THE DELTA SNIPER WHO DEFENDED HIS COMRADES WITH HIS LIFE
SSG Daniel Busch was a Delta Force sniper who flew in the first Black Hawk during the Battle of Mogadishu, the helicopter that was later shot down.
On October 3, 1993, at 3:42 p.m., the Delta assault force landed next to the target building to seize the Somali warlord Mohammed Farah Hadid. Shortly afterward they came under heavy enemy fire.
Busch and 3 other Delta Force soldiers were aboard the Black Hawk “Super 6-1,” flown by Cliff “Elvis” Wolcott, a seasoned veteran of the Iraq war. The pilot held his helicopter directly over the battle zone so the Deltas could support the men on the ground with aimed sniper fire and the door gunners with their miniguns. During that run the helicopter was hit by an RPG and went down a few blocks away.
SSG Busch was one of only two soldiers who came through the crash with light injuries and were still able to defend the survivors. After talking it over with his comrade, he took up a position at the corner of a building behind the wreck. From there he held off several enemy fighters on his own as they pushed in from more than one direction, protecting the wounded. He was hit 4 times in the process, but still managed to hold the militia back just long enough for the relief force to arrive. The copilot of a Little Bird pulled Busch into his helicopter after landing right next to the Delta operator under heavy enemy fire.
SSG Busch later died of his wounds, but his stand made it possible to evacuate the badly wounded men. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.
A brotherhood nobody outside it understands.
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