If you’ve read Mark Bowden’s 1999 book Black Hawk Down or seen Ridley Scott’s 2001 film of the same name, you already know about the Mogadishu Mile. But for the uninitiated, let’s briefly revisit Somalia in 1993.
A United Nations coalition had been attempting to provide stability and humanitarian relief since 1991, when the Somali Civil War and the ensuing famine that followed the collapse of Siad Barre’s regime put millions of people at risk of starvation. A large, inter-clan movement known as the Somali National Alliance (SNA) emerged from the fighting as a dominant political force and elected Mohammed Farrah Aidid as chairman. In October 1992, Aidid demanded the UN leave Somalia, and his militia began attacking cargo ships and aircraft carrying aid. The security situation deteriorated rapidly and erupted into a series of high-profile, deadly clashes between UN peacekeepers and SNA militia.
In August 1993, US President Bill Clinton approved the deployment of a Joint Special Operations Task Force, dubbed Task Force Ranger, to Mogadishu to capture or kill Aidid as a means to restore stability to Somalia. On the afternoon of 3 October 1993, Task Force Ranger conducted a daylight raid to capture two of Aidid’s top lieutenants deep in militia-controlled part of Mogadishu.
Task Force Ranger quickly captured the target individuals, but as they were preparing to depart, two helicopters were shot down and crashed in the city. The Americans had to race against thousands of armed Somalis to secure the helicopters and survivors. As the urban battle dragged on and casualties mounted, elements of Task Force Ranger became trapped in the city overnight, fighting for their lives.
By 0155 on 4 October, a UN convoy including Pakistanis, Malaysians, and the US 10th Mountain Division reached the trapped Americans who had established a defensive position at the first helicopter crash site. It took several hours to free the pilot’s body from the crumpled wreckage, as soldiers came under enemy fire from all directions.
When dawn broke, they were finally able to recover the pilot’s body, and all the casualties were loaded onto the vehicles. The rest of the men conducted a rapid, tactical foot movement out of the hot zone following the vehicles, still under enemy fire. This became known as the “Mogadishu Mile”, and each 3 October (or 4 October), we commemorate this event and pay respect to the 19 Americans and 2 Malaysians who died in the battle by running a mile. Or two or three, if you’re feeling froggy. The real Mog Mile was roughly 3 miles.
So with my history tangent complete, let’s get to the point: how did I end up running the Mog Mile in Italy? I found the event through an email from the Three Rangers Foundation, which was promoting various locations in their network that were hosting a Mogadishu Mile. To my great surprise, there was a Mog Mile event listed in Torbole, a small town at the north end of Lake Garda, a few hours’ drive from Bologna.
I reached out to the event coordinator, Ben Appleby, the president of a local historical society called Associazione Benach. He informed me this was their inaugural year hosting the event and graciously offered to guide me through the World War II historical sites in the area, including the air raid shelter, tunnels, and fortifications. Ben also offered to screen their documentary, The Lost Mountaineers, about the American soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division who were lost in Lake Garda when their amphibious craft sank in April 1945.
At first glance, Torbole seemed a rather odd place for such an event. What does this little Italian town have to do with Ranger Regiment or Mogadishu? As far as I could tell, nothing. But as a Ranger Regiment veteran and Lake Garda enjoyer, I jumped at the opportunity.
On the morning of 4 October, two fellow SAIS students and US military veterans, Jason and Diego, accompanied me from Bologna. We met Ben and two other locals at the Brigadier General William O. Darby Memorial at the lakefront. Torbole’s connection to Ranger history became a little clearer. Darby is a legendary figure in Ranger history; he founded the 1st Ranger Battalion in 1942, and he led the 1st, 3rd, and 4th Ranger Battalions across North Africa and Italy during World War II. He later served as assistant Division Commander of the 10th Mountain Division. Ben showed us the plaque which marks the spot where Darby was killed in action two days before the end of the war.
At Darby’s memorial, I had the privilege of reading aloud the names of the fallen Americans from the Battle of Mogadishu, and we ran a mile along the shore. Afterwards, Ben guided us through town and highlighted the area’s historical significance from both world wars back to Ancient Rome. This is Italy, after all- you can spit in any direction and hit a Roman ruin. But the best part, by far, was the World War II-era tunnels and bunkers in the hills, offering an incredible, panoramic view.
Torbole thus represents an intersection of Ranger and 10th Mountain Division history during World War II. The Mogadishu Mile commemorates another significant intersection, as these units fought together in Mogadishu nearly 50 years later. Initially, Torbole seemed an odd place for a Mog Mile, but it turned out to be a fitting location to honor this shared legacy and sacrifice.
If you are interested in history around Lake Garda, check out the association’s website and reach out to Ben.
If you want a deeper understanding of the events of 3-4 October and the wider situation in Somalia from 1992-1994, I highly recommend Mark Bowden’s Black Hawk Down. If you are really keen on it, you can also read the US Army’s 276-page After Action Report and Historical Overview. It is not as dry as it sounds, I promise.
And in the highly unlikely scenario that you already have enough reading on your plate thanks to SAIS, there is an excellent 2025 Netflix documentary called “Surviving Black Hawk Down”, which features American soldiers, Somali militia, and Somali civilians who lived through that day. And of course, you can just watch the Ridley Scott movie.