US Marine Corps F-4 Phantom II Units of the Vietnam War

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"No fewer than 11 US Marine Corps squadrons flew versions of the Phantom II in Southeast Asia from May 1965 through to early 1973. Although one deployment was from and aircraft carrier, and included a successful MiG engagement, most missions were flown from land basts at Da Nang and Chu Lai, in South Vietnam, and Nam Phong in Thailand. Rather than the air-to-missiles that were the main component in the original F-4 armament, these aircraft carried an ever-expanding range of weaponry. Some toted 24 500-lb bombs and others strafed with up to three 20 mm gun pods, while most flew daily sorties delivering napalm, Snakeye bombs and big Zuni rockets. Many US Marines holding small outpost position in Laos and South Vietnam against heavy Viet Cong attack owed their lives to the F-4 crews who repeatedly drove off the enemy. Often their bombing passes had to be made at very low altitude beneath low cloud or at night, dropping their ordnance only 50 metres from 'troops in contact'. The book examines these missions in the context of US Marine close-support doctrine, using the direct experience of aircrew who flew these missions."--P. 4 cover