The first Marine Corps aviation squadron arrived in South Vietnam in April 1962 to help the struggling Republic of Vietnam fight a civil war against communist insurgents. Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron (HMM) 362’s 24 UH-34D Seahorses landed at Soc Trang, 85 miles southwest of Saigon, South Vietnam’s capital. Although the Seahorses were outdated, with radial instead of turbine engines, the Marines pressed on with the task at hand.
In an operation code-named Shufly, the UH-34s often supported U.S. Army H-21 helicopters shuttling South Vietnamese soldiers to and from battle areas under heavy enemy fire. These early missions showed the need for increased defensive armor as well as weapons to protect the vulnerable UH-34Ds and to keep enemy heads down in the landing zones.
Events in the Tonkin Gulf in August 1964 generated a massive buildup of American forces in South Vietnam and offshore. The Marines settled into what became at that time America’s longest war. Marine fixed-wing aircraft—A-4 Skyhawks, A-6 Intruders, F-8 Crusaders and F-4 Phantoms—eventually flew from Chu Lai because of overcrowding at the U.S. Air Force base at Da Nang, 55 miles to the north.
Since the very early 1960s, Marine aviation had patrolled the South China Sea as part of Navy carrier air wings. A few squadrons continued flying from the carriers. At first their tours on Yankee and Dixie stations, points off the Vietnamese coast, involved detachments of A-4s on several smaller antisubmarine-warfare carriers, one full-size F-8 squadron, and one two- or three-plane detachment from an RF-8 reconnaissance squadron. But from the end of 1965 until 1971, no Marine Corps squadrons were regularly assigned to carrier air wings.
Besides Marine fixed-wing aircraft, the UH-34s and UH-1 Hueys of Marine Corps helicopter squadrons also filled the base complements of several busy airfields. CH-37 Mojaves were replaced by Sikorsky CH-53A Sea Stallions for heavy-lift operations, while CH-46 Sea Knights began flying medium-lift missions. Later, the Marines began equipping units with the Bell AH-1 Cobra—the first examples seconded from the Army.
Besides dealing with personnel and armament shortages in Vietnam, the Marines also were embroiled in a traditional struggle with the Air Force, which considered every aviation asset its property. The junior service wanted to assign Marine aircraft and crews their daily missions as situations demanded. Ever since the development of close air support (CAS) in the waning months of World War II in the Pacific, Marine Corps aviation found itself having to justify its dedication to supporting its Marine ground forces first, then those of other services as available. The Korean War exacerbated the conflict between the Marines and the Air Force, and the former often had to bow to senior demands.
When President Lyndon B. Johnson instituted a bombing halt of North Vietnam on 1 November 1968, Marine aviation was heavily involved in all aspects of the war, from troop transport to strategic bombing and, of course, CAS. The halt greatly limited all operations north of the 17th parallel, which divided the two Vietnams. But in late March 1972, when North Vietnam launched the invasion of South Vietnam known as the Easter Offensive, things heated up again. However, this time, much of Marine Corps aviation, having departed South Vietnam, had to be recalled from the United States, Hawaii, and Okinawa. The few squadrons that were available flew from the Air Force base at Bien Hoa, 15 miles northeast of Saigon, and Chu Lai, as well as from a few Navy carriers and the Philippines.
After nearly 12 months, on 23 January 1973 a cease-fire was arranged. The war was, for the moment, brought to a close, although North Vietnam was merely biding its time. Nevertheless, as long-held American prisoners of war were released from incredibly inhumane incarceration and returned home, the United States once again was withdrawing most of its units and weapons from South Vietnam. A major operation involving Marine assets during this time was clearing mines from North Vietnamese harbors and waterways. HMH-463 supplied specially equipped CH-53s, which operated alongside Navy mine-clearing squadrons.
On 29 January 1973, Marine Aircraft Group 12, the last American combat aviation unit in-country, left South Vietnam. However, carrier strikes into Cambodia and Laos continued through early 1973. In March communist Khmer Rouge forces tied up traffic on the vital Mekong River that served the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. The waterway had to be cleared in order to withdraw U.S. citizens. Accordingly, on 11 May during Operation Eagle Pull, Falcons from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 115 and VMFA-232 and Intruders from Marine All Weather Fighter Attack Squadron (VMA[AW]) 533 struck enemy positions. Finally, Marine and Navy aircraft flew the last U.S. combat missions in Southeast Asia on 15 August from carriers and bases in Thailand. By 1 September, all Marine Corps aircraft and support assets had left Nam Phong, Thailand, heading for the United States.
The last actions of the Vietnam War involving Marine aviation came during the 29 April 1975 North Vietnamese assault on Saigon. Biding their time, the communists had waited until the United States was firmly out of Vietnam and Southeast Asia. They pounced on the now-helpless South Vietnamese, and their tanks, accompanied by cheering troops, rumbled into the capital. All the United States could do was retrieve the Americans who remained, including the U.S. ambassador. Helicopters of HMH-462 and HMH-463, along with HMM-165 shuttled back and forth to ships assembled offshore, keeping up a steady stream of flights. HMA-369’s twin-engine AH-1J Sea Cobras provided cover for the evacuation, which eventually included more than 40 sorties.
It was the end of a long and ultimately unsuccessful war for the United States and South Vietnam. But Marine aviation had lent its considerable support to nearly every facet of the American operation, paying a terrific price in men and machines.
USMC Aircraft Losses in Southeast Asia
25 August 1962–10 October 1970
Combat
Helicopters: 252
Fixed-wing aircraft: 173
Operational
Helicopters: 172
Fixed-wing aircraft: 81
Note: This is a semiofficial accounting. Subsequent losses are not properly tallied in a presentable and proper format and cannot be determined.
1. LtGen Keith B. McCutcheon, USMC, “Marine Aviation in Vietnam, 1962–1970,” Naval Review 1971, U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, vol. 97, no. 5 (May 1971), 155.