I was in AWACS during Desert Storm, flying out of Riyadh. My roommate from back at Tinker AFB, OK was the weapons director (radar controller) who was actually talking to the AC-130 (callsign "Spirit 03") when it was shot down.
The Spectre was working before dawn supporting the Marines, and was supposed to RTB before daylight. My roommate relayed an order from the air operations center in Riyadh for the Spectre to depart before sunrise, but the crew elected to complete a fire support mission.
It was just minutes later that the pilot calmly announced "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday" and informed my friend that a missile had struck the wing, followed by silence.