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They were the first to arrive, and now it was time to leave. However, there was no fanfare when the platoon of U.S. Marines pulled out of Mogadishu on Sept. 15, 1994.
Their departure was in stark contrast to prime-time coverage the first Marines received on Dec. 9, 1992, when they came ashore in Somalia to "Restore Hope" to that east African nation.
By the time the Marines left, few cared about restoring hope to Somalia. Too many American lives had been lost.
"What a waste," thought Lance Corporal Timothy James, as he left the safety of his compound and was lifted by helicopter to the airport.
"I thought the Somalis would make one more attempt to get us on the way out," said James, "but they didn't."
U.S. interest and direct involvement in Somalia went downhill after 18 U.S. Army personnel including Green Berets, Rangers and Blackhawk helicopter crewmen were gunned down during a fierce gun battle in Mogadishu Oct. 3-4, 1993.
President Bill Clinton ordered all U.S. forces to leave Somalia no later than March 31, 1994. But the United States wanted to maintain a presence, a U.S. Liaison Office (USLO), in Somalia. The task of protecting the diplomats attached to the USLO fell to FAST, the Marine Corps' Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team.
Staff Sergeant Milton Hardin was escorting U.S. diplomats to a coordination meeting with Somali warlord Mohammed Aideed's people at the Ethiopian ambassador's residence when he unknowingly led his FAST convoy of three green "Hummers" and two Chevy Suburban limousines into a 360degree ambush at the K-4 Circle, a major intersection in Mogadishu.
The action began when two Somali gunmen took up firing positions behind a tree on the left side of the road.
Without warning, someone opened fire from an upper-floor window of a building at the rear of the convoy.
"The rear man in the tail vehicle, Lance Corporal C. R. Hamilton, dropped the individual as my .50-cal gunner, Lance Corporal M. D. Snelson, swung around and got rid of the two threats on the left side of us," said Hardin.
"We began to take incoming fire from the right side of the convoy as we entered the circle."
As the fight developed, Somalia National Alliance (SNA) militia...