On This Day in History / September 8, 2023 1971: The USAF’s 17 SOS at Tan Son Nhut AB flew its final AC-119G “Shadow” gunship mission and then turned the aircraft over to the Vietnamese Air Force. Nicknamed Shadow for its close air support and interdiction of enemy supply lines on night missions, the AC-119 aircraft were the first assigned to the Vietnamese. PACAF retained the jet augmented AC-119Ks.