Madness in Mogadishu: Commanding the 10th Mountain Division's Quick Reaction Company during Black Hawk Down

On the afternoon of October 3, 1993, two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down over the Somali capital of Mogadishu, leaving a handful of U.S. Army Rangers and Delta Force operators at the mercy of several thousand approaching militants. Ordered to "go find the glow"--the burning wreckage--hard-charging Capt. Mike Whetstone, commander of a Quick Reaction Company in the 10th Mountain Division, led part of the convoy sent to rescue the survivors. This powerfully vivid… (more)

On the afternoon of October 3, 1993, two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down over the Somali capital of Mogadishu, leaving a handful of U.S. Army Rangers and Delta Force operators at the mercy of several thousand approaching militants. Ordered to "go find the glow"--the burning wreckage--hard-charging Capt. Mike Whetstone, commander of a Quick Reaction Company in the 10th Mountain Division, led part of the convoy sent to rescue the survivors. This powerfully vivid story of modern war is the intense firsthand account of the mission to find the crash site and retrieve the downed soldiers.