Madness in Mogadishu - Michael Whetstone

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.* Raw descriptions of urban combat in the labyrinthine streets and shantytowns of Mogadishu* Complements the bestselling book and Oscar-winning movie Black Hawk Down, which recounts these events primarily from the perspective of the Rangers and Delta Force* Presents battle-tested lessons for young leaders

Michael Whetstone remained in the U.S. Army after Somalia and retired as a lieutenant colonel after service in Afghanistan. For his actions in Mogadishu, he received the Silver Star. He currently heads scenario development for a defense contractor, providing live and virtual combat-training support to the U.S. Army's Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk. He lives in Leesville, Louisiana.

Whetstone tells his story well. He puts the reader next to him in the sweat-soaked Humvee as he bullets rattle down, while revealing himself to be a man drenched in the language and ideology of the modern US military machine.
History of War 17/02/2016