At about one minute from target, Watson got a call on his headset that observers had seen heavy weapons going into the building next to the target. DoD photo.Ĭonsidering the speed of the Black Hawks and the size of Mogadishu, the force wasn’t in the air very long. What it was all about: trying to feed a starving populace. We’d already been told that,” Thomas said. “The only thing different about the mission going in, was that it was in a particularly dangerous part of town. Only these gangs were warlord chiefdoms who murdered and starved each other for control. Foreign and exotic, it was carved like a checker board into friendly and enemy territories, neighborhoods and streets owned by rival gangs. Soon the sprawling city of Mogadishu was beneath them. They walked to the bird, jumped in, and didn’t wait very long before they got the “Go.” At 3:30 they were taking off. Then switching to an animated pinched, southern voice, imitating Watson, he said, “He-ah’s the tah-get, he-ah’s the corner. Super Six-Six was the bird’s name,” Thomas said. “He had a picture of the building our point was the southeast corner Chalk Three. 1st Class Watson walked over to the squads. When the meeting broke, platoon leader Sgt. Thomas checked his men to make sure everybody had their assigned weapons and everything they carried into battle, fuze igniters and demolitions, the aid bag, extra ammo and grenades. He and others went inside the hangar and this one was a “go.”ĭoug Boren, the other squad leaders, and higher ranks gathered for the mission briefing. We had one this morning – it’s probably a false alarm.” Thomas looked at the letter to his mom and added a few more words: “Oh, we got a call. “These were the kind of things you would draw in the sand in a backyard football game,” Thomas said, “because we knew our job so well, it really came down to fundamentals – how well you prepared in advance equaled the outcome when you were faced with the moment.” But those were just different alterations to the template – the actions were the same. Sometimes the means of exfilltration would vary – by helicopter, vehicles or maybe exfiltrating to a place. As in football, the teams had a list of plays, both offensive and defensive, and were highly prepared for their game. With such a template, very little planning had to go into each mission. “Every time they would say: here is the target here is where we’ll be going in this is your corner, any questions? Let’s go.” Ranger squads were assigned the four corners of the perimeter, where they would be blocks of security for the assault team. “Basically it was a template contingency operation,” Thomas said. Other forces would clear the target building as they secured the perimeter. Their job going into Somalia was to be a blocking force. Melvin Dejesus was just back from Ranger school, Pfc. Thomas was 23 then, and team leader of a small squad led by Sgt. It’s handled differently by everybody, but it’s a strange roller-coaster ride.” “But every now and then you’d get the call – and they were pretty interesting – the instant mental transition you have to make from a point of realization to combat readiness and getting yourself in the mindset. “We did flights twice a day just to throw them off so they never knew when a real mission was coming,” Thomas said. And then there were the signature flights. In Somalia just about two months, Thomas had found false alarms were common. Then they sat in the back of the helicopter with the rotors spinning, just to be told it was a no-go. Keni Thomas was writing a letter to his mom.Įarlier that day they had gotten a call, geared up, and gotten ready to go. The Rangers could do whatever they wanted. Now greet your caller with Hold the Line song by setting it up as your Hello Tune on the Wynk Music App for free.The third of October, 1993, was a Sunday, a day off. So, what are you waiting for? Start streaming your favourite tunes today! You can even download MP3 songs for offline listening. Songs are the best way to live the moments or reminisce the memories and thus we at Wynk strive to enhance your listening experience by providing you with high-quality MP3 songs & lyrics to express your passion or to sing it out loud. Along with it if you are looking for a podcast online to keep you motivated throughout the week, then check out the latest podcast of Podcast. With Wynk Music, you will not only enjoy your favourite MP3 songs online, but you will also have access to our hottest playlists such as English Songs, Hindi Songs, Malayalam Songs, Punjabi Songs, Tamil Songs, Telugu Songs. ![]() Wynk Music brings to you Hold the Line MP3 song from the movie/album Give It Away.
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