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Fa18 hornet fighter jet app7/25/2023 ![]() ![]() On their return to MCAS El Toro, Calif., in 1959 the squadron received the Vought F8U-1 Crusader. In August, the Death Rattlers flew armed patrol missions over Quemoy and Matsu Islands in support of the resupply of Chinese Nationalist forces during the Taiwan Straits crisis. As the first Marine squadron to operate the Fury, VMF-323 deployed to the Western Pacific in 1957. In September 1956 VMA-323 transitioned to yet another aircraft, the supersonic, single-engine North American FJ-4 Fury and shortly thereafter was re-designated VMF-323 once again. From late 1953 through August 1956 the Death Rattlers flew in numerous training exercises from both land bases and aircraft carriers. The Death Rattlers departed Korea in July 1953 after accumulating 48,000 hours of flight time, and once again serving with distinction in combat.Īfter returning to the United States, VMA-323 flew the Grumman F9F-2 Panther and later the F9F-8 Cougar, a swept-wing version of the combat-proven Panther. Reflecting this change in its primary mission, the squadron was re-designated Marine Attack Squadron 323 (VMA-323) in June 1952. Flying alternately from Navy carriers and austere airfields ashore, VMF-323 flew primarily air-to-ground missions such as CAS, interdiction, and armed reconnaissance. Again proving the effectiveness of Marine close air support during heavy fighting at Pusan, the Inchon landing, the breakout of the 1st Marine Division from the Chosin Reservoir, and every major campaign of the war, the Death Rattlers further built on the combat reputation of the Marine Air-Ground Team. Within a month, VMF-323 began combat operations from the escort carrier USS Badoeng Strait, in support of ground forces in the Pusan perimeter. June 25, 1950, North Korean troops invaded South Korea. The squadron also provided Hollywood, Calif., with Marine airpower for the 1949 classic, Sands of Iwo Jima. Operating from land and sea, VMF-323 participated in exercises throughout the western U.S., Alaska, and Hawaii. March 1946 found the Death Rattlers based at MCAS El Toro, Calif., and engaged in a rigorous peacetime training program. To the Marine riflemen engaged in the bloodiest close-quarter fighting of the war, Marine Corsairs became the "Sweethearts of Okinawa." The deadly, effective close air support (CAS) the Death Rattlers gave the Leathernecks on the ground was just as important as the squadron's tremendous accomplishments in air combat. Twelve VMF-323 fighter pilots became Aces - three of them in a single day. Between April and the surrender of Japanese forces in August, the Death Rattlers shot down 124 Japanese planes in aerial combat without a single loss to an enemy pilot. Combat operations commenced the following day. For the next nine months, VMF-323 flew training missions from secure island bases in the South Pacific, perfecting their tactics in aerial combat, dive bombing, rocketry, and close air support.Īpthe Death Rattlers flew from an escort carrier into Kadena airfield to fly missions in support of Operation Iceberg, the campaign for Okinawa. In July 1944 the Death Rattlers departed for the Pacific aboard the escort carrier USS Long Island. In preparation for deployment overseas, VMF-323 moved west in January 1944, flying training missions from fields at El Centro and Camp Pendleton, Calif. ![]() 50-caliber machine guns and a lethal warload of bombs, rockets, and Napalm. ![]() Often hailed as the best all-around fighter of World War II, the "bent-wing bird" was armed with six. Three hard-charging fighter pilots killed a 6 foot rattlesnake, and hung its diamond-backed skin in the squadron ready room, giving rise to our 50 year-old unit the nickname of "Death Rattlers." VMF-323 immediately began training for combat in the Pacific theater with their Chance-Vought F4U Corsairs. 1, 1943 at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C. Marine Fighting Squadron 323 was commissioned Aug. ![]()
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