BY JOYCE BLAY
Staff Writer
JERRY WOLKOWITZ staff U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. David Meneleg (ret.), of Oklahoma, offers his thoughts about Memorial Day to attendees at the Jackson Memorial Day parade and ceremonies on May 30. Meneleg recently completed a tour of duty in Iraq. LAKEWOOD — Oct. 3, 1993, was a day of destiny for former U.S. Army Ranger Keni Thomas. The military operation staged at that time in the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia, later became the basis for the best-selling book and hit movie “Black Hawk Down.”
On May 2, Thomas told his remarkable story at Georgian Court University. He said his story was about the “importance of leadership, even if the only one you lead is yourself. It’s about a sense of duty, a sense of pride, but mostly about the guys.”
Thomas said his story began on a Sunday 12 years ago as he was writing a letter home to his mother. At the time, he was an Army squad sergeant.
“Someone came in and said, ‘Woohoo, let’s get it on!’ ” said Thomas, describing how he found out about an operation to assist a Delta Force squad in capturing warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid and his lieutenants in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.
Thomas, of Columbus, Ga., said his squad’s name was Task Force Ranger and its mission was to get Aidid, who was attacking food shipments to needy Somalians. The squad had been sent to the African nation of Somalia in August 1993.
“We knew we would get him, but we didn’t know when,” said Thomas.
On Oct. 3, that moment arrived. Thomas and his squad received a call that would challenge their training and leadership skills.
As the operation began, the men fast-roped into the Bakarrah market to secure the building where Aidid’s lieutenants were meeting. The Rangers were joined by heavily armed reinforcements.
Thirty-five minutes after 100 Rangers were dropped into the capital city of Mogadishu, one of two MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters used in the operation was shot down.
Thomas and his men could only watch as a mob overran the helicopter that had been shot down. The servicemen on board responded with a ferocity equal to that of the mob.
“The casualties were going crazy,” Thomas told his audience. “The guys on the bird sent them home in pieces.”
Just as suddenly, the firefight consumed Thomas and his squad as well.
The squad members took up positions and fired back at the mob, which outnumbered the Americans by a margin of 10-to-1.
“Men who were strong individuals were lying on the ground in pain,” said Thomas. “You just want it to stop, [but] your senses become sharper and great leadership saves the day. You have got to find your character. Every one of us did that day.”
Thomas said that Earl Filmore, the first person in his squad to be hit, fell to the ground. Even though the men had a radio to call for help, they believed no one would come to their aid.
“It was too hot,” said Thomas, referring to the intensity of the firefight.
Filmore, the first to be hit, was also the first man in his squad to die, said Thomas.
“I didn’t feel anything,” said Thomas. “The man on the ground didn’t look like Earl Filmore. That guy was gone, poof.”
Squad leader Doug Boren was hit in the neck. Thomas assumed command.
“I was [now] in charge, but I knew what to do,” he said.
After another soldier was hit in the shoulder, Thomas unhesitatingly took up his comrade’s position on a ledge. Thomas saw two snipers below who were responsible for the shooting, but the ammunition he needed to fire back was on the body of the wounded Ranger. Thomas said he found a grenade and tossed it at the snipers. It landed on their heads without exploding.
“Grenades are way overrated,” said Thomas, who finished off the snipers with a light anti-tank weapon.”
As night fell, the men attempted to remove the dead pilot’s body from the downed helicopter, but found that the cockpit had collapsed around him.
“Having seen those Humvees dragging [Americans’] bodies [through the streets of Mogadishu], … I would never leave a fallen comrade,” he said.
The men escaped from the city by running behind Malaysian armored vehicles. However, when shots were fired at the vehicles, Thomas said the drivers sped off.
“We ran a mile-and-a-half” to safety, Thomas recalled.
Later, Thomas said, the squad members found out how many men had been lost in the operation. According to published reports, 18 American servicemen died and 76 soldiers were wounded.
Thomas said he would never forget the footage he saw of a second helicopter that went down.
“[Despite orders], two snipers in the only helicopter still in the air landed” in an attempt to save one man,” Thomas said. “They fired until they ran out of ammunition” and were killed.
Aidid was never captured by American forces. He died in 1996.
The 18 hours in which he participated in the Somalia operation were life altering, according to Thomas. After he left the service and found work as a counselor with troubled youths, Thomas said his Army training helped him once again to help others.
“I got a letter from one of [the boys],” he said. “He wrote me that he was joining the Rangers. You never know.”