The failed 1993 U.S. military mission in Mogadishu, Somalia, lasted less than a day, but the conflict cost the lives of 18 U.S. soldiers, injured 84 more and killed hundreds of Somalis (soldiers and civilians). The operation-as part of the larger relief effort to reopen food lines to the region-was intended to capture key Somalian military leaders as prisoners and quickly hustle them out of the city. Within minutes of the mission's start, however, two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down in an ambush, crashing into the streets of Mogadishu. What began as a get-in, get-out surgical strike quickly turned into an every-man-for-himself fight for survival amid flying bullets and rocket-fired grenades, but also to recover the bodies of their fallen comrades.