News from the AC-119 Gunship Association
October 2, 2005
Page
Updated
January 31, 2010
Brings Gunship Home
Click here for monument dedication photos
AC-119 Gunship Association president, retired Chief Master Sergeant Craig Corbett, and a host of air and ground crew members joined more than 100 family, friends, and other attendees in dedicating the AC-119K Stinger Gunship monument located in Hurlburt Field’s Commando Air Park, in Ft Walton Beach, FL. The dedication took place during the Association's Sixth Annual Reunion on October 2, 2005. Keynote speaker was former 18th Special Operations Squadron (SOS) aircrew member, retired Chief Master Sergeant Bill Petrie of Oklahoma City.
The focus of the memorial project was to bring the gunship to a final resting place via a monument. The AC-119K Memorial features an 8-foot high, three-foot wide, mirror finish, black granite stone capturing the Stinger gunship in combat over Laos. The image of the gunship emerges from the black granite, much like it did in battle, like a ghost in the dark with guns blazing amid antiaircraft fire. The front of the Memorial is engraved with a brief history of the AC-119K gunship. The 18th Special Operations Squadron's logo is engraved below the text.
Former 18th SOS flight engineer, retired Senior Master Sergeant Gus Sininger, guided the memorial project to fruition. The AC-119 Gunship Association set aside $10,000 to create a lasting monument to an aircraft that “never made it home.”
The hunter/killer prowess of the AC-119K gunship over the famed Ho Chi Minh Trail, even while barraged by heavy anti-aircraft artillery, was evident in the hundreds of burned-out Soviet-built trucks littered across Indochina's landscape and the countless allied lives saved by the gunship and her gallant crews. All of the AC-119s were either shot down, crashed, or scrapped after the evacuation of Vietnam, and for these varied reasons, no AC-119K gunship made it back to the United States after the Vietnam War. For many involved with this illustrious gunship a part of them always remained missing. That fact prompted Chief Petrie to write a Poem entitled "Our Lady of Night" which he read at the dedication.
In praising the maintenance and aircrews who kept the Stinger gunship flying and fighting Chief Petrie said “The memories of courage, commitment and dedication of those we served with, coupled with the dedication of those who serve this association created this monument and enabled us to “bring home” our gunship.”
Petrie added "May this memorial forever stand both as a tribute to the AC-119K air and ground crews who fought for freedom in Vietnam and as an enduring symbol of an aircraft that served the Air Force well. Finally, the courage and sacrifice of so many and the contributions of a “proud old bird” will forever stand tall in Hurlburt Field’s Memorial Air Park.”
Project officer, Gus Sininger, stated "The generosity and continued support from Association members, and family members of those we lost, have truly made this important day a reality," He said the AC-119K Gunship Association is still accepting donations to recoup costs associated with construction.
The AC-119 Gunship Association is also selling lithograph reproductions of the artwork of the Stinger gunship that is engraved on the front of the monument.
All proceeds will benefit Association projects and support maintaining the monument and the Association’s website. The AC-119K Stinger lithographs can be purchased through the Association’s merchandise page at and also by contacting Ron Julian at (937) 848-4064 or
e-mail him at takitus@email.com.
For anyone wishing to join the Association, they may do so by visiting the AC-119 Gunship Association membership page .
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