Doco reveals real story behind Black Hawk Down

FORMER pilot and US Rangers recount ordeal which inspired a Hollywood movie in the new Nat Geo series No Man Left Behind.

THE real-life story that inspired the movie Black Hawk Down is returning to the screen.

National Geographic Channel's new series No Man Left Behind, from the makers of Locked Up Abroad, brings to life the stories of war heroes and agents who were stranded in enemy territory and took survival into their own hands.

In tonight's premiere episode the three survivors of the real Black Hawk Down saga are reunited for the first time on camera.

Former US Rangers Randy Ramaglia and Keni Thomas and former Black Hawk pilot Mike Durant describe their terrifying battle in the 1993 operation that went horribly wrong.

The three men were among the 120 elite US soldiers, made up of the Delta Force and US Army Rangers, who came under unexpected attack by overwhelming Somali forces.

Ramaglia and Thomas described how they spent a night combating enemy militia and contemplating their uncertain fate before making it to safety, while Durant, who piloted one of the downed helicopters, was held captive for 11 torturous days.

"I had seen Locked Up Abroad and it was the fact that this series was done by the same team that caused me to get interested in the project," Durant told APN's The Guide.

"Once I got involved and understood how much effort and detail they were going to put into it I felt comfortable it was not simply another retelling of the story.

"They personalised it a lot more than some of the other pieces have in the past, and there were even things I learned about the mission that I didn't know."

The father of six, who published the book In Company of Heroes about his military career in 2003, still finds it difficult to go into detail about the emotional, physical and psychological effects of his ordeal.

"Certain aspects I don't think will ever be easy to talk about," he said.

"The nuts-and-bolts part of what happened is pretty straight forward and I've talked about that enough to not have any issues with it.

"But when it gets to the more personal stuff, which this piece did, then that's a little harder to talk about. It still stirs emotions when you think about the lost friends and things that happened that could have been prevented."

Fast forward 23 years and Durant still occasionally gets recognised thanks to Ridley Scott's Oscar-winning movie.

"There's no place you can go where the movie is not known," he said. "I was in the Czech Republic last year and it's one of the most popular war films there. They treated me like royalty (laughs). Here (in the United States) it's mostly worn off."

Durant now runs his own company specialising in military training simulators and recently acquired a Blackhawk through the business.

"It's in flyable condition, but we don't have the FAA clearance to fly it yet," he said.

"Once we get that I'm probably going to get back into the cockpit and fly it once in a while. It's an expensive exercise.

"The first time I flew after Somalia I wondered 'is this going to be different?' but it really wasn't. Flying is something I did for a long time... I look at it like a car accident; most people go back out and drive again."

No Man Left Behind airs tonight at 9.30pm on Foxtel's National Geographic Channel.