The Missionary And The Gunship

This is a little-known story of how a martyred missionary to a Stone Age tribe in Ecuador changed the face of SOF Close Air Support.

While serving in the Army, Nate Saint became aware of a need for missionary pilots, so shortly after getting out he committed his life to missionary work. He was a creative “gadget guy” and designed many devices that are still being used today. On 8 Jan 1956, Nate and four other missionaries landed on a jungle beach, near a murderously violent, Stone Age tribe with whom they were trying to make contact, with called the Aucas.

Time magazine called the Aucas: “the worst people on earth. A pure Stone Age people, they hate all strangers, live only to hunt, fight and kill. Their most notable products are needle-sharp, 9-foot, hardwood spears for use against human foes... Even their neighbors, the Jivaros, famous for shrinking human heads, live in constant fear of the fierce Aucas.”

Murder was the most significant cause of death among the Aucas. 74% of all Auca men died through violent tribal warfare. When one of their number got sick or old, his relatives dug a pit beneath his hammock, toppled him in, and buried him alive.

The tribe suffered a shortage of women because mothers often strangled girl babies with a vine as soon as they were born. One Auca mother of twins said, “I was so frightened to see two babies appear, instead of just one, that I buried them.”

The Aucas killed for sport, lust, jealousy or out of simple irritation. One Indian speared both his friend's wife and mother to death as a joke. As soon as an Auca boy could walk, his spear practice began. Toddlers jabbed short spears into a balsa-wood log carved in human shape. Six-year-olds accompanied men on raids. The adults incapacitated a victim and encouraged the little boys to finish him off.

Murder for revenge and preventive murder also played a large part in the Aucas' lifestyle. They felt it a duty to avenge the murder of a relative by spearing the killer or any member of his family, even a distant cousin. Therefore, when an Auca suspected that someone might hold a grudge against some member of his family, he endeavored to kill that person first.

The manner in which the five missionaries ended up speared and sliced by machetes on that beach in the middle of the South American jungle is an amazing story of innovation and faith, and sparked the idea for the side firing airborne artillery gunships in Vietnam, which were used so effectively against the VC and NVA.

The missionaries had heard about this tribe, and felt called to attempt to bring the word of God to them. They endeavored to learn the language with the goal of making contact and translating the Bible into their language.

Nate Saint had created a method of dropping supplies to people where a landing zone was not available. With one hand flying, he would unroll a long line with a bucket at the end, in which supplies or gifts were placed. 

The Missionaries used this technique to leave gifts for the Aucas, who then replaced them with gifts of their own. The Missionaries made a decision to make contact when a suitable landing zone along a stream near their village was found.

They landed on 3 Jan 1956, and five days later their families received the last radio message from them: "Pray for us. We're making contact this afternoon. We'll contact you again at 4:30." It was the last contact they made.

Two and a half days later, a ground team led by Veteran Missionary Frank Drown, reached the location and found the bodies. (Personal note: I always called him Poncho. He was friends with my parents, and I met him and heard the story first hand as a kid.) Life magazine did a famous article about this story, and there was a movie made called End of the Spear in 2005.

GUNSHIP

In 1961, LTC Gilmour C. MacDonald advocated “transverse firing of rockets and machine guns by Liaison Aircraft” and was backed by an engineer at Bell Aerosystems, Ralph E. Flexman. Flexman had heard about Nate Saint’s “bucket drop” and theorized that the straight line of the rope would translate into a straight line of gun fire at a single point on Earth if the gunship were flown in a similar pylon turn.

The requirement for additional firepower in Southeast Asia gave impetus to the side-firing idea. Preliminary tests were done at Wright­Patterson AFB, Ohio, by Capt. John C. Simons, as a part of Project Tailchaser. After many tests, Capt. Simons was given the ok by Gen Curtis E. LeMay, AF CoS, to modify a C-47 and test it in combat. The C-47 was redesignated the FC-47 (Fighter Cargo) after installing three side-mounted General Electric SUU-11A/A Gatling-type Mini-guns that fired 7.62mm rounds. The very sound and fury of the FC-47 raised South Vietnamese morale even as it "spooked" the VC, and the aircraft soon got affectionate nicknames such as "Puff" and "Dragonship." The call sign "Spooky" was assigned to early gunship operations. It was used in the John Wayne classic The Green Berets.

The first AC-130 arrived in Vietnam in 1969 with 4 x 7.62 mm mini-guns. A few months later they were replaced by two 20 mm Gatling guns and two 40 mm Bofors guns and in 1971 the 105 was added. The AC-130 has been used in almost every conflict the U.S. has been involved in since. It is a favorite of SOF due to its accuracy and lethality and will be used for years to come.