --> 00:12:36,944
the way you just came from,

219
00:12:37,027 --> 00:12:38,320
where they're shooting at us.

220
00:12:39,363 --> 00:12:40,447
[gun firing]

221
00:12:40,531 --> 00:12:44,785
We just encountered
one roadblock after another.

222
00:12:47,413 --> 00:12:50,666
There's militia men amongst
the civilian population,

223
00:12:50,749 --> 00:12:53,878
and they're shooting at us,
around women and kids.

224
00:12:55,170 --> 00:12:56,964
-[indistinct chatter]
-[women screaming]

225
00:12:57,047 --> 00:13:00,676
I remember seeing a group of women,

226
00:13:00,759 --> 00:13:04,054
and they were pointing at our location.

227
00:13:04,138 --> 00:13:08,350
Is this okay, to engage these people?
Is it not okay?

228
00:13:10,895 --> 00:13:13,022
[Nuur in Somali] Everyone
was volunteering themselves.

229
00:13:13,898 --> 00:13:16,108
The women who should have been scared,

230
00:13:16,817 --> 00:13:19,945
they were actually pointing out
the soldiers, "Over there! Over there!"

231
00:13:23,282 --> 00:13:25,075
I didn't. I didn't engage them,

232
00:13:25,159 --> 00:13:27,578
because I didn't know
whether it was the right thing.

233
00:13:28,704 --> 00:13:32,917
Just… you know, an insane amount
of confusion and ambiguity.

234
00:13:34,251 --> 00:13:37,922
We're just driving kind
of around in circles, being shot at.

235
00:13:40,132 --> 00:13:42,468
[fire crackling]

236
00:13:42,551 --> 00:13:43,594
[explosion booms]

237
00:13:43,677 --> 00:13:45,930
-[indistinct clamoring]
-[guns firing]

238
00:13:46,430 --> 00:13:49,642
As we were moving closer
and closer to the crash site,

239
00:13:51,393 --> 00:13:53,228
we're all blended together at this point.

240
00:13:54,021 --> 00:13:56,315
Both Rangers and Delta.

241
00:13:56,398 --> 00:13:57,691
And we were almost there.

242
00:13:58,525 --> 00:13:59,568
[soldier] Fuck!

243
00:14:00,778 --> 00:14:03,822
The amount of gunfire taking place

244
00:14:03,906 --> 00:14:06,867
down at the crash site was incredible.

245
00:14:06,951 --> 00:14:08,035
[soldier screams]

246
00:14:09,244 --> 00:14:12,373
As we approached the crash site,
it was relentless.

247
00:14:12,456 --> 00:14:14,416
You feel like, whoa,
knocked back on your heels.

248
00:14:16,877 --> 00:14:18,671
I knew we weren't gonna
get to that crash site

249
00:14:18,754 --> 00:14:21,674
without taking a lot
of casualties, so we had to stop.

250
00:14:22,216 --> 00:14:23,676
[indistinct clamoring]

251
00:14:23,759 --> 00:14:25,594
And once we stopped

252
00:14:25,678 --> 00:14:28,347
is when we start getting surrounded.

253
00:14:28,430 --> 00:14:29,431
[muffled gunshots]

254
00:14:31,684 --> 00:14:35,270
I'm looking down, and I'm seeing rounds
go straight between my legs,

255
00:14:35,354 --> 00:14:37,606
but one of them hits Corporal Jamie Smith.

256
00:14:37,690 --> 00:14:38,607
[Jamie screams]

257
00:14:39,608 --> 00:14:42,861
-[Larry] It was bloody and gruesome.
-[soldier] Get him out of here, now!

258
00:14:42,945 --> 00:14:46,740
All I really wanted to do
was get him anywhere but there.

259
00:14:46,824 --> 00:14:48,200
[soldiers clamoring]

260
00:14:49,201 --> 00:14:50,953
If we stayed out here long enough,

261
00:14:51,036 --> 00:14:52,997
they were going
to pick off every one of us.

262
00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:54,832
Gotta get off the street, right now.

263
00:14:56,792 --> 00:14:59,044
And we were just picking
a house that we wouldn't plan on.

264
00:14:59,128 --> 00:15:00,170
We don't know who's in it.

265
00:15:01,922 --> 00:15:04,341
-So, we go in fast. Boom! What's in here?
-[woman screams]

266
00:15:04,425 --> 00:15:06,468
[ominous music playing]

267
00:15:12,266 --> 00:15:15,185
[Saido in Somali] When the helicopter
crashed, I had passed out.

268
00:15:15,894 --> 00:15:19,064
I woke up, disoriented from the shock.

269
00:15:19,648 --> 00:15:20,691
[muffled shouting]

270
00:15:20,774 --> 00:15:22,526
[Saido] There were Americans
standing over me.

271
00:15:22,609 --> 00:15:23,986
[soldier] Everybody on the ground!

272
00:15:24,069 --> 00:15:26,155
[Saido in Somali] I was getting
more and more scared.

273
00:15:26,238 --> 00:15:28,323
One of them approached us.

274
00:15:28,407 --> 00:15:30,576
He was angry and shouting.

275
00:15:30,659 --> 00:15:32,327
[soldier] Everybody down, now! Move!

276
00:15:32,411 --> 00:15:34,038
[Saido] I was worried about my baby girl.

277
00:15:34,121 --> 00:15:35,998
[baby crying]

278
00:15:37,082 --> 00:15:39,043
We said, "We have no weapons."

279
00:15:39,626 --> 00:15:40,794
"Please spare us."

280
00:15:41,628 --> 00:15:44,048
[Tom] I go left, somebody goes right,
search the house,

281
00:15:44,131 --> 00:15:46,467
made sure those people
didn't stand up and do anything weird.

282
00:15:46,550 --> 00:15:49,011
And then the man,
he's the only one I'm worried about.

283
00:15:50,929 --> 00:15:54,516
[in Somali] They said, "Get down
on the floor! Hands behind your back!"

284
00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:58,979
-And they cuffed me with a cable tie.
-[baby crying]

285
00:15:59,063 --> 00:16:00,856
I was terrified.

286
00:16:00,939 --> 00:16:02,816
I thought he would be shot.

287
00:16:03,650 --> 00:16:06,070
I'm thinking, "Fuck 'em.
Fuck those people."

288
00:16:06,153 --> 00:16:07,029
You know, "Fuck 'em."

289
00:16:07,112 --> 00:16:08,197
"It's your fault I'm here."

290
00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:10,115
-[indistinct chatter]
-[baby crying]

291
00:16:10,199 --> 00:16:12,242
-[Tom] I don't care about them.
-[soldier] Down! Down!

292
00:16:14,411 --> 00:16:16,997
We'll post up. Let's pull security,
find out where everything's at.

293
00:16:17,081 --> 00:16:18,040
Now make it our home.

294
00:16:20,084 --> 00:16:24,004
[Larry] My guys, we burst into
a little building with a courtyard.

295
00:16:25,172 --> 00:16:26,757
Jamie Smith, he was in some pain.

296
00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:28,133
[Jamie groaning]

297
00:16:28,217 --> 00:16:30,385
It's very clear he is seriously wounded.

298
00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:33,514
But at least we're off the street.

299
00:16:35,057 --> 00:16:37,893
[Randy] We're moving
from the street into houses.

300
00:16:38,393 --> 00:16:41,855
So that force,
which was one unified force,

301
00:16:41,939 --> 00:16:46,652
was now split up between multiple houses
with multiple casualty collection points.

302
00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:49,780
[Tom] I looked out the window. Like,

303
00:16:49,863 --> 00:16:53,200
"There's the crash site literally
across the street. Literally right there."

304
00:16:53,283 --> 00:16:57,121
And I saw, you know, a helicopter
upside down, just destroyed.

305
00:16:57,204 --> 00:16:59,289
[helicopter whirring]

306
00:16:59,373 --> 00:17:03,085
[indistinct chatter over radio]

307
00:17:03,168 --> 00:17:06,964
[Larry] I'm hearing on my radio
that some of the crew had gotten out

308
00:17:07,047 --> 00:17:09,633
but that two of the pilots were dead.

309
00:17:11,260 --> 00:17:13,512
They were trying to get the dead pilot out

310
00:17:13,595 --> 00:17:16,306
while they were taking
massive fire from either side.

311
00:17:18,559 --> 00:17:21,311
What the hell can I do at this point?
Really?

312
00:17:22,938 --> 00:17:24,398
With so many casualties,

313
00:17:24,481 --> 00:17:26,692
the only thing I can do
is protect our position.

314
00:17:27,526 --> 00:17:28,694
[soldier] Stick with us.

315
00:17:28,777 --> 00:17:30,487
-[Randy] The situation looks grim.
-[groans]

316
00:17:31,321 --> 00:17:33,198
[Randy] We're confined to a house.

317
00:17:33,949 --> 00:17:37,911
The odor in the room was metallic.

318
00:17:39,037 --> 00:17:41,248
And at that point
I looked down and I realized

319
00:17:41,331 --> 00:17:42,875
I was sitting in a pool of blood.

320
00:17:45,377 --> 00:17:46,712
But I was so…

321
00:17:49,423 --> 00:17:50,674
tired.

322
00:17:53,552 --> 00:17:56,763
And I was so trying to collect myself
that I didn't even move.

323
00:17:57,890 --> 00:17:59,016
I just sat there.

324
00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:01,852
[Jamie screaming in agony]

325
00:18:02,769 --> 00:18:04,771
[Larry] Doc Schmidt was working on Jamie.

326
00:18:04,855 --> 00:18:08,066
He's got a leg wound.
It's too high for a tourniquet.

327
00:18:08,567 --> 00:18:11,570
He goes, "Only thing I can do is hold it,
direct pressure against his bone,

328
00:18:11,653 --> 00:18:12,905
his femoral artery."

329
00:18:12,988 --> 00:18:16,366
We held it for Doc Schmidt
while he was continuing to treat Jamie.

330
00:18:18,493 --> 00:18:22,164
I knew him from the day
I set foot in 3rd Ranger Battalion.

331
00:18:22,664 --> 00:18:23,790
I always liked him.

332
00:18:24,583 --> 00:18:26,210
We were very similar in age.

333
00:18:27,336 --> 00:18:29,213
You know, I knew he was engaged.

334
00:18:31,757 --> 00:18:33,759
[Randy] Part of our creed is to never let

335
00:18:33,842 --> 00:18:36,929
any of our comrades
fall into the hands of the enemy.

336
00:18:37,012 --> 00:18:40,724
So we simply weren't going
to run out of the city without them.

337
00:18:41,516 --> 00:18:44,519
The question is, how are we going
to get everybody out of the city?

338
00:18:44,603 --> 00:18:46,480
[guns firing in distance]

339
00:18:46,563 --> 00:18:48,649
[Larry] There's no way
we can get out on our own.

340
00:18:49,191 --> 00:18:51,652
Because there's no way
we're going to carry any casualties out.

341
00:18:51,735 --> 00:18:52,611
[Larry exhales]

342
00:18:52,694 --> 00:18:54,363
We went from a raid force

343
00:18:55,197 --> 00:18:56,657
to a rescue force.

344
00:18:57,407 --> 00:19:00,869
And now, we needed to be rescued.

345
00:19:04,957 --> 00:19:07,918
-[vehicle engine roaring]
-[indistinct chatter]

346
00:19:12,756 --> 00:19:14,007
[David] I was in the convoy.

347
00:19:14,091 --> 00:19:15,801
We know we gotta get to this crash site.

348
00:19:15,884 --> 00:19:18,053
We wanna get 'em out of there.
That's our main goal now.

349
00:19:18,136 --> 00:19:19,846
[soldier] Eyes up.

350
00:19:19,930 --> 00:19:21,139
[indistinct chatter]

351
00:19:21,223 --> 00:19:22,766
[David] But it's bad right away.

352
00:19:24,893 --> 00:19:26,770
They knew we were coming,
tires in the street,

353
00:19:26,853 --> 00:19:28,397
blocking the street, all this shit.

354
00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:30,190
They just were hammering
the hell out of us.

355
00:19:32,567 --> 00:19:35,779
-[indistinct chatter]
-[guns firing rapidly]

356
00:19:35,862 --> 00:19:37,990
People act differently in combat.

357
00:19:40,701 --> 00:19:42,869
Some guys just freeze up,

358
00:19:43,537 --> 00:19:47,082
and some get very excited,
and some get very calm.

359
00:19:47,624 --> 00:19:48,709
And I got calm.

360
00:19:48,792 --> 00:19:50,752
[guns firing]

361
00:19:52,004 --> 00:19:54,423
I fell into a nice state of calmness.

362
00:19:54,506 --> 00:19:58,135
But it allowed me to think
and to, you know, do my job.

363
00:19:58,218 --> 00:20:01,138
[gun firing]

364
00:20:02,514 --> 00:20:04,016
But every corner we would turn

365
00:20:04,099 --> 00:20:07,728
and there was just a whole slew
of people shooting at us.

366
00:20:08,645 --> 00:20:09,521
[bullet ricochets]

367
00:20:09,604 --> 00:20:10,856
It was a beehive.

368
00:20:11,732 --> 00:20:13,108
And we whacked it.

369
00:20:13,191 --> 00:20:14,860
[chuckles]

370
00:20:17,279 --> 00:20:18,905
[shouting in distance]

371
00:20:22,701 --> 00:20:25,829
[David] I think without the helicopters,
we'd have a real problem on our hands.

372
00:20:26,538 --> 00:20:29,207
Those helicopters provided
a lot of support for us, thank God.

373
00:20:29,291 --> 00:20:30,292
[inhales]

374
00:20:30,375 --> 00:20:31,585
Great pilots.

375
00:20:31,668 --> 00:20:34,129
Um… I mean, great pilots.

376
00:20:34,755 --> 00:20:36,173
[somber music playing]

377
00:20:46,141 --> 00:20:47,642
[man] I was a flight lead.

378
00:20:48,226 --> 00:20:51,396
I'd been in combat
in four different places at this point.

379
00:20:52,731 --> 00:20:55,484
I'm not sure
I could have been better prepared

380
00:20:55,567 --> 00:20:58,111
in terms of my ability
to fly this aircraft.

381
00:20:59,112 --> 00:21:03,283
I don't think you can do what we did
without a certain level of confidence.

382
00:21:04,576 --> 00:21:07,329
And I certainly had it.

383
00:21:08,288 --> 00:21:13,335
-[tense music playing]
-[helicopter whirring]

384
00:21:14,169 --> 00:21:17,672
[Mike] So I'm flying the aircraft
in a holding pattern north of the city.

385
00:21:18,507 --> 00:21:20,801
I get the call from the commander.

386
00:21:20,884 --> 00:21:23,178
We're going to go in
and replace that first bird

387
00:21:23,261 --> 00:21:26,890
to provide aerial fire support
for the troops that are on the ground.

388
00:21:31,561 --> 00:21:34,147
We make our way into the target area

389
00:21:34,231 --> 00:21:37,234
and join Super 6-2,
which is the other black hawk,

390
00:21:37,317 --> 00:21:38,860
immediately over the target.

391
00:21:41,947 --> 00:21:43,615
[indistinct chatter over radio]

392
00:21:44,533 --> 00:21:46,910
[man] From the bird,
what I would see is ground troops

393
00:21:46,993 --> 00:21:49,621
over here making their way
down one side of the street.

394
00:21:49,704 --> 00:21:52,833
And then I'd look over here
and I'd see another element,

395
00:21:52,916 --> 00:21:54,835
and I couldn't tell
whose element was what.

396
00:21:55,544 --> 00:21:57,629
I knew that this is chaos.

397
00:22:00,841 --> 00:22:02,926
My job, along with the other snipers,

398
00:22:03,009 --> 00:22:06,972
was suppressing their ability
to fire on our troops.

399
00:22:07,639 --> 00:22:11,560
And there was
other snipers sat next to me.

400
00:22:11,643 --> 00:22:13,812
Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon.

401
00:22:15,897 --> 00:22:17,232
[soldier] Incoming, incoming!

402
00:22:17,315 --> 00:22:18,400
[bullets ricocheting]

403
00:22:20,986 --> 00:22:22,237
[Halling] We were taking fire.

404
00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:26,241
And so we're starting to
pick up our pace in the helicopter.

405
00:22:27,117 --> 00:22:31,413
We needed to in order to
not be the next helicopter shot down.

406
00:22:33,582 --> 00:22:38,211
That day, the sniper teams
and all of the helicopters were busy.

407
00:22:41,590 --> 00:22:43,341
[woman in Somali] We lived
in Bakara Market.

408
00:22:46,511 --> 00:22:51,016
My children were wonderful, and so young.

409
00:22:51,099 --> 00:22:52,809
They had a happy life,

410
00:22:52,893 --> 00:22:55,520
and their father provided all they needed.

411
00:22:57,230 --> 00:23:00,192
That day, I had taken
my mother to her brother's house.

412
00:23:00,275 --> 00:23:02,527
He was living in
the General Daud neighborhood.

413
00:23:02,611 --> 00:23:06,031
I was told the Americans attacked
Bakara and there is constant gunfire.

414
00:23:06,114 --> 00:23:08,658
I screamed, "Wow, that's my neighborhood!"

415
00:23:08,742 --> 00:23:12,204
"That is where my children are!"
And I ran.

416
00:23:12,287 --> 00:23:13,455
[young Binti panting]

417
00:23:13,538 --> 00:23:15,790
[Binti] I ran and ran and ran.

418
00:23:19,169 --> 00:23:20,670
A man said, "What are you looking for?"

419
00:23:20,754 --> 00:23:22,047
"My children!" I said.

420
00:23:27,010 --> 00:23:28,887
[Biniti mimics gunfire]

421
00:23:28,970 --> 00:23:31,932
The helicopters!
[mimics helicopter whirring] Ah!

422
00:23:36,102 --> 00:23:37,229
[children screaming]

423
00:23:37,312 --> 00:23:39,064
We were running away from the gunfire.

424
00:23:39,147 --> 00:23:40,649
It was spraying everywhere.

425
00:23:40,732 --> 00:23:46,112
I saw a fat Somali woman
walking in the road.

426
00:23:46,696 --> 00:23:49,574
The helicopter came close to her

427
00:23:49,658 --> 00:23:50,867
and shot her in the head.

428
00:23:51,451 --> 00:23:55,038
She fell and died instantly. She died.

429
00:23:55,121 --> 00:24:00,418
I screamed, "Oh my God!
She died! She died! She died!"

430
00:24:00,502 --> 00:24:03,713
People dragged her under a tree

431
00:24:03,797 --> 00:24:06,716
where there were children
who had also been shot.

432
00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:08,885
I was certain that
my children must be there,

433
00:24:08,969 --> 00:24:11,638
so I was checking all the faces,

434
00:24:11,721 --> 00:24:13,890
but I couldn't find them.

435
00:24:21,022 --> 00:24:24,901
-[tense music playing]
-[vehicle engine roaring]

436
00:24:26,152 --> 00:24:29,573
[Brad] We were trying to get these
injured Rangers back to the hangar.

437
00:24:30,282 --> 00:24:32,450
The gunfire was so intense.

438
00:24:32,534 --> 00:24:35,870
-[soldier] Are you fucking kidding me!
-[guns firing]

439
00:24:35,954 --> 00:24:38,081
[Brad] I can see
the vehicle in front of me.

440
00:24:38,164 --> 00:24:39,499
The gunner that's in the back,

441
00:24:39,583 --> 00:24:40,792
I can see him get hit.

442
00:24:40,875 --> 00:24:43,336
-[indistinct chatter]
-[vehicle engine roaring]

443
00:24:43,420 --> 00:24:44,254
[bullet piercing]

444
00:24:44,337 --> 00:24:45,422
[Brad] He was killed.

445
00:24:46,506 --> 00:24:48,717
I'm thinking, "Who was that?"

446
00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:50,927
[bullets ricocheting]

447
00:24:51,011 --> 00:24:53,054
[Brad] And I could hear over the radio,

448
00:24:53,138 --> 00:24:54,389
"It's Dom Pilla."

449
00:24:58,977 --> 00:25:01,104
I'm thinking,
"Man, that's my best friend."

450
00:25:01,187 --> 00:25:02,397
Like…

451
00:25:03,690 --> 00:25:05,859
You know, Dom and I were really close.

452
00:25:07,193 --> 00:25:09,070
With Dom, I got to hear about

453
00:25:10,322 --> 00:25:13,617
his dad's Harley-Davidson
and how it was going to become his,

454
00:25:13,700 --> 00:25:15,785
you know, at some point.

455
00:25:15,869 --> 00:25:19,956
And then, what dinners
were like on Sundays in New Jersey and…

456
00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:22,292
You know, you learn
these details about people.

457
00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:25,003
And now he's gone.

458
00:25:33,094 --> 00:25:37,641
After Dom was killed, the gloves were off.

459
00:25:37,724 --> 00:25:40,310
-[guns firing rapidly]
-[soldier] Fuck!

460
00:25:41,853 --> 00:25:44,439
The thing that happened
inside of me was rage.

461
00:25:45,106 --> 00:25:46,232
That's it.

462
00:25:46,316 --> 00:25:49,110
-[guns firing]
-[soldier] Incoming!

463
00:25:49,194 --> 00:25:52,864
[Brad] Yeah, I went from seeing
these women pointing out our position

464
00:25:53,448 --> 00:25:56,743
and being very,
you know, "Do the right thing."

465
00:25:58,036 --> 00:25:59,537
The switch just got flipped.

466
00:25:59,621 --> 00:26:04,292
And it was the most maniacal, barbaric,

467
00:26:05,043 --> 00:26:07,253
"Kill everybody that I could see

468
00:26:07,337 --> 00:26:10,382
that was hostile
or acting hostile in any way."

469
00:26:10,465 --> 00:26:12,050
I don't think my finger

470
00:26:12,133 --> 00:26:14,928
came off the trigger for very long at all.

471
00:26:19,641 --> 00:26:22,394
[in Somali] The Americans
were killing everyone in sight.

472
00:26:22,477 --> 00:26:27,148
Dead bodies were scattered
like bullet casings in the street.

473
00:26:29,734 --> 00:26:31,069
[indistinct chatter]

474
00:26:32,529 --> 00:26:34,572
Everybody is scared.

475
00:26:36,866 --> 00:26:38,910
Destruction everywhere.

476
00:26:39,661 --> 00:26:41,454
Dead bodies everywhere.

477
00:26:46,793 --> 00:26:48,420
How many can die?

478
00:26:49,671 --> 00:26:51,297
Hundred? I believe.

479
00:26:58,638 --> 00:26:59,681
Thousand?

480
00:27:01,599 --> 00:27:02,851
I believe.

481
00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:11,609
[soldier] Where are we going?

482
00:27:12,986 --> 00:27:14,988
[guns firing]

483
00:27:17,490 --> 00:27:19,451
[David] We quickly realized
it wasn't gonna be easy

484
00:27:19,534 --> 00:27:20,952
to get to this crash site.

485
00:27:22,203 --> 00:27:24,622
But all I was thinking about was

486
00:27:25,373 --> 00:27:27,709
the… the targets in front of me.

487
00:27:29,669 --> 00:27:32,255
[gun firing]

488
00:27:36,342 --> 00:27:40,430
I know I had engaged
a lot of people in crowds.

489
00:27:41,306 --> 00:27:43,475
And I don't have any problem saying it

490
00:27:43,558 --> 00:27:46,186
because there were people
shooting at us from those crowds.

491
00:27:46,269 --> 00:27:48,396
And I just can't sit there and just

492
00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:50,315
try to figure out
who the fuck's shooting at me.

493
00:27:50,398 --> 00:27:54,235
So, if you're out there on October 3rd,
you're up to no good.

494
00:27:54,319 --> 00:27:56,738
So, I…

495
00:27:57,489 --> 00:27:59,866
You know, I… I… I would shoot you.

496
00:28:02,786 --> 00:28:05,789
-[people shouting]
-[guns firing rapidly]

497
00:28:05,872 --> 00:28:07,373
But we're just getting fucking smoked,

498
00:28:07,457 --> 00:28:10,001
getting hammered 'cause we don't know
where the fuck we're going.

499
00:28:10,084 --> 00:28:12,045
[gun firing]

500
00:28:12,128 --> 00:28:15,381
The driver is taking
commands from the radio up above.

501
00:28:15,465 --> 00:28:16,883
[soldier] Left, left!

502
00:28:17,509 --> 00:28:20,345
And this officer up in the helicopter

503
00:28:20,428 --> 00:28:24,682
is radioing down to whoever
is driving to take a left or a right.

504
00:28:25,350 --> 00:28:27,519
[officer over radio] Take the next right,
the next right.

505
00:28:27,602 --> 00:28:29,062
But we're already by it.

506
00:28:29,145 --> 00:28:30,104
We've already passed it.

507
00:28:31,105 --> 00:28:33,525
-[officer 1] Just missed the turn.
-[officer 2] Roger.

508
00:28:33,608 --> 00:28:34,901
[soldier] We're going in circles.

509
00:28:34,984 --> 00:28:37,153
So it was, you know, it was a shit show.

510
00:28:37,237 --> 00:28:38,863
Like, we just did a big square.

511
00:28:38,947 --> 00:28:41,616
And I was like,
"What the fuck are we doing here?"

512
00:28:41,699 --> 00:28:45,787
And we just kept
going through that same intersection.

513
00:28:47,622 --> 00:28:48,957
[soldier] We're getting smoked.

514
00:28:51,709 --> 00:28:53,044
[indistinct chatter]

515
00:28:53,127 --> 00:28:55,463
[Larry] Doc Schmidt,
he was continuing to treat Jamie.

516
00:28:56,172 --> 00:28:59,509
I'm going to myself, "Where's the convoy?"

517
00:28:59,592 --> 00:29:00,510
[chuckles]

518
00:29:00,593 --> 00:29:02,720
You know, "Where is the convoy?"

519
00:29:04,514 --> 00:29:07,433
[David] Eventually, we could not sustain
any more hits on our jeep.

520
00:29:07,517 --> 00:29:08,768
[soldier] Let's get out of here.

521
00:29:08,852 --> 00:29:13,189
I don't know who makes
the final decision that we said,

522
00:29:13,273 --> 00:29:15,900
"Fuck it, we're not going
to the crash site. We gotta get out now."

523
00:29:17,110 --> 00:29:18,403
"Abandon our mission."

524
00:29:19,112 --> 00:29:20,822
"Get us back to the hangar."

525
00:29:20,905 --> 00:29:21,906
[gun firing]

526
00:29:22,490 --> 00:29:25,243
Not much I can do,
just shoot our way out of there.

527
00:29:32,917 --> 00:29:35,753
[Randy] They can't get the convoy to us.

528
00:29:38,298 --> 00:29:40,800
That's when you realize
you're on your own.

529
00:29:44,345 --> 00:29:48,933
For a US soldier,
that's a sobering feeling.

530
00:29:49,017 --> 00:29:50,393
All of our preparation,

531
00:29:50,476 --> 00:29:54,063
all of our training
never prepared us to be on a defensive.

532
00:29:54,606 --> 00:29:56,524
We were always on the offensive.

533
00:29:56,608 --> 00:30:00,945
We are the tip of the spear
for the world's most powerful military.

534
00:30:03,281 --> 00:30:06,326
And that day, the script flipped.

535
00:30:12,081 --> 00:30:14,542
[indistinct chatter]

536
00:30:16,502 --> 00:30:20,298
[Nuur in Somali] General Aidid
came to us that afternoon.

537
00:30:20,965 --> 00:30:26,638
He was dressed in traditional
Somali attire, and armed with an AK-47,

538
00:30:28,306 --> 00:30:29,724
he gave us clear instructions.

539
00:30:31,267 --> 00:30:33,978
"Keep fighting. Keep fighting.
Victory is imminent."

540
00:30:34,062 --> 00:30:35,980
So we pressed on.

541
00:30:36,064 --> 00:30:39,651
[indistinct chatter]

542
00:30:45,114 --> 00:30:48,826
[Tom] The gunfire got more and more,
and people kept coming in heavier waves.

543
00:30:50,745 --> 00:30:52,580
At first I thought, "Man, they're stupid."

544
00:30:53,331 --> 00:30:56,376
And I thought, "They're doing
all right for stupid people."

545
00:30:56,459 --> 00:31:00,338
Like, I felt what it was like
to be on the other side of us.

546
00:31:04,676 --> 00:31:07,929
[in Somali] We were firing at each other
100 meters apart, sometimes even closer.

547
00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:09,973
[guns firing]

548
00:31:10,056 --> 00:31:11,015
[baby crying]

549
00:31:11,099 --> 00:31:13,101
[soldier] You got RPGs
coming on your left!

550
00:31:13,184 --> 00:31:15,186
[in Somali] My comrades
fired an RPG towards them.

551
00:31:15,269 --> 00:31:16,896
[Tom] I screamed, "RPG!"

552
00:31:16,980 --> 00:31:17,939
[explosion booms]

553
00:31:18,564 --> 00:31:21,442
Explosion, smoke and dust. What the hell?

554
00:31:22,777 --> 00:31:26,364
-[soldiers screaming]
-[baby crying]

555
00:31:26,447 --> 00:31:30,910
[in Somali] We were engulfed
in smoke and dust.

556
00:31:31,536 --> 00:31:36,332
Even the soldiers
were scared and screaming.

557
00:31:36,416 --> 00:31:37,333
[solider groans]

558
00:31:37,417 --> 00:31:38,960
[Tom] There was a Ranger in front of me.

559
00:31:39,043 --> 00:31:40,753
A piece of shrapnel
went through his buttocks

560
00:31:40,837 --> 00:31:42,046
and came through his scrotum.

561
00:31:42,130 --> 00:31:44,007
And another guy
had his whole heel blown off.

562
00:31:44,090 --> 00:31:46,175
-[soldier screams]
-[Tom] Then it turned to fear.

563
00:31:46,259 --> 00:31:48,219
[soldier groans in agony]

564
00:31:48,302 --> 00:31:49,470
[Tom] "Just let us go."

565
00:31:49,554 --> 00:31:51,097
"I don't wanna be here. Let me go home."

566
00:31:51,180 --> 00:31:53,558
You know? Kinda like,
"Can I just go home?"

567
00:31:53,641 --> 00:31:55,852
Then you realize, they're not gonna
let you go home, man.

568
00:31:55,935 --> 00:31:57,562
You know? They don't want you to go home.

569
00:31:57,645 --> 00:31:59,772
-[indistinct clamoring]
-[gunshots continue]

570
00:32:00,940 --> 00:32:02,233
[man speaking indistinctly]

571
00:32:02,316 --> 00:32:08,656
[in Somali] We were told that there
is a family trapped in the house.

572
00:32:09,741 --> 00:32:11,576
[baby crying]

573
00:32:12,618 --> 00:32:14,704
The Americans were holding them,
as a human shield,

574
00:32:15,246 --> 00:32:16,539
to save their own lives.

575
00:32:21,210 --> 00:32:23,129
[Saido in Somali] We could hear them.

576
00:32:23,212 --> 00:32:26,340
They were arguing,
"Should we kill them all, or spare them?"

577
00:32:26,424 --> 00:32:27,884
One group wanted to spare us

578
00:32:28,509 --> 00:32:32,805
and another group wanted
to kill us along with the Americans.

579
00:32:34,557 --> 00:32:36,100
-[indistinct chatter]
-[baby crying]

580
00:32:36,684 --> 00:32:38,561
[Nuur in Somali] I was
against the shelling,

581
00:32:39,479 --> 00:32:42,023
but some people, who were very angry,

582
00:32:42,106 --> 00:32:43,900
said that we should attack them
with more RPGs

583
00:32:43,983 --> 00:32:45,485
so the Americans don't escape.

584
00:32:47,904 --> 00:32:50,364
[in Somali] We thought, "It's over."

585
00:32:51,074 --> 00:32:53,618
We will be killed together
with the American soldiers.

586
00:32:54,202 --> 00:32:56,079
[gun firing]

587
00:32:57,955 --> 00:33:01,250
If they got hurt, then so would we.

588
00:33:01,334 --> 00:33:02,752
[baby crying]

589
00:33:02,835 --> 00:33:04,796
[Saido] It was in our interest
for them to survive.

590
00:33:08,216 --> 00:33:12,053
I felt bad for them. You know,
like, "Sorry. Sorry we're here, man."

591
00:33:12,136 --> 00:33:14,764
"Sorry that they're shooting
at us and it's destroying your house."

592
00:33:16,933 --> 00:33:19,769
[in Somali] We were told to stay seated.

593
00:33:19,852 --> 00:33:24,607
"Don't worry, we won't harm you."

594
00:33:27,610 --> 00:33:30,655
"Don't be scared.
If you need anything, just ask."

595
00:33:31,322 --> 00:33:33,074
I was surprised for sure.

596
00:33:33,157 --> 00:33:35,827
But then all people, regardless of whether

597
00:33:35,910 --> 00:33:38,079
they are white people or Muslims,

598
00:33:38,162 --> 00:33:41,707
have kindness in their hearts.

599
00:33:46,045 --> 00:33:47,880
[Tom] I'm looking at faces
and start wondering,

600
00:33:47,964 --> 00:33:50,591
"What do you do here? What's your job?"
I mean, "You go to school?"

601
00:33:50,675 --> 00:33:53,177
And I'm wondering, like,
"What's life like here?"

602
00:33:53,261 --> 00:33:54,220
[inhales]

603
00:33:54,303 --> 00:33:56,556
Little spikes of humanity

604
00:33:56,639 --> 00:33:58,724
in the center
of killing people over and over again.

605
00:33:58,808 --> 00:34:00,893
Your little spike of humanity.
You're like…

606
00:34:01,686 --> 00:34:03,521
You're like,
"Damn, I don't wanna look at this."

607
00:34:03,604 --> 00:34:05,439
"Let me go back
to the window and shoot people."

608
00:34:05,523 --> 00:34:07,859
"This is harder than shooting people." Um…

609
00:34:11,154 --> 00:34:13,114
[somber music playing]

610
00:34:13,197 --> 00:34:14,031
[tuts]

611
00:34:14,991 --> 00:34:16,993
To try to put humanity in a war,

612
00:34:17,994 --> 00:34:18,911
it's not good.

613
00:34:28,087 --> 00:34:30,464
[vehicle engine roaring]

614
00:34:36,512 --> 00:34:38,014
[Brad] We got back to the hangar

615
00:34:38,097 --> 00:34:41,434
and they unloaded wounded
and people that were killed.

616
00:34:44,854 --> 00:34:46,814
Like, "What the hell just happened?"

617
00:34:46,898 --> 00:34:48,941
I completely lost my shit.

618
00:34:49,817 --> 00:34:52,653
-[soldier 1] Woah, woah, woah!
-[Brad] Swearing up and down.

619
00:34:53,529 --> 00:34:56,407
People that weren't out on the operation

620
00:34:56,490 --> 00:34:59,035
came over and they're, like,
trying to calm me down.

621
00:34:59,827 --> 00:35:01,537
I'm like, "Get the fuck off me."

622
00:35:02,872 --> 00:35:05,208
"You have no fucking idea
what I just lived through."

623
00:35:05,291 --> 00:35:06,751
[soldier 2] What's going on?

624
00:35:06,834 --> 00:35:09,337
[Brad] I walked over
to the vehicle where Dom was.

625
00:35:09,420 --> 00:35:12,506
He got shot right
in the bridge of his nose.

626
00:35:12,590 --> 00:35:14,800
And it just…
it doesn't even look like Dom.

627
00:35:14,884 --> 00:35:16,010
Um…

628
00:35:23,184 --> 00:35:24,769
Then I hear that Casey Joyce

629
00:35:24,852 --> 00:35:26,979
is one of the other people
that's killed in action.

630
00:35:28,105 --> 00:35:29,732
Man, that's my two best friends.

631
00:35:31,234 --> 00:35:34,070
Like, there's four of us
at the beach this morning,

632
00:35:34,153 --> 00:35:36,113
and two of us aren't here anymore.

633
00:35:37,281 --> 00:35:39,367
The fact that it was both of them,

634
00:35:40,243 --> 00:35:42,828
there was just
a totality in that, you know.

635
00:35:45,915 --> 00:35:47,959
-[soldier 1] Hold on! Come on.
-[helicopter whirring]

636
00:35:48,042 --> 00:35:49,293
[soldier 1] I'm in charge.

637
00:35:49,377 --> 00:35:53,464
So then I hear there was a plan
to go back out into the city.

638
00:35:54,257 --> 00:35:55,883
To go out and find,

639
00:35:55,967 --> 00:35:58,970
you know, extricate the last
of the guys that had been trapped

640
00:35:59,053 --> 00:36:00,221
near the crash site.

641
00:36:00,304 --> 00:36:02,139
[soldier 2] Come on, let's go!

642
00:36:03,432 --> 00:36:06,519
And I'm like,
"You gotta be fucking kidding me."

643
00:36:07,979 --> 00:36:11,357
We're all getting signed up to go do…

644
00:36:12,566 --> 00:36:14,068
this suicide mission.

645
00:36:15,695 --> 00:36:17,321
I don't know if I can go do this.

646
00:36:18,239 --> 00:36:20,783
It's not a question of
it's not worth trying.

647
00:36:21,659 --> 00:36:24,203
It's there's got to be
a smarter way to do this.

648
00:36:24,912 --> 00:36:25,997
[helicopter whirring]

649
00:36:30,876 --> 00:36:33,129
[indistinct chatter over radio]

650
00:36:33,212 --> 00:36:35,464
We're definitely at risk here.

651
00:36:37,425 --> 00:36:40,386
-[indistinct chatter over radio]
-[helicopter whirring]

652
00:36:42,471 --> 00:36:46,058
Had everyone had time to just
hit a pause button and say,

653
00:36:46,142 --> 00:36:48,644
"All right, hold on now.
Let's just think about this."

654
00:36:48,728 --> 00:36:51,397
"This is too high-risk.
We're gonna lose more aircraft."

655
00:36:52,106 --> 00:36:53,482
But in the… in the moment,

656
00:36:54,358 --> 00:36:57,611
there isn't that opportunity
to call a timeout.

657
00:37:00,489 --> 00:37:03,242
[indistinct chatter over radio]

658
00:37:03,326 --> 00:37:06,662
We're right over the target area,
the battle raging.

659
00:37:07,538 --> 00:37:13,586
It certainly caused me to feel
this increased level of adrenaline.

660
00:37:15,629 --> 00:37:17,089
[loud banging]

661
00:37:17,673 --> 00:37:20,593
All of a sudden,
it feels like we got hit by something.

662
00:37:24,138 --> 00:37:26,474
Looking down,
the instruments all look good.

663
00:37:26,557 --> 00:37:27,975
Everything looks fine.

664
00:37:29,810 --> 00:37:31,062
[man] Six-Four, are you okay?

665
00:37:35,107 --> 00:37:37,276
[in Somali] Passing a nearby road,

666
00:37:37,360 --> 00:37:41,113
we saw a helicopter hit by an RPG.

667
00:37:41,197 --> 00:37:44,075
The helicopter began to emit huge smoke.

668
00:37:45,493 --> 00:37:47,244
[alarm beeping]

669
00:37:48,245 --> 00:37:51,165
The aircraft starts
to spin violently out of control.

670
00:37:53,167 --> 00:37:54,794
We're spinning so fast,

671
00:37:54,877 --> 00:37:58,047
the blood was actually
being forced to the front of my eyeballs.

672
00:38:00,466 --> 00:38:03,594
I made a radio call.
"Super 6-4 is going in hard."

673
00:38:03,677 --> 00:38:05,596
[Mike over radio] We're going in hard.

674
00:38:05,679 --> 00:38:06,806
Going down.

675
00:38:06,889 --> 00:38:08,724
We hit the ground hard.

676
00:38:10,309 --> 00:38:12,353
[helicopter crashing]

677
00:38:14,605 --> 00:38:16,440
[Mike] I guess I know
what it's like to die.

678
00:38:20,528 --> 00:38:22,321
[Nuur in Somali] We celebrated,
praising God.

679
00:38:23,030 --> 00:38:24,907
"God is great. Thanks be to God!"

680
00:38:25,574 --> 00:38:28,536
[Yasin in Somali] It went down about
300 to 400 meters away from us,

681
00:38:29,453 --> 00:38:31,622
and we ran to it.

682
00:38:31,705 --> 00:38:34,583
[indistinct crowd chatter]

683
00:38:36,419 --> 00:38:39,964
I wanted to be the first
to get to the crash site.

684
00:38:42,591 --> 00:38:45,136
[soldier] Things are getting
bad down there.

685
00:38:45,219 --> 00:38:46,470
[officer] Bird down.

686
00:38:46,554 --> 00:38:49,056
[Halling] Once Super 6-4 went down,

687
00:38:49,140 --> 00:38:51,016
we were the last bird flying.

688
00:38:53,102 --> 00:38:56,063
[officer over radio] Roger,
we just lost another black hawk.

689
00:38:56,147 --> 00:38:57,815
[Halling] We could see,

690
00:38:57,898 --> 00:39:00,901
because of that separation
between crash sites,

691
00:39:00,985 --> 00:39:05,865
it would have been very, very difficult
for the ground force to get to that bird.

692
00:39:07,032 --> 00:39:09,452
I think the other snipers in the aircraft,

693
00:39:09,535 --> 00:39:12,746
Randy and Gary,
processed that immediately.

694
00:39:12,830 --> 00:39:14,915
We were the only option
to go in and get 'em.

695
00:39:15,458 --> 00:39:17,084
But we didn't have a lot of time

696
00:39:17,168 --> 00:39:21,505
before the enemy combatants
could make their way to the crash site.

697
00:39:21,589 --> 00:39:22,965
[indistinct chatter]

698
00:39:23,048 --> 00:39:24,091
[gun firing]

699
00:39:24,175 --> 00:39:28,846
And so we asked for approval
to put Randy and Gary in on the ground.

700
00:39:28,929 --> 00:39:31,140
[indistinct chatter over radio]

701
00:39:34,643 --> 00:39:37,146
But Command decided
that we couldn't go in.

702
00:39:37,229 --> 00:39:40,065
[officer over radio] We're taking
a lot of RPG fire.

703
00:39:40,733 --> 00:39:43,068
They thought it was
a very difficult target.

704
00:39:45,029 --> 00:39:47,823
Anybody going down
would have no ground support.

705
00:39:47,907 --> 00:39:49,909
They'd be on their own down there.

706
00:39:49,992 --> 00:39:52,953
[helicopter whirring]

707
00:39:55,206 --> 00:39:57,458
-[young Binti panting]
-[somber music playing]

708
00:39:59,168 --> 00:40:00,753
[in Somali] We were running towards home,

709
00:40:02,087 --> 00:40:03,214
and then I reached the house.

710
00:40:05,925 --> 00:40:09,512
My son Abdirahman said,
"Mom, I am here with the kids."

711
00:40:11,013 --> 00:40:12,139
Ah.

712
00:40:16,101 --> 00:40:17,853
My husband was holding the Qur'an.

713
00:40:17,937 --> 00:40:19,313
Tears were flowing down his cheeks.

714
00:40:19,855 --> 00:40:22,149
I told him to stop reading the Qur'an.

715
00:40:22,733 --> 00:40:23,901
Escape with the children.

716
00:40:24,985 --> 00:40:28,656
He said "God is everywhere
and there is nowhere to run."

717
00:40:28,739 --> 00:40:29,949
"Let's just stay."

718
00:40:31,909 --> 00:40:34,537
[helicopter whirring]

719
00:40:37,831 --> 00:40:39,333
[bullets whistling]

720
00:40:39,416 --> 00:40:41,168
I was shot here.

721
00:40:41,252 --> 00:40:43,546
I thought I'd lost my hand.
It twisted around.

722
00:40:46,173 --> 00:40:48,425
-[guns firing]
-The room was filled with bullets.

723
00:40:48,509 --> 00:40:49,802
[mimics gunfire]

724
00:40:54,557 --> 00:40:58,185
I was crying, "My children!
My children! My children!"

725
00:40:59,645 --> 00:41:01,564
"Are they dead or alive?"

726
00:41:11,323 --> 00:41:14,368
[in Somali] The battle raged
on all around us.

727
00:41:14,451 --> 00:41:17,204
We said, "Let's fight until we die."

728
00:41:17,288 --> 00:41:18,330
We made that decision.

729
00:41:18,414 --> 00:41:21,083
[indistinct chatter over radio]

730
00:41:21,166 --> 00:41:23,252
[soldier] We've got a situation here.

731
00:41:23,335 --> 00:41:26,547
[Larry] I was continuing to
report about Corporal Jamie Smith.

732
00:41:26,630 --> 00:41:28,007
"He's wounded. He's critical."

733
00:41:28,090 --> 00:41:30,551
"If we do not get him out now,
he will not make it."

734
00:41:34,013 --> 00:41:36,473
-[soldier groaning]
-[indistinct chatter]

735
00:41:37,558 --> 00:41:41,020
It was a small group
of Americans fighting a city.

736
00:41:41,103 --> 00:41:43,522
They had overwhelming numbers.

737
00:41:43,606 --> 00:41:45,024
[man speaking Somali]

738
00:41:45,107 --> 00:41:46,817
-[soldier] Hold now.
-[Tom] We're trapped.

739
00:41:46,900 --> 00:41:49,445
They were creeping up
right across the street,

740
00:41:49,528 --> 00:41:50,529
around the corners.

741
00:41:50,613 --> 00:41:53,574
How do you defend yourself
against so many?

742
00:41:56,201 --> 00:41:58,662
-[soldier 1] Move!
-[soldier 2] Man down!

743
00:41:58,746 --> 00:42:01,665
[in Somali] The gunfire intensified.

744
00:42:01,749 --> 00:42:03,500
[gunfire continues]

745
00:42:05,252 --> 00:42:07,379
We assumed we would die.

746
00:42:07,463 --> 00:42:09,048
We wouldn't make it out.

747
00:42:10,841 --> 00:42:12,801
[teacher speaking Somali]

748
00:42:12,885 --> 00:42:14,637
[Halima] The teacher
said it's time to leave.

749
00:42:15,512 --> 00:42:17,264
I approached the school door.

750
00:42:17,806 --> 00:42:22,519
I decided to try and run home.

751
00:42:22,603 --> 00:42:25,397
[teacher murmuring]

752
00:42:26,148 --> 00:42:27,399
I left the school.

753
00:42:30,694 --> 00:42:32,029
And I was barefoot.

754
00:42:32,655 --> 00:42:34,657
It was dark and I was alone.

755
00:42:36,116 --> 00:42:37,910
I was really scared.

756
00:42:38,952 --> 00:42:40,162
I was so scared.

757
00:42:47,169 --> 00:42:49,421
[Halling] We had made
several different requests

758
00:42:49,505 --> 00:42:52,925
to put Randy and Gary
in at the second crash site.

759
00:42:53,550 --> 00:42:58,263
And it wasn't until
probably 15, 20 minutes into it,

760
00:42:58,347 --> 00:43:02,768
finally Command
gave approval and set up for

761
00:43:02,851 --> 00:43:06,480
Gary and Randy to go
to Super 6-4 on the ground.

762
00:43:09,191 --> 00:43:10,234
[indistinct chatter]

763
00:43:10,317 --> 00:43:13,153
[Halling] I looked at them
with this acknowledgment that,

764
00:43:13,237 --> 00:43:14,905
"Okay, go get this done."

765
00:43:14,988 --> 00:43:19,576
And I will forever remember
them getting out of the aircraft.

766
00:43:20,202 --> 00:43:22,788
And, uh, that was it.

767
00:43:22,871 --> 00:43:24,915
They were… they were on their own.

768
00:43:27,501 --> 00:43:28,419
[soldier] Go, go, go!

769
00:43:29,336 --> 00:43:30,379
Move out!

770
00:43:30,462 --> 00:43:33,298
[Halling] They and that crew
were beyond reach.

771
00:43:34,216 --> 00:43:37,678
We had no way of knowing
what situation they were in.

772
00:43:37,761 --> 00:43:41,181
[dramatic music builds, fades]

773
00:43:41,265 --> 00:43:43,851
[tense music playing]

774
00:43:49,815 --> 00:43:52,025
[Ahmed] I was in my office.

775
00:43:53,193 --> 00:43:54,945
Somebody came to me.

776
00:43:57,573 --> 00:44:00,159
He told me they have got an American.

777
00:44:01,452 --> 00:44:03,078
"Can you come and record?"

778
00:44:05,622 --> 00:44:08,333
[indistinct chatter]

779
00:44:11,545 --> 00:44:15,466
[tense music playing]