Blackhawk Down: Army hero speaks to USU students
John Collett, U.S. Army Sergeant First Class, was one of the 140 Delta Force rangers who attempted to capture leaders of the Habr Gibr clan on Oct. 3, 1993.
Their actions led to a book and movie, both titled “Blackhawk Down.” Collett spoke to Aggies about the mission and his part in the making of the film.
“Immediately, even in the air, we could tell this was different from any other mission,” he said. “I turned to the guy next to me and made a Catholic cross. I’m not even Catholic, but you get religion really quick in this type of mission.”
The mission was to capture Mohamed Farraf Aidid in Mogadishu, Somalia, to help end the country’s civil war and famine. But their secret mission turned into a bad dream when two of the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters were downed and they learned Aidid had left about 15 minutes before they arrived, he said.
Collett said that in his original position, he was afraid he would not be able to fire his weapon. But after the helicopters were shot down, he ended up firing thousands of rounds of ammunition before the night was over.
“I was thinking, ‘man, I’m not going to be able to fire my weapon. All these guys are going to get to fire their weapons, and I’m not,” he said. “Boy, was I wrong.”
After the Blackhawks were shot down, the mission had to be changed. Because the Delta Force Rangers’ motto was “no one left behind,” the men regrouped around the fallen helicopters, Collett said.
By the end of the night, over 60 percent of the forces were casualties, he said. Eighteen Americans died and 73 were wounded in the mission. It is estimated that nearly 1,000 Somalians died before the mission was completed, he said.
After 18 hours, the ordeal was finally over. The men, who were all about 20 years old, turned to CNN for news about themselves, he said.
“We ended up flipping on CNN to see what was going on in the world because we were going on in the world,” Collett said.
Following the mission, the American people felt betrayed because they had been told the troops would not be combative. Because of that, several men lost their jobs, and the troops were pulled from Somalia, he said.
“If there’s anything I feel bad about, it’s that it’s unfinished,” Collett said. “All the bloodshed and all the lives that were lost are basically for nothing.”
Collett also worked on the 2001 film, “Blackhawk Down.” First, he worked as a consultant and later as a stunt man for Ewan McGregor’s character. He said he was planning on going to college but decided he couldn’t pass up the chance to work on the film.
“I thought, ‘it’s kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I might as well take advantage of it,'” he said.
After doing some of the stunts, Collett said he didn’t know if making the movie or the ordeal in Somalia was harder.
“Now I’m thinking it’s the movie that was harder,” he said.
-kcartwright@cc.usu.edu