On March 29 th , 1972 an AC-130A gunship from the 16th Special Operations Squadron (SOS) based in Thailand was shot down over Laos with all 14 crew members lost. It was the first of four aircraft and three air crews lost during that difficult year. I arrived in that same unit shortly after the last one went down. This post is my way of commemorating the 50th anniversary of that terrible event. In fact, the whole terrible year. I wrote a book a few years ago about the events of that year. It is a relatively unknown story – one reason I wanted to write it – but also so full of terrible and sad ironies that I felt I had to write it. Some very brief excerpts from the book . Bad Moon Rising: 1972 – Year of Blood and Tears for the 16 th SOS - - - - - How the Story Began - - - - - Assuming you were alive then, what were you doing in 1972? It was a time of great music like “Horse with No Name” by America, “American Pie” by Don McLean, "Heart of Gold" by Neil Young, &q