SYNOPSIS: Lockheed's versatile C130 aircraft filled many roles in Vietnam, including transport, tanker, gunship, drone controller, airborne battlefield command and control center, weather reconnaissance, electronic reconnaissance, and search, rescue and recovery.
The AC130, outfitted as a gunship, was the most spectacular of the modified AC130's. These ships pierced the darkness using searchlights, flares, night observation devices that intensified natural light, and a variety of electronic sensors such as radar, infared equipment and even low-level television.
On some models, a computer automatically translated sensor data into instructions for the pilot, who kept his fixed, side-firing guns trained on target by adjusting the angle of bank as he circled. The crew of these planes were, therefore, highly trained and capable. They were highly desirable "captures" for
the enemy because of their technical knowledge.
Captains Thomas H. Amos and Mason I. Burnham were pilot and co-pilot of an AC130 on a mission near the border of South Vietnam and Laos on April 20, 1973 when their plane was shot down by enemy fire. Because there existed the possibility that the two safely ejected the aircraft, they were declared missing in action.
The fate of the rest of the crew (some 8-12 men) is not indicated in public records. The aircraft went down in Quang Tin Province, about halfway between Ben Giang, South Vietnam and Chavane, Laos.
The Defense Intelligence Agency further expanded Amos' and Burnham's classification to include an enemy knowledge ranking of 2. Category 2 indicates "suspect knowledge" and includes personnel who may have been involved in loss incidents with individuals reported in Category 1 (confirmed knowledge),
or who were lost in areas or under conditions that they may reasonably be expected to be known by the enemy; who were connected with an incident which was discussed but not identified by names in enemy news media; or identified (by
elimination, but not 100% positively) through analysis of all-source intelligence.
When the war in Vietnam ended, and 591 American Prisoners of War were released, Amos and Burnham were not among them. As time passed, reports amassed, to a current number of over 10,000. Many authorities who have reviewed this largely-classified information have concluded that hundreds of Americans
are still alive in captivity today.
The United States Government seems unable to decide whether or not men are still alive in captivity in Southeast Asia, preferring the less controversial (and less liable) position of operating "under the assumption that one or more" are alive.
Whether Thomas Amos and Mason Burnham survived the crash of their
aircraft to be captured has never been determined. Whether they are among those thought to be still alive is uncertain. What is clear, however, is that if there is even one American being held against his will in Southeast Asia, we have a legal and
moral responsibility to do everything possible to bring him home.
