Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War

by Mark Bowden

And Kallman’s turn did come. As he slowed down before another intersection he looked out the open window to his left and saw a smoke trail coming straight at him. It all happened in a second. He knew it was an RPG and he knew it was going to hit him. Then it did. He awoke lying on his right side on the front seat with his ears ringing. He opened his eyes and was looking directly at the radio mounted under the dash. He sat up and floored the accelerator. Up ahead he saw the convoy making a left turn and he raced to catch them. Later, when he’d had a chance to inspect his Humvee, he saw that the RPG had hit his door, deeply denting it and poking a hole through the steel. He and the others inside had evidently been spared by the bulletproof glass panel behind the door—Kallman had the window rolled down. The brunt of the grenade’s force had been absorbed by the Humvee’s outer shell, and the glass barrier had been thick enough to stop it. Kallman’s left arm began to swell and discolor, but otherwise he was fine.