Somali
As Somali men work to the unload cargo nets of sacks of wheat, a U.S. Marine CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter delivers another load to a field outside the Somali village of Maleel Jan 23, 1993. The helicopters are flown by the famous "Red Lions" of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 363 of Tustin, Calif.
(PHCM Terry C. Mitchell, USN)

Views from Somalia

Remembering America's mission in Somalia almost 30 years ago.
By Jon Hoppe
August 2022
Naval History
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On 3–4 October 1993, 19 U.S. servicemembers were killed and many more wounded in the Battle of Mogadishu—a raid on a Somali marketplace to capture two lieutenants of warlord Mohamed Farrah Hassan Aidid that went horribly wrong. United Nations Operations in Somalia had been ongoing since early 1992 in an effort to stabilize the region wracked by civil war, but the fallout from the mission, chronicled in Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War, ultimately led to the reevaluation of the United Nations Operation in Somalia and to the eventual discontinuation of that international intervention. The instability and civil war there have been ongoing ever since.

Recently, the U.S. Naval Institute found a cache of more than 400 long-forgotten digital images from that mission in its photo archive. These early digital images, transmitted out of Somlia via INMARSAT satellite transmission terminals, were later compiled onto a CD album and distributed by the Department of Defense. A selection of these images, recovered with their full descriptions, are presented here online as close in their appearance as they would have originally been presented in 1994.

IMG0394.PCD
Air Force Combat Camera photojournalist SSgt Regar transmits imagery using an INMARSAT A terminal. (U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive)

 

IMG0364.PCD
A U.S. Army UH-60 Medical Evacuation Helicopter lands on the U.S.S. New Orleans (LPH-11) during a joint service mass casualty exercise held on 18 November 1993. The 46th Medical Task Force conducted the exercise with members of the U.S. Marines and U.S. Navy to determine what actions will be taken in the event of a mass casualty situation during Operation Continue Hope in Mogadishu, Somalia. (Sgt. G.D. Robinson 1st Combat Camera SQ.)

 

IMG0136.PCD
As Somali shoppers watch, U.S. Marines march into Mogadishu, Somalia's Bakara Market to begin a sweep of the market for arms and munitions as part of Operation Nutcracker. The crowded market is the hub of Mogadishu's small arms trade. (PHCM Terry C. Mitchell, USN)

 

IMG0178.PCD
A Somali boy picks up a leaflet dropped by the Marines. US Army PSYOPS personnel produce the leaflets, which tell the Somali's that the U.S. is trying to help end their suffering and are here as their friends. (Tsgt Perry Heimer, USAF)

 

IMG0185.PCD
Gunnery Sgt. Charles Restifo, 1st Combat Engineers, 1st MEF, Camp Pendleton, CA, hands out bags of grain from the back end of a 5-ton truck. After the food-for-guns exchanges were done, the surplus grain was handed out to women and old men in an effort to win over the Mogadishu people. Mogadishu has been the most violent and resistant to the US Marine forces.
(Tsgt Perry Heimer, USAF)

 

IMG0176.PCD
1ST MEF Marine and a Somali nervously greet each other as the man comes out of his home to see what the Marines are doing. The Marines are very cautious after the killing by snipers a few days ago. (Tsgt Perry Heimer, USAF)

 

IMG0159.PCD
Soldiers of the 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, Ft. Drum NY, Air Assault into Merca from Baledogle on 31 Dec 92. (SGT Jeffrey Brady, USA)

 

IMG0096.PCD
U.S. Marines conduct a building-to-building sweep of the area seized in an early morning raid on Somali Warlord Gen. Aidid's weapons cantonment. As the 6:00 am deadline to surrender the area was ignored, U.S. Marines from Task Force Mogadishu surrounded and then seized the cantonment in the northern part of the capital city of Mogadishu. (PHCM Terry C. Mitchell, USN)

 

IMG0046.PCD
A Casualty of Operation Restore Hope arrives at the Mogadishu airport.
(U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive)

Jon Hoppe

Jonathan L. Hoppe was the Digital Assets Administrator at the U.S. Naval Institute from 2015-2019. Before he started with USNI, he worked in historical research and archives. He has a background in art conservation from the University of Delaware and a Master of Library and Information Science degree from the University of Pittsburgh. You can visit his personal site at hoppejl.wordpress.com.

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