Overview: In October 1993, two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters were shot down in Mogadishu, Somalia. With the special forces pinned down at the crash sites, the 2nd Battalion 14th Infantry Regiment of the 10th Mountain Division (2-14) engaged in a ferocious fight to reach the soldiers and bring them home.

The infamous event is now shared in riveting detail by the troops and commanders who showed extraordinary courage, skill, and discipline in the heaviest combat since the Vietnam War.

DVD Verdict: From the off here I think it is critically important to recognize every military member who participated in this incredible rescue in Somalia.

Ergo, this brand new documentary highlights the role of 10th Mountain Division which, and due in part to a big screen movie that went for the glitz and glamor of the tale as opposed to the real "truth" of the situation, until now had not been given much attention.

For more than a quarter century, the story of the Battle of Mogadishu, popularized by both the book and film versions of 'Black Hawk Down,' has focused on the Army Rangers and Delta Force team members caught in the worst urban combat the U.S. military had seen since the Vietnam War.

Hence this new documentary tells the story of the 10th Mountain Division soldiers who rescued those Rangers and Delta operators.

'Black Hawk Down: The Untold Story,' is a two hour documentary made by retired Air Force Col. Randall Larsen, who also served in the Army during his 32-year military career.

Larsen’s production company previously produced the documentary “Operation Whitecoat,” the story of 2,300 conscientious objectors who volunteered for biological experiments at Fort Detrick, Maryland from 1954 to 1973.

Larsen met now-retired Brig. Gen. Bill David, who commanded 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division during its deployment as a quick reaction force in the Battle of Mogadishu years ago while both were doing advanced academic degrees.

But it wasn’t until last year, as the 25th anniversary of the Oct. 3, 1993 battle approached that Larsen, himself a Vietnam War combat veteran, realized the role that 10th Mountain played in that intense fight.

“As I started peeling the onion and looking into this thing I thought, ‘Oh my God this is an incredible story and I didn’t know it',” Larsen explains during the documentary. “I’d read the book when it came out. I’d seen the movie. I’d sat in bars with Bill and kind of heard it a little bit.”

So, despite promising his wife he’d retired from filmmaking after the previous documentary, Larsen kicked production into high gear and completed an early version of the film in time for the anniversary last year at Fort Drum, New York, home of the 10th Mountain Division.

In closing, it was when Larsen had a veteran of Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion come up to him after a screening that he knew what he had done was not only going to change lives, but refocus the truth. "“You know, all these years I’ve been telling my son what I did, and he says, ‘Dad, that wasn’t in the movie,’” Larsen said the veteran told him. “My son will finally believe me now.” This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.78:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Bonus Features of:

Extended Interviews
General Mark A. Milley's Lessons Learned
Remembering PVT Martin & SGT Houston
Music Video: J.T. Cooper, "Jet Lag and Nightmares"