As the Blackhawk helicopter lifts off from Lafayette, the landscape below is docile, even suburban.

NPR: Cameron Parish Hit Hard by Hurricane Rita

Members grab gear and run for a Blackhawk helicopter.

NPR: Adrenaline Flows When Medevac Unit Takes Flight

Controlling the warlords proved more difficult than anyone had expected, and ten months after American troops first landed, a Blackhawk helicopter was shot down during a mission to capture one of those warlords.

NPR: Somalia: Decades of Unintended Consequences