The 2001 movie, Blackhawk Down,
depicts the true story of a U.S. Military Operation in the East African nation of Somalia.
A taskforce made up of U.S. Army Rangers,
a special operations aviation regiment, and members of delta force
were sent to the capital city, Mogadishu, to capture senior members
of a violent, civilian militia led by the savaged Somali warlord, Muhammad Ferrar Adi.
Though the mission was ultimately successful,
the taskforce of 100 soldiers quickly found themselves
outnumbered and outgunned by the Somali militia.
The operation was supposed to take no more than an hour to complete,
however the soldiers were engaged in intense, close combat,
fighting for their lives for more than 15 hours.
Vicious Somali gunmen fiercely attacked our soldiers with a wide assortment of weapons,
including more than 200 rocket propelled grenades
and ultimately shot down two Blackhawk helicopters
and killed 18 American soldiers during the battle.
[Music]
Hello and welcome to inside CBP. I'm Michael Pope.
In this edition of inside CBP, honoring our veterans,
one of CBP's own, border patrol agent, Adalberto Rodriguez,
was one of the U.S. soldiers who bravely fought in that fierce 15 hour firefight in Mogadishu
on that unforgettable day, October 3, 1993.
Agent Rodrigues left part of himself on that East African battlefield
but what he did not leave behind was a strong desire to serve his country,
which he does today as a member of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Everybody has to sacrifice a little so we can all live the way we do
and that's what I would like to tell anybody that they ask me.
I don't see my sacrifice as great or holy, but I'm doing my part.
If I'm doing my part the way I'm doing it with the conditions that I have,
all of us I'm pretty sure can.
But agent Rodriguez's recollection of the gun battle against hundreds of Somalis
with malice in their hearts more than 16 years ago is as crisp as if it happened yesterday.
My particular mission was to fast rope from my UH-60 helicopter into one of the corners of the building
so we could create a perimeter along with the other three units
in order for other elements of the task force to come inside the building and capture the prisoners.
Helicopters flared.
There was dust everywhere and as soon as we hit the target building there was gunfire everywhere.
There were rocket propelled grenades going off everywhere
and immediately I spotted enemy combatants shooting at us
and I acquired a position where I could engage them
and I immediately started engaging them.
Shortly thereafter the HMMVs finally showed up.
The fighting continued, had extreme heavy fire from everywhere we went
and to top it all off one of the helicopters got hit and it went down.
Radio: We've got a Blackhawk down. We've got a Blackhawk down.
So we were to approach the crash site and create a perimeter.
It seemed to me that it was an ambush in every place that we went, in every corner, every turn.
There was people running everywhere with rifles.
It was a target rich environment if you will.
Agent Rodriguez suffered many serious wounds during the fight
resulting in permanent and disabling injuries.
I was shot several times with a small arms fire.
I was shot in my back, in my hip, I took a round close to my knee and a little bit below it.
Also an RPG took most of the back of my knee, severed my hamstrings,
and all the nerves that lead to my leg.
The rocket propelled grenade came from my left, hit the gas tank in the HMMV.
At that point, I'm engulfed in a ball of fire
and I could hardly breathe so I decided to jump out of the HMMV.
I'm laying on the ground.
I tried to cover my leg is much as I could,
put pressure on it to prevent blood everywhere
and that's when the Somali decides to come across the ambush line
and he tries to shoot me at point blank range.
He pointed his rifle and he just pulled the trigger, full automatic.
And I believe he hit me three times.
Agent Rodriguez was hospitalized for seven months
at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C.,
while here he received excellent medical care from the staff during his grueling recovery period.
Now his courage and sacrifice were honored by many visitors
including the President of the United States.
Mr. Clinton came into my room and that was a very touching moment.
He was touched. He couldn't believe that we were so young.
He asked me how old I was. I told him I was 20 years old.
As soon as I got into Walter Reed I had a dedicated team of doctors working on me
and they pretty much took care of me from head to toe.
There the doctors did everything they could to save my leg,
which they were successful at it.
Agent Rodriguez has a permanent disability
but he found a different kind of strength to endure the rigorous training
required to become a member of both the border patrol's special response team, or SRT,
and the border tactical team, or BORTAC.
The special response team selection course was, it was brutal.
I'm not going to lie. But it's all in your mind.
Your body can take a lot of punishment and that's my motto,
you know, if your mind is willing to do it, you will be willing to do it.
Your body sometimes presents limitations.
You've just got to learn how to deal with them and work with them so you can overcome obstacles.
Today, agent Rodriguez's is stationed in El Paso Texas
where he stops undocumented migrants and potential terrorists from entering the country.
He seizes illegal narcotics and guards our nation's borders with the spirit of an American warrior.
I feel that if we can protect our country, we can live better lives.
So it's worth, you know, dying for it, fighting for it, standing guard for it.
It's completely worth it because after all if there is no country, there is no family.
There is no peace. There is no prosperity.
CBP border patrol agent Adalberto Rodriguez is but one shining example
of the love of country that fuels many of the men and women
who are part of U.S. Customs and border protection.
We honor CBP personnel who served our nation as part of the U.S. military
and who continue to defend our country as part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
For inside CBP, I'm Michael Pope.