Danny McKnight
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Danny R. McKnight (born 1952)[1] was the leader of the "Lost Convoy" during the Battle of Mogadishu on October 3, 1993. He was awarded the Bronze Star with Valor Device for his actions during the battle. He has retired as a Colonel.
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[edit] Early life
Born in Columbus, Georgia, McKnight moved to Rockledge, Florida in 1959. He attended Florida State University and was a distinguished military graduate from their ROTC program in 1973, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in management.
[edit] Military career
Upon graduation, he was commisioned as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry in the United States Army. During his career, he served in a variety of infantry assignments with conventional and Ranger units. Ranger assignments include service as company executive officer and instructor at the mountain phase of the Ranger course; regimental adjutant, 75th Ranger Regiment; S-3 (battalion operations officer), 3rd 3rd Ranger Battalion; executive officer, 3rd Ranger Battalion; executive officer, 75th Ranger Regiment; and commanding officer, 3rd Ranger Battalion.
Other assignments include service in Korea as a battalion adjutant and as aide-de-camp to the commanding general of the 2nd Infantry Division; aide-de-camp to the commandant of the United States Army Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia; company commander, Company C, 1st Battalion, 58th Infantry, at Fort Benning; Assistant Professor of Military Science, ROTC Department, University of Florida; and battalion commander of the 4th Battalion, 27th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
Military education includes the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, Airborne and Ranger Courses, the Air Command and Staff College, and the U.S. Army War College.
He saw combat during Operation Just Cause in 1989 and in Somalia in 1993.
[edit] Battle of Mogadishu
As a Lieutenant Colonel, McKnight took command of the 3rd Ranger Battalion on February 11, 1993 and led the battalion when it deployed elements to Somalia as part of Task Force Ranger. Then Lieutenant Colonel McKnight was in charge of the HMMWV convoy ordered to bring up the rear of Task Force Ranger and Delta Force in their attempt to capture Mohamed Farrah Aidid's foreign minister, Omar Salad Elmi, and his top political advisor, Mohamed Hassan Awale. McKnight's HMMWV convoy did provide transport back to Ranger HQ, but was also able to serve another purpose. The troops under his command ended up providing emergency transport for Delta Force and Task Force Ranger troops after the mission went terribly wrong. On the way to headquarters after the prisoner extraction, McKnight's column suffered their first casualty when one of their gunners, Dominique Pilla, was hit in the head by enemy fire. After successfully returning the prisoners to base, McKnight and the men under his command set back out to rescue and evacuate injured American personnel. During the med-evac process, McKnight's HMMWV was hit by heavy grenade shrapnel. The explosion severely injured his driver, and McKnight himself. But the ever-faithful commander kept his focus on the mission at hand. With a truck-full of injured and dying American troops, McKnight had to pass up the chance to rescue more, as his and his driver's condition was worsening. On the way back, McKnight was hit in the neck by stray enemy fire, but continued to lead the HMMWV convoy back to base. Although severely injured, and bleeding profusely, he continued to run med-evac rescues until UN support arrived. After returning to base, he was examined by a doctor, where the bullet that had hit him was removed. [2]
[edit] After Somalia
McKnight commanded 3rd Ranger Battalion until July 1994, before attending the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. On graduation, he was assigned as senior active duty advisor to the 29th Infantry Division, a National Guard unit headquartered at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
Colonel McKnight's next assignments were with First United States Army at Fort Gillem, Georgia. He served as the Deputy Chief of Staff, Training for two years and as the Chief of Staff for nineteen months. He retired from active duty on January 1, 2002.
[edit] Black Hawk Down
During the 2001 film Black Hawk Down, McKnight was portrayed by Tom Sizemore. While McKnight and Sizemore never met personally, they had several telephone coversations and McKnight was quite satisfied with Sizemore's performance and the movie as a whole.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.infragardconferences.com/Archive/pages/bios/McKnight.html Biographical page on the InfraGard Conference webpage
- ^ Bowden, Mark (March 1999). Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War. Atlantic Monthly Press. Berkeley, California (USA). ISBN 0-87113-738-0
- ^ http://www.billdeyoung.com/bhawk.htm Article of McKnight's reaction to Black Hawk Down
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