Even after the successful containment of the April 1972 invasion of South Vietnam–the Eastertide Offensive–operations in Laos and Cambodia continued to attract American air support. But it was clear that after the January 1973 cease-fire, the United States was, militarily speaking, out of Vietnam for good. VMA-311 was to be the last air combat unit of all the U.S. services to leave that war-ravaged country, but it took some weeks for the cease-fire to take complete effect. Not until January 28 did VMA-311 ground personnel refuel the last A-4s, hang the last bombs–painted red, white and blue for the occasion and daubed with slogans–on the airplanes and strap in the last duty pilots.

Fittingly, Dean Macho, commander of MAG-12, led the mission, a strike into the Mekong Delta region. Asked if their target lay east, west, north or south of a marked point, the Vietnamese forward air controller simply replied, “Roger.” The comment was indicative of the hold the enemy had on the country. Da Nang’s ground troops waited anxiously for the Skyhawks to return. They all did, 1st Lt. Thomas Boykin’s aircraft being the last to land. He reported that, true to form, the enemy had hit his aircraft over the Mekong Delta area, but the minor damage had not given him any problems. Boykin said, “I dropped the last bomb….I’m glad it’s over.”

Lieutenant David Mowrey told a reporter that his war had been “a hell of an education.” He added something that could be echoed by almost every combat flier, “The common denominator of the guys here is that we love to fly, but the sad thing is that in terms of quality and quantity, the best flying comes when you’re in a war.”

Marine Douglas A-4 Skyhawk Squadron Deployments in South Vietnam, 1965­1973Squadron

VMA-121
VMA-211

VMA-214

VMA-223

VMA-224

VMA-225
VMA-311

H&MS-11
H&MS-12
H&MS-13
Primary Model
A-4C
A-4E

A-4C

A-4E

A-4E

A-4C
A-4E

TA-4F
TA-4F
TA-4F
Tail Code
VK
CF

WE

WP

WK

CE
WL

TM
WA
YU
Nickname

Green Knights
Wake Island Avengers

Black Sheep

Bulldogs

Bengals

*
Tomcats

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—-
—-
Tour Dates

Dec. 1966-Oct.1968
Oct. 1965-July 1966; Nov. 1966-Sept.1967; Dec. 1967-Feb.1970;May 1972-Feb.1973
June1965-Feb. 1966; April 1966-March 1967
Dec. 1965-Dec. 1966; March 1967-Dec. 1967; April 1968-Jan. 1970
Oct. 1965-April 1966; July 1966-Nov. 1966
June 1965-Oct. 1965
June 1965-Oct. 1965; Feb. 1966-March 1967; June 1967-Feb. 1970; May 1972-Jan. 1973
circa Sept. 1967-1973
circa Sept. 1967-1973
circa Sept. 1967-1973
*No nickname in general use during the A-4 period, although VMA-225 became the “Vikings” on conversion to A-6 Intruders

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Jerry Scutts researches, writes and illustrates articles on military aviation from his home in England. He extends his thanks to Danny Crawford, head of the research section of the U.S. Marine Corps’ History and Museums Division; Marty Halpin, formerly of VMA-225; and Roy Stocking (VMA-311) for their help in preparing this article. Further reading: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, by Peter Kilduff; and A History of Marine Attack Squadron 223, by 1st Lt. Brett A. Jones.

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