The Battle of the Black Sea in Mogadishu, Somalia — remembered as “Black Hawk Down” — began on October 3, 1993, as part of Operation Gothic Serpent. Task Force Ranger, made up of elite U.S. Special Operations Forces, launched a mission to capture Somali clan leader Mohamed Farrah Aidid. What started as a daylight raid quickly escalated into an intense 18-hour urban battle against heavily armed Somali militia. Two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters were shot down, and in the hours that followed, America