On October 3, 1993, about a hundred U.S. soldiers were dropped by helicopter into a teeming market in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia, to abduct two top lieutenants of a Somali warlord. The action was supposed to take an hour. Instead, they spent a long and terrible night fighting thousands of armed Somalis. By morning, eighteen Americans were dead, and more than seventy badly injured.
Chapter 1: Hail Mary, then Doom
Chapter 2: Dazed, blood-spattered and frantic
Chapter 3: A terrifying scene, then a big crash
Chapter 4: An outgunned but relentless enemy
Chapter 5: 'My God, you guys. Look at this!'
Chapter 6: Trying to get in sync amid the chaos
Chapter 7: Another grenade, another chopper hit
Chapter 8: A second crash, and no escape
Chapter 9: Alone, at the mercy of an angry mob
Chapter 10: At the base, bravery and hesitation
Chapter 11: Besieged, disoriented as bullets fly
Chapter 13: No cover from the flying grenades
Chapter 14: Hammered, and still no sign of help
Chapter 15: Ambush after ambush: Fighting just to stay alive
Chapter 16: Furious attacks on a second convoy
Chapter 17: At first crash site, more bodies
Chapter 18: Rescue team comes under fierce fire
Chapter 19: A desperate battle to hold the crash site
Chapter 20: Uneasy partners under heavy fire
Chapter 21: A shared quest: Punish the invaders
Chapter 22: A Ranger's plea for help as the body count climbs
Chapter 23: As darkness nears, a dreaded feeling
Chapter 24: Disarray in command, and trapped
Chapter 25: Confusion as rescue convoy rolls out
Chapter 26: At rescue, relief tinged with sorrow
Chapter 27: Durant's ordeal of agony and terror
Chapter 28: On TV, Durant's battered face
Chapter 29: The final chapter: Freeing a pilot, ending a mission