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Authors: L. Douglas Hogan
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they were jumping off the deck and into the river.
“Cease fire, cease fire,” Buchanan called out.
The Marines watched in silence as men jumped ship and disappeared beneath the infamous undercurrents of the river.
Lieutenant Colonel Buchanan watched as the barges were coming to a stop against the river’s flow. They were softly colliding with one another in what looked like a classic highway pileup. At first, Buchanan wasn’t sure how to retrieve the shipments, but as opportunity presented itself, he yelled to the Marines, “Prepare to board.” Every Marine ran to the banks of the river, where the vessels were piling up and colliding into one another. The window of opportunity was small, because soon the barges would be heading south down the river. Time was of the essence.
“I want ten Marines on every barge. Drop your flaks, rifles, helmets, and sacks. Get on those barges and get us some Americans.”
Marines were running into the shallows of the river and preparing to board the barges when they heard the well-known sound of Black Hawk helos. The sound of the helos was distinct but seemed to be camouflaged in the sound of more unknown helos. This made Buchanan, Franks, and Riley nervous.
“Sir, we should take cover,” Franks recommended to Buchanan.
“Just wait a mike,” Buchanan ordered as he stood there listening.
Marines were boarding the barges when the helos came into view.
“Take cover,” Buchanan yelled as Marines began to run into structures on the back side of Front Street.
Buchanan, Franks, and Riley couldn’t believe their eyes. Two Russian Mil Mi-24 attack choppers labeled “UN” and three US MH-60 Black Hawks were flying in a strafing pattern toward their location.
Marines and freed American prisoners were evacuating the barges and coming out of the river when the attack choppers began their assault. Two of the Black Hawk MH-60s opened up with their miniguns and rained 7.62mm chainfire down upon the Marines and escaping prisoners. Buchanan took note that the third had not opened fire and remained withdrawn. The other Marines that were ashore began opening fire with their assigned weapons. Some shot their machine guns and others shot their rifles, but all were shooting on the helos.
“Concentrate your firepower and get me some heavy gunners back on that roof,” Buchanan yelled. “Gunny, can you jam their receivers?”
“Yes, sir. I’ll coordinate that with your TOW gunners,” Franks yelled back.
About the time Franks was on his radio communicating with Weapons Company, one of the Russian helos opened fire on the structures several of the Marines had taken cover in. Franks noticed the Marines were shooting from that position and it had alerted the gunners on the Mil Mi-24s. The helo was shooting a 30mm cannon at the structures and the ground fire from that location went silent.
One of the Russian helos began to blow black smoke right before it started a nose dive onto Front Street, where it landed and exploded.
Several Marines had run into the building with the flat roof and returned to the ladder leading to the top of the building. The helos were engaging ground forces and seemingly not paying attention to the rooftops. One of the TOW gunners launched a missile at one of the MH-60s. The helo canted heavily to avoid the missile impact and successfully avoided being hit by it. The laser warning receiver that was equipped on the helo had done its job, but unfortunately for the flight crew, the helo had banked too hard and nearly upturned it. It crashed in the dirt alongside the river.
The Weapons Company radio rang out, “Weapons Company from FORECON. Over.”
“Weapons Company, go.”
“Tango East is jammed. Over.”
With that, TOW gunner-1 yelled out, “Secure back blast area.”
“Back blast area secure,” a voice returned from the rear.
A missile launched from the TOW’s tube and propelled a short journey to its Russian target.
The two remaining MH-60s were
“Cease fire, cease fire,” Buchanan called out.
The Marines watched in silence as men jumped ship and disappeared beneath the infamous undercurrents of the river.
Lieutenant Colonel Buchanan watched as the barges were coming to a stop against the river’s flow. They were softly colliding with one another in what looked like a classic highway pileup. At first, Buchanan wasn’t sure how to retrieve the shipments, but as opportunity presented itself, he yelled to the Marines, “Prepare to board.” Every Marine ran to the banks of the river, where the vessels were piling up and colliding into one another. The window of opportunity was small, because soon the barges would be heading south down the river. Time was of the essence.
“I want ten Marines on every barge. Drop your flaks, rifles, helmets, and sacks. Get on those barges and get us some Americans.”
Marines were running into the shallows of the river and preparing to board the barges when they heard the well-known sound of Black Hawk helos. The sound of the helos was distinct but seemed to be camouflaged in the sound of more unknown helos. This made Buchanan, Franks, and Riley nervous.
“Sir, we should take cover,” Franks recommended to Buchanan.
“Just wait a mike,” Buchanan ordered as he stood there listening.
Marines were boarding the barges when the helos came into view.
“Take cover,” Buchanan yelled as Marines began to run into structures on the back side of Front Street.
Buchanan, Franks, and Riley couldn’t believe their eyes. Two Russian Mil Mi-24 attack choppers labeled “UN” and three US MH-60 Black Hawks were flying in a strafing pattern toward their location.
Marines and freed American prisoners were evacuating the barges and coming out of the river when the attack choppers began their assault. Two of the Black Hawk MH-60s opened up with their miniguns and rained 7.62mm chainfire down upon the Marines and escaping prisoners. Buchanan took note that the third had not opened fire and remained withdrawn. The other Marines that were ashore began opening fire with their assigned weapons. Some shot their machine guns and others shot their rifles, but all were shooting on the helos.
“Concentrate your firepower and get me some heavy gunners back on that roof,” Buchanan yelled. “Gunny, can you jam their receivers?”
“Yes, sir. I’ll coordinate that with your TOW gunners,” Franks yelled back.
About the time Franks was on his radio communicating with Weapons Company, one of the Russian helos opened fire on the structures several of the Marines had taken cover in. Franks noticed the Marines were shooting from that position and it had alerted the gunners on the Mil Mi-24s. The helo was shooting a 30mm cannon at the structures and the ground fire from that location went silent.
One of the Russian helos began to blow black smoke right before it started a nose dive onto Front Street, where it landed and exploded.
Several Marines had run into the building with the flat roof and returned to the ladder leading to the top of the building. The helos were engaging ground forces and seemingly not paying attention to the rooftops. One of the TOW gunners launched a missile at one of the MH-60s. The helo canted heavily to avoid the missile impact and successfully avoided being hit by it. The laser warning receiver that was equipped on the helo had done its job, but unfortunately for the flight crew, the helo had banked too hard and nearly upturned it. It crashed in the dirt alongside the river.
The Weapons Company radio rang out, “Weapons Company from FORECON. Over.”
“Weapons Company, go.”
“Tango East is jammed. Over.”
With that, TOW gunner-1 yelled out, “Secure back blast area.”
“Back blast area secure,” a voice returned from the rear.
A missile launched from the TOW’s tube and propelled a short journey to its Russian target.
The two remaining MH-60s were
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