William Walter joined the U.S. Air Force in 1976. Two years later he arrived at Hurlburt Field in Florida for AC-130 gunship training. Over the next couple of decades, his serice in Air Force special operations would place him on missions from Operation Eagle Claw to rescue U.S. hostages in Iran to Operation Just Cause in Panama to Operation Desert Storm, among several others.

In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," CMSgt. Walter vividly describes what makes serving aboard AC-130 gunships special and why those who serve there almost never leave. He then takes us inside the unsuccessful mission to Iran in 1980 and what the role of the AC-130's was supposed to be. He also explains the assignment for the gunship crews in rescuing medical students in Grenada in 1983.

Much of this conversation centers around Walter's role during Operation Just Cause in December 1989, the effort to seize Rio Hato airfield, and what that combat was really like. Finally, he shares what the AC-130 crews were tasked with in the Gulf War, Somalia, and Bosnia. And he shares the tragic stories of teams lost in Iraq and near Somalia.