In the moments following the explosion, the cockpit filled with smoke and heat. “I never saw anything like it,” said Lee DeRosa, an electronic warfare officer on board Spectre 17. Enemy anti-aircraft artillery had struck their gunship, causing severe damage to the structure of the aircraft. The crew saw two large flashes illuminate the ground below. “It went from boring to unimaginable in about a split second,” said Chandler. The crew, assigned to the 16th Special Operations Squadron, were operating a combat mission supporting Operation Commando Hunt, a campaign of the Vietnam War.Ĭompared to other missions they had flown, the night of March 4 started as a slow night, Chandler said. Air Force Col., served as an infrared sensor operator on board the AC-130A Spectre Gunship, now referred to as ‘Spectre 17’ for its call sign. “I’ve lived most days of my life since then just being happy that I’m alive,” Gary Chandler recalled.Ĭhandler, a retired U.S.
Collectively, members of the “Spectre 17” aircrew would say March 4, 1972, was both the luckiest and unluckiest day of their lives.
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