. . . Ragtag soldiers bloodied and almost destroyed the best the world's leading military power could throw at them . . .

Writing - Military

Battle road's lessons still relevant 228 years later

The war starts on a failed raid

228 years ago, just a few hundred feet from my comfortable North Cambridge home, the quiet of a rural spring day was shattered by the sounds of a running gunfight raging down what is now Massachusetts Avenue. A British expedition of infantrymen, horse soldiers, Royal Marines and Artillerymen, a combined arms task force representing the cutting edge of what was then the world's foremost military power, was fighting for its life as it returned from an ill-fated mission to capture two leading American rebels in the hinterlands of Lexington and Concord.

The British used the same tactics they had used on previous raids outside their Boston base, counting on surprise and superior force to accomplish their missions. Unfortunately for them, this time a well-organized warning system of lights, church bells and riders like Paul Revere had alarmed the countryside. When the Redcoats reached Lexington, members of the local militia had organized to block the Royal advance. In the early morning darkness, shots were fired and the militia broke ranks, leaving several dead and wounded on the Lexington Green.

Aware, now, that they'd lost the element of surprise, the British continued their advance to Concord, hoping to destroy a stash of rebel military supplies said to be stored there. Despite the clamor of church bells calling the surrounding towns to arms, the British were confident of success. They were, after all, the world's superpower, facing only a motley collection of local yokels.

This decision to advance would change the world.

The resistance starts in earnest

Upon reaching Concord, the British seized a variety of goods and began burning them in the center of town. West of Concord, on the far side of the Concord River, militia units from Acton, Grotton, Concord and elsewhere thought the British were actually burning the town itself. Anxious to save the buildings, the minutemen moved down to the one bridge crossing the river between their positions and the town.

British troops, failing in their attempt to destroy the bridge, fired on the advancing rebels and a sharp firefight ensued. Overwhelmed by their opponents, the Redcoats fell back and Rebel militia flooded across the bridge and drove the British from Concord. Thus, with the shot heard 'round the world, began the decline of Britain's North American empire.

For the next several hours, sweltering in their heavy uniforms, the British fought through ambushes, over farmers' fields, through woods and from house to house. Mile after mile, the Rebels bled the mighty British army to a shadow of its original self. Once, on its return through Lexington, the Redcoats were almost completely routed. Only the timely arrival of the Royal Artillery, the King of Battle, saved the British from complete disaster. Down Mass Ave, through Arlington, across Alewife Brook (after a particularly tough battle), the British fought militias from numerous surrounding communities. By the time the Redcoats limped into Charlestown, safe under the guns of the Royal Navy, militias from as far away as Connecticut were rushing to join the battle.

More than perhaps any other battle in American history, the battle of Lexington and Concord was a turning point in our development as a nation. The much vaunted British military, an almost invincible force, had been thoroughly thrashed by upstart Yankee farmers and shopkeepers armed with inferior weapons. Throughout the ups and downs of the American Revolution, this knowledge that they could beat the British helped carry the Rebels through to eventual victory.

218 years later, halfway around the world

Fast forward 218 years. It's 1993. The place is Mogadishu, the decrepit capital of war-torn, famine ravaged Somalia. Task Force Ranger, a highly trained collection of US Army Rangers, Delta Force commandos, Navy SEALs, Air Force parajumpers and assorted helicopter forces, launches a daring daylight raid to capture two of Warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid's lieutenants. Operating under UN auspices, Task Force Ranger is attempting to bring the warlord to justice for the earlier slaughter of 25 UN workers and, at the same time, allow for more effective distribution of famine relief resources.

The men, and all of them were men, of Task Force Ranger represent some of the most capable and well equipped warriors the United States, the world's only superpower, can field. They have successfully carried out raid after raid throughout Mogadishu, as evidenced by the growing numbers of Aidid's lieutenants captured and held on a small island pending the warlord's removal. Opposing the task force's space age attack helicopters, night vision goggles, Kevlar body armor and heavy machine guns is a motley collection of semi-organized militias and individuals, armed only with rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) and small arms like M-16s and AK-47s. On its face, it seems like an uneven match and Somali warriors have thus far been unable to dent the American's aura of invincibility.

But today is different.

The raid runs into trouble

Almost immediately after hitting the target, heloborne elements of Task Force Ranger begin to take casualties. Local warriors, as individuals and groups, swarm to the scene, perhaps guided by the smoke from piles of burning tires. A helicopter crashes in the midst of hostile territory, and then a second goes down. Two more are damaged and barely make it back to the relative safety of UN held ground. The ground element of the raid is riddled by Somalis firing from behind windows and walls as the Humvees and 5-ton trucks travel through the City's labyrinth of streets. The convoy, crippled by numerous casualties, returns to base without much of the heloborne element, which winds up providing security for the first helicopter crash site.

A second convoy, sent out to assist in securing the crash site, is also shot up and returns to the airfield. The heloborne element is alone at the first crash site. It is vastly outnumbered by the surrounding Somalis and is saved again and again by supporting helicopter gunships, the new King of Battle.

No one is able to secure the second helicopter crash site, and two Delta force soldiers are posthumously granted the Medal of Honor for their attempt to do so.

Night falls with almost 100 American soldiers, low on water and ammunition, isolated in the midst of an ancient African city few of their fellow citizens could find on an unmarked map. Just a couple of miles away, the UN compound is in chaos as the dead and wounded from the two ground convoys are processed and a third relief convoy is patched together.

This third convoy, strengthened with Indian tanks (American made M-48s) and Pakistani armored personnel carriers (German made Condors), successfully blasts its way to the battered remnants of Task Force Ranger. In a final, wild, violent dash through Mogadishu, the Americans escape. Less than 24 hours after the raid began, the Battle of the Black Sea is over. Within a few months, the US, still licking its wounds, withdraws from Somalia with warlord Aidid still in power.

Unlike the British raid of Lexington and Concord 218 years earlier, Task Force Ranger's operation was a military success. Its Somali targets were captured. Huge numbers of Somalians, including some women and children who may not have been engaged in the battle, were killed or wounded. In the words of one wounded Ranger, "we whipped ass."

Military lessons taught, but maybe not learned

Yet, in many other, more important, ways, the two raids were almost identical. Ragtag soldiers bloodied and almost destroyed the best the world's leading military power could throw at them. Advanced weapon systems and training were countered by numbers, aggressiveness and knowledge of the local terrain. Underestimating the enemy's capability to fight cost the raiders greatly in both cases and popped their sense of invulnerability. Eventually, both military powers retreated to safer climes.

Today, ten years after the Battle of the Black Sea and 228 years after Lexington and Concord, our Marines, Sailors, Airmen and Soldiers are once more in deadly combat. Americans, at last, seem solidly behind their men and woman in arms, yet, at the same time, many of us are disturbingly ignorant of what we are asking those in harm's way to do. 'All war, all the time' is the theme for many major news shows and reports from the front, especially reports that emphasize body counts, leap from daily newspapers, but few of us are loosing sleep over the latest ambush, air raid or artillery strike. War has become the ultimate in Reality TV, something interesting to surf on the web. A sanitized event that is unlikely to directly impact many of us, except in how it drives the stock market up or down.

The last thing on anyone's mind is our losses in Somalia or how the British were thrashed on Battle Road. That is unfortunate, for despite having better tanks, planes, guns and training than virtually anyone else on the planet, our warriors are far from invulnerable. Thus far, we've only seen a few American deaths but that could change in moments. As long as this war lasts, tens of thousands of our troops are just seconds away from violent death or injury whether it be from stiff opposition or friendly fire.

Conflict without end

This danger won't end with the war, either. Estimates of the number of troops and the length of time we'll need to occupy Iraq vary, but conservative numbers range well up into the tens of thousands for many years. These troops, serving as policemen, peace keepers, nation builders and, for some, enemy occupiers, will be at their most vulnerable when stationed in the static positions of an occupation. They will be sniped at and verbally abused, they will have rocks thrown at them and car bombs will explode as they drive by, they will be stabbed in local markets and beaten if they wander off alone. In short, they will be getting hurt and killed for years to come.

And, unlike the British in 1775, we'll see it all on the nightly news. The question we must now answer is, do we have the stomach for it? Will we, day in and day out, for years to come, be able to accept the fact that many of our sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, might die in this effort?

Only time will tell.

The Word