VMF/VMA 322 Corsairs

[Dave Goessling]

I recently learned that my (long deceased) uncle was a mechanic on Corsairs assigned to VMF 322 in Okinawa. I'm trying to learn some more about his unit and its actions. There's a Wikipedia page about it:

VMA-322 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

But it doesn't have much detail about its activities. It does say this:

"The squadron was part of the Battle of Okinawa and on 3 April 1945, over 150 of its members were killed when its lead support element was struck by a Kamikaze. "​

There's a family legend that my uncle was on that ship and of course survived.

This unit history says that ship was an LST:

VMA-322 | The Skyhawk Association

skyhawk.org

I found a few other pages that said the unit was primarily engaged in defending other ships against kamikaze attacks, and later bombing the Japanese mainland.

This interesting page is about a Ki-61 that the unit captured and flew on Okinawa.

https://captured-wings.fandom.com/wiki/Yontan_Tony?file=Ki-61_Yontan_Tony.jpg

I'd like to model one of this units Corsairs. The few photos I've found show a simple all-blue scheme with simple ID number and a painted nose.

https://garystockbridge617.getarchive.net/amp/media/f4u-1d-of-vmf-322-at-kadena-1945-9b6c8c

Some sources show the nose as white, some as yellow. Thoughts?

Can anyone help me learn more about the unit? Thanks in advance for any info.

 

[mjfur]

VMF-322 War Diaries, https://catalog.archives.gov/search?page=1&q=vmf-322
(Sometimes War Diaries are scanned in reverse order with the first page actually being the last.)

The nose cowl ring looks to be painted white based on the propeller tips being yellow. Nose cowl also matches the numbers and Star & Bar.

 

[Dave Goessling]

Thanks for the great reference. I'll read through them.

Ah, yes, white vs yellow tips. I see that now. Looks like a relatively simple build. I wonder of any of these A/C ever displayed the unit badge?

 

[RRinpacNW]

I recently learned that my (long deceased) uncle was a mechanic on Corsairs assigned to VMF 322 in Okinawa. I'm trying to learn some more about his unit and its actions. There's a Wikipedia page about it:

VMA-322 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

But it doesn't have much detail about its activities. It does say this:

"The squadron was part of the Battle of Okinawa and on 3 April 1945, over 150 of its members were killed when its lead support element was struck by a Kamikaze. "​

There's a family legend that my uncle was on that ship and of course survived.

This unit history says that ship was an LST:

VMA-322 | The Skyhawk Association

skyhawk.org

I found a few other pages that said the unit was primarily engaged in defending other ships against kamikaze attacks, and later bombing the Japanese mainland.

This interesting page is about a Ki-61 that the unit captured and flew on Okinawa.

https://captured-wings.fandom.com/wiki/Yontan_Tony?file=Ki-61_Yontan_Tony.jpg

I'd like to model one of this units Corsairs. The few photos I've found show a simple all-blue scheme with simple ID number and a painted nose.

https://garystockbridge617.getarchive.net/amp/media/f4u-1d-of-vmf-322-at-kadena-1945-9b6c8c

Some sources show the nose as white, some as yellow. Thoughts?

Can anyone help me learn more about the unit? Thanks in advance for any info.

David, My father was C.O of VMF-322 during Okinawa