Albom on Haiti chopper rescue: 'One of those Black Hawk Down kind of feels'

Detroit media personality Mitch Albom said the moment that a helicopter touched down to rescue him and nine others stranded in Haiti he had "one of those 'Black Hawk Down' kind of feels," with someone shouting "go, go, go, go, go!" as the group piled on top of one another into the four-seater aircraft.

It was the third attempt to escape the country by the group of 10 after the chopper was commandeered to transport diplomats, and at another time the group was left waiting atop a hill at 7 a.m. after their pickup was nixed because it was too dangerous to fly, Albom told WJR-AM (760) on Wednesday.

They had purposely waited until the overnight hours to reduce the likelihood that the chopper would get shot at by gang members or mobbed by others, Albom said.

"And so we finally on the wee hours of Tuesday, 2 o'clock in the morning, managed to get a helicopter in and ― in something that was really out of one of those 'Black Hawk Down' kind of feels, you know — go go go go go go go go! And everybody racing from our site ... and in 60 seconds, all 10 of us, we're on top of each other in the middle of this helicopter," Albom said on WJR.

The Detroit Free Press columnist, author and WJR afternoon host appeared to be referring to the book-turned-film "Black Hawk Down" by Mark Bowden, about a bloody battle between U.S. forces and Somali militia in 1993 Mogadishu. Two MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters were shot down in the city, and dead American soldiers were dragged through the streets.

"The thing lifted off and took off in the black of night and managed to get us across the border before it broke down," he said.

Soon after, the chopper made an emergency landing at a shuttered airport in the Dominican Republic after the aircraft started leaking hydraulic fluid, then waited in a "mosquito-ridden" terminal for hours for a car to drive to Santa Domingo to try to get a flight out, Albom said.

The extraction took place amid a state of emergency in Haiti after hundreds of armed gangs waged violence, attacked police stations and took over ports and airports, leading to the suspension of flights out of the country.

Albom said he felt a responsibility for securing safe passage for the group of volunteers who had come with him to visit his Have Faith Orphanage in Port-au-Prince, including one woman who had never left the U.S. previously and was on her first trip abroad. Eight of the 10 travelers were from Michigan.

Albom said he had been in contact with the State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Haiti, where staff asked if they were taking any bullets on the orphanage's perimeter but said that, otherwise, "We don't have anything for you."

He credited the rescue operation to Florida U.S. Rep. Cory Mills, who was tapped by fellow Republican Rep. Lisa McClain of Bruce Township for help after both she and Albom were unable to get assistance for the trapped group from the State Department.

Mills, an Army veteran who served in Iraq, has previously carried out missions to rescue Americans stuck in Afghanistan during the 2021 U.S. withdrawal and from Israel after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, including a son of U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Holland. Mills' office said Wednesday that he paid for the Haiti operation out of his personal funds.

Both Mills and McClain blamed the Biden administration for not having taken steps to evacuate Americans unable to leave Haiti amid the chaos and violence there.

"This mission reiterates a disturbing reality that under President Biden's leadership, American lives are continually jeopardized," Mills said, noting his previous rescues in Afghanistan and Israel.

"There's a clear pattern of abandonment. We need leadership in the White House that prioritizes Americans’ lives. We cannot afford to wait. We need President Trump back in office to prioritize the safety and security of our citizens.”

Albom on Wednesday emphasized he didn't want to make a political statement but lamented that there's no organized government effort by the U.S. or its allies to extract others. He stressed that there's many other Americans and "thousands" of Canadians there who volunteer running orphanages, daycare centers and water or food projects and who are "desperate" to get out.

"I don't know what the normal process is for an embassy. There's not much they can do. I always felt in Haiti that we were kind of going to be on our own no matter what, and we were going to always have to figure things out, whether it be for our kids or whether it be for us," Albom said.

"I'm grateful that Mr. Mills and Lisa McClain put this thing together. I ... didn't know much about either one of them, to be honest. But they contacted us and, within 48 hours, they were on their way there and put together an amazing effort that required coordination like you wouldn't believe."

The State Department said Tuesday it was aware of the departure of several U.S. citizens from Haiti and that it "welcomes the news whenever any U.S. citizens are reported to be brought to safety."

"We have no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas, and we stand ready to provide consular assistance where possible," the department said in a statement to The Detroit News. "We understand this was a private effort led by the Representative and for further information, we refer you to his office."

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said this week that the agency is in contact with "a number of American citizens" in Haiti. If U.S. citizens are unable to leave Haiti due to damage at the airport or because commercial carriers have suspended flights, they should register through the State Department's crisis intake form on the embassy’s website, Miller said.

"We will communicate with them the best information we have when we have it," Miller said.

Miller reiterated that the U.S. has had a Level 4 "do not travel" alert for Haiti for more than four years, "making very clear to American citizens that ... they should not travel to Haiti, that it is not safe to travel to Haiti."

Albom said he and his wife didn't want to leave behind the orphans in their charge, but that they knew what to do to prepare them from the last time the government in Haiti shut down: Stock up on fuel, water, food and cash, and arrange contingency evacuation plans for all the kids.

"When that helicopter was coming, (my wife) was saying to me, 'Are you sure we should be getting on? What about our kids?' It's very heartbreaking, very heart wrenching," Albom said.

"In the end, because we felt that we brought the people down, we can't just say, well go ahead and get on this helicopter and good luck to you. ... They were trusting me," he added. "But we can't wait to go right back as soon as we can get in there."

Albom said he and his guests got a "good taste" of what it's like to be cut off from the freedom to travel and movement, noting the kids in his orphanage haven't left the compound in three years and go to bed a night to the sound of gunfire.

"These efforts that they just did you know the other day to get (Prime Minister) Ariel Henry to resign is only going to lead to new problems, because they're already fighting over who's going to take over," he said.

"The gangs are still running rampant and our kids are in danger. So it's not about us getting home — as grateful as we are. It's about people who have to live like that all the time."

mburke@detroitnews.com

Staff writer Marnie Munoz contributed.