VMF-324

[walika]

VMF-324

 

Established at Cherry Point on October l, 1943
Deactivated at Miramar on October 15, 1945.

Artist: Lt. Russell N. Monbleau
Date of Insignia: 1943
Authorization: HQMC
Aircraft Employed: F4U-1, FG-1

DEPLOYMENTS
Ewa - August 1944 (FG-1)
Midway- September 1944 to September 1945 (FG-1)

VMF-324 spent nearly a year Stateside - a rarity among leatherneck squadrons other than operational training units. Under Maj Carl Longley, who had flown with VM0-251 at Guadalcanal, the squadron went cross-country to Miramar in July 1944. Detachments rotated through Mojave for training with bombs and rockets until the unit was ready for overseas service.

Fleshed out with a few combat veterans, VMF-324 sailed for Hawaii in late August and proceeded to Midway, where it spent most of the remainder of the war with MAG-23. While there VMF-324 lost three Corsairs in accidents, with 2Lt Walter Morton the only fatality, on January 20, 1945.

 

American fully embroidered.

 

Sources

Millstein, Jeff. U. S. Marine Corps Aviation Unit Insignia 1941-1946.

Tillman, Barrett. U. S. Marine Corps Fighter Squadrons of World War II.

 

 

 

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