MARINE CORPS HISTORICAL REFERENCE SERIES
Number 18
A Brief History Of
MARINE CORPS AVIATION
HISTORICAL BRANCH, G-3 DIVISION
HEADQUARTERS, U. S. MARINE CORPS
WASHINGTON, D. C.
Revised 1962
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
WASHINGTON 25, D. C.
REVIEWED AND APPROVED 13 July 1962
R. E. CUSHMAN, JR.
Major General, U. S. Marine Corps
Assistant Chief of Staff, G-3
A BRIEF HISTORY OF MARINE CORPS AVIATION
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Original On-Line
Page Page
A Brief History of Marine Corps Aviatiion 1 6
Appendix 1 Directors of Marine Corps Aviation 13 19
Appendix 2 Aircraft Letter and Number System 14 20
of Identification
Appendix 3 Suggestions for Further Reading 16 21
A BRIEF HISTORY OF MARINE CORPS AVIATION
By
Mrs. Elizabeth L. Tierney
Marine Corps aviation had its inception on 22 May 1912, when Lieutenant
Alfred A. Cunningham reported to the Naval Aviation Camp, Annapolis, Maryland.
The following July, he was ordered from Annapolis to the Burgess Company plant
at Marblehead, Massachusetts, where actual flight training was conducted. He
soloed on 1 August 1912, after 2 hours and 40 minutes of instructions. Thus
Lieutenant Cunningham, whose Naval Aviator Number was 5, became Marine Aviator
Number 1.
As early as 1913, he was made a member of the Chambers Board, composed of
six naval officers and himself and convened to draw up "a comprehensive plan
for the organization of a naval aeronautical service," assuring the Marines of
a representative in naval aviation almost from the beginning.
Naval aviation's early development owed much to its Marine members who
participated in some of the earliest experiments--bombing from a naval plane
(Bernard L. Smith); taking off by catapult from a battleship underway (Alfred
A. Cunningham); and looping a seaplane (Francis T. Evans).
When the United States entered the first World War on 6 April 1917,
Marine aviation consisted of only 6 Marine officers designated naval aviators,
1 warrant officer, and 45 enlisted men. Sixth months later, the First Marine
Aeronautic Company was organized. It was fated to make history by becoming
the first American flying unit of any service to go overseas
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completely trained and equipped. On 9 January 1918, the company of 12
officers and 133 enlisted men, was transferred to Ponta Delgada, on the island
of Sao Miguel, for duty. There it flew seaplanes on antisubmarine patrol in
the Azores area for the remainder of the war.
Once back in the States, Marine aviation mushroomed. After utilizing
Navy fields at Mineola, New York, Cape May, New Jersey, Lake Charles,
Louisiana, and Coconut Grove, Florida, the Marines finally got their own
field. In April 1918, the Curtiss Flying Field at Miami, Florida, was renamed
the Marine Flying Field, the first in the history of the Corps.
With the move to Miami came the formation of the 1st Marine Aviation
Force, composed of a headquarters detachment and four landplane squadrons.
This organization was ordered almost immediately to prepare to sail for
France. By 30 July 1918, three Marine squadrons, composed of 101 officers and
657 enlisted men, arrived in France, followed by the fourth in October. Upon
their arrival, the Marine squadrons became the Day Wing of the Northern
Bombing Group, while two Navy squadrons made up the Night Wing. That was the
first instance of wing and group organization in naval aviation. The group,
however, was the higher echelon, whereas in World War II the order was
reversed.
The Marine pilots, like most American airmen in France, faced a most
perplexing problem--no aircraft. While they awaited delivery of their planes,
they were assigned to British squadrons wherein they got their first taste of
combat in DeHavilland aircraft (DH's). It was not until 23 September that the
Marines received their first DH in France.
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Although the Armistice came soon after Marine aviation arrived, the
Marines performed creditably despite a shortage of planes and time. They shot
down at least 4, possibly as many as 12, German planes. They performed the
first recorded food dropping mission when they replenished a French regiment
isolated for several days in the front lines on the Western Front. For that
accomplishment, three pilots were awarded the Distinguished Service Medal;
their observers received the Navy Cross, at that time a lower rated
decoration. Two Medals of Honor were awarded a pilot (2dLt Ralph Talbot) and
his observer (GySgt Robert Guy Robinson) for shooting down two enemy planes
against overwhelming odds.
In World War I, a total of 282 officers and 2,180 enlisted men served in
Marine aviation. Of this number, about one half got overseas.
Shortly after its return from France, Marine air began demobilizing. In
February 1919, the 1st Marine Aviation Force was disbanded at Miami, and the
following month witnessed the dissolution of the First Marine Aeronautic
Company, which had served in the Azores. Remaining personnel at Miami were
transferred in the summer of 1919, to Parris Island and Quantico, and the
Marine Flying Field at Miami was abandoned on 25 September. The following
year, Marine aviation had but 67 pilots and suffered a still further reduction
in 1921, when its pilot strength dropped to 43.
Yet, between World Wars, the Marine Corps with its aviation was the only
United States military service that actually
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saw combat. Marine air served in Santo Domingo from February 1919 until July
1924; in Haiti from March 1919 to August 1934; and in Nicaragua from 1927 to
1933. Throughout those years, the handful of Marine pilots was not only
experiencing combat but was also contributing radically new tactics to both
ground and air warfare. In Nicaragua, Marine pilots led by Major Ross E.
Rowell were the first to use dive-bombing (a technique earlier developed by Lt
L. H. M. Sanderson) against an organized enemy (Sandino's rebels); again in
Nicaragua, they were the first to employ air-to-ground communications in
combat; and there, they were the first to transport troops and supplies by
air.
Marine pilots evacuated wounded in Haiti and Santo Domingo in the early
1920's, utilizing two modified DH's designed by a Marine aviator. But the
most well known of the evacuation mission occurred during the fighting in
Nicaragua. Lieutenant, later General, Christian F. Schilt, on 6-8 January
1928, made ten hair-raising flights, under fire, landing on a makeshift
airfield in Quilali, to rescue 18 seriously wounded Marines who had been
ambushed by the enemy. For his "almost superhuman skill" Schilt was awarded
the Medal of Honor.
The first time Marine aviators ever served in the Pacific was when 10
pilots and 90 enlisted men of Flight L, 4th Squadron, reached Guam on 17 March
1921. Flying seaplanes, those Marine pilots performed outpost duty on Guam
for ten years. However, most of this squadron had its Guam service
interrupted for duty even farther west, when in early 1927, a Chinese civil
war threatened foreigners in Shanghai, Peking, and other cities.
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Elements of the Guam squadron were shipped to Shanghai in April, and were
joined the following month by a headquarters detachment and a fighter squadron
dispatched from San Diego. These units in China eventually became Fighting
Squadron 6-M, Observation Squadron 10-M, and Scouting Squadron 1-M. For the
next 18 months, Marine pilots flew 3,818 reconnaissance sorties around
Tientsin to keep a watchful eye on the Chinese antagonists. After the threat
to foreigners had abated, the personnel from the Guam squadron returned to
that island, and the other air units returned to the States.
At home during those years of so-called peace, Marine aviators ardently
and arduously labored to increase their knowledge of and proficiency in
aeronautics. They flew record-breaking flights, established speed records,
won safety awards, dispatched medicine and supplies to areas stricken by
earthquakes and hurricanes, and experimented in blind flying, aerial
cartography and photography--preparing themselves for a future illustrious
role.
Although it was not until 1925, that Marine aviation appeared at all in
the annual schedule of the Naval Aeronautical Organization, it had been
considered from its creation as an integral part of the naval forces. As
naval tactics changed, it became necessary for Marine aeronautical
organization and aviation tactics to change also. From 1931 to 1934, VS-14M
and VS-15M, the first Marine squadrons to become part of the fleet air
organization, were aboard the carriers SARATOGA and LEXINGTON.
5
On 8 December 1933, a step of vital importance was taken with the
organization of the Fleet Marine Force, a unit constituted as an integral part
of the United States fleet. The development of the Fleet Marine Force brought
about many changes in the organization of Marine aviation, among which was the
laying of less stress on expeditionary duty and more on the seizure of advance
naval bases in the event of war.
The next organizational change of importance to Marine aviation came in
1935, when the aviation section was divorced from the Division of Operations
and Training and became an independent section under the Major General
Commandant. On 1 April 1936, it became a division under a Director of
Aviation. The director of the new division served as an adviser to the
Commandant on all aviation matters, and as a liaison officer between the
Marine Corps and the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics. Unlike the Marine Corps
infantry and artillery, which drew their equipment from both Army and Navy (in
addition to supplying much of their own), Marine aviation depended solely on
the Navy for its aircraft and all other aviation gear.
On 30 June 1939, there were 210 officers and 1,142 enlisted men on active
duty with Marine aviation. In June 1940, the number had risen to 1,860. In
June 1940, Congress authorized the Navy's 10,000-plane program of which Marine
aviation was allotted 1,167. Plans were made for the establishment of 4
groups of 11 squadrons each. Following landing exercises in 1941, it was
estimated that a single division making an amphibious landing would require 12
fighter, 8 dive-bomber, 2 observation, and 4 utility squadrons. But so great
a number of squadrons was a long time materializing.
6
Although the 1st and 2d Marine Aircraft Wings were commissioned in July
1941, when war came five months later there was still only one group in each
wing--Marine Aircraft Group 11 at Quantico and Marine Aircraft Group 21 with
some units at Ewa and others at Wake Island.
The Pearl Harbor attack liquidated all but one of the 48 Marine aircraft
at Ewa--the one to escape was a transport sent to Ford Island for repairs.
The personnel of Marine Aircraft Group 21 organized and directed the defense
of their field so well that they were able to keep it open throughout the
attack, thus rendering assistance to Army and Navy aircraft unable to reach
their own stations for servicing; they downed a Japanese plane with a ground
gun; and they had a lower percentage of battle casualties (4 killed, 13
wounded) than any other field or station under attack in the area.
The last of the 12 Marine planes at Wake was destroyed on 22 December.
Yet, with a maximum of only five planes, seven having been destroyed in the
initial attack on 8 December, Wake pilots sank the destroyer KISARAGI and shot
down seven planes before their last aircraft was destroyed. Then, the 20
unwounded survivors of the squadron's complement of 61 joined the ground
troops and fought as infantrymen until they were killed or captured.
Shortly after mid-December, 17 Marine SB2U's (Vindicators), of VMSB
(Marine Dive Bomber Squadron)-231, led by a Navy PBY, reached Midway after a
spectacular flight of less than ten hours from Pearl--the longest mass
overwater single-engined
7
flight on the books up to that time. On Christmas Day 1941, Midway received
its first fighters when 14 Marine F2A-3's (Brewster Buffaloes) of Marine
Fighter Squadron 221 joined the dive-bombers there.
Except for a skirmish of four Marine pilots with a reconnaissance plane
from the Marshalls, which they shot down, Midway was in the doldrums until the
following June, when the Battle of Midway occurred. Outnumbered and
outclassed by the Japanese Zero, Marine pilots, nevertheless, were unsurpassed
in valor. With inferior planes they valiantly met the first savage onslaught
of Japan's superior aircraft. Of the 25 fighter pilots, only 10 survived the
first brief encounter; 13 of the 27 dive-bombers and their crews were lost.
Captain Richard E. Fleming, a Marine pilot, posthumously received the Medal of
Honor for diving his flaming bomber onto the deck of the Japanese cruiser
MIKUMA, setting fires which so badly crippled her that Navy carrier-planes
easily sank her.
The importance of aviation to Marine tactics was graphically shown at
Guadalcanal, where one of the first objectives of the assault was a partially
completed Japanese airfield, later renamed Henderson Field. Appalling
shortages of everything earned Guadalcanal the name "Operation Shoestring."
Despite gross inadequacies to its needs, Marine aviation based on Henderson
Field devastated the overwhelming numbers of the highly vaunted Japanese air
force and exploded the myth that the Japanese pilots and Zeros were
invincible.
8
Upward from Guadalcanal, Marine planes winged their way, shattering every
Japanese forged link in the Solomons chain: the Russells, New Georgia, Vella
Lavella, and Bougainville, whence they bedeviled "impregnable" Rabaul until
none of its five airfields was operable. Through the Gilberts, Marshalls,
Carolines, Marianas, and Palaus the thunder of the Marine Corsairs--the
Japanese called them Whistling Death--relentlessly pursued the enemy. From
carriers they first hit the Philippines, and later, four Marine aircraft
groups supported Army troops there. In February 1945, Marine carrier aviation
supported its own troops, at Iwo Jima, for the first time in history and
struck Tokyo itself. From the Emperor's own backyard, Okinawa, came the final
blow.
Marine pilots shot down their first enemy plane at Wake--their last at
Okinawa. Between those dates Marine aviation scored 2,355 "shoot downs" and
produced 121 aces, 5 of whom downed 20 or more aircraft--Boyington, Foss,
Hanson, Walsh, and Aldrich. During World War II, the Marine Corps had as its
peak number of units, 5 air wings, 31 aircraft groups, and 145 aircraft
squadrons. The largest number of personnel assigned at one time to Marine
aviation was 125,162.
On 7 September 1945, the airfield at Yokosuka was occupied by Marine
Aircraft Group 31, which became the first aviation unit to operate on Japanese
soil. Shortly after the surrender, Marine aviation units in the Philippines
moved to North China to carry out their peacetime mission of occupying the
country, with some units remaining until January 1949. But it was not
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too long afterward--18 months--that Marine aviation was back in the Pacific to
stop a new foe.
Meanwhile, in the short-lived peace between 1945 and 1950, Marine
aviation returned to the task of peacetime preparedness. Principal among the
many phases of training that went ever onward was familiarization with
operations from carriers, a duty actually introduced to Marines, on a routine
basis, late in World War II. The innovation of the helicopter revitalized and
reshaped the role of Marine aviation in amphibious warfare in the Nuclear Age.
Once again Marine air introduced a new type of aerial war--this time in Korea.
Korean hostilities commenced on 25 June 1950, and by 5 July, Marine air
units were alerted for combat duty. By the end of July, elements of MAG-33
were already in Japan. On 3 August, the first Marine aviation mission against
the new enemy was flown by a carrier-based squadron.
Marine aviation gave an outstanding performance in Korea--first when they
went into action in support of the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade in the Pusan
Perimeter. Next came the Inchon landing by the 1st Marine Division, with
squadrons of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing giving effective close air support
from carriers during the amphibious assault and later from Kimpo Airfield.
Following the collapse of North Korean resistance in early October 1950,
airlifted elements of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing occupied the seaport town
of Wonsan. During the latter part of November and early part of December
1950, when the 1st Marine Division was fighting its way through hordes of
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Chinese Communist Forces from the Chosin Reservoir area to Hamhung, aircraft
of the Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps supplied the division by airdrops and
evacuated more than 5,000 casualties. Marine aircraft, aided by those of the
Navy, provided brilliant close air support, an important factor in the 1st
Marine Division's breakout of the enemy trap and its fighting withdrawal to
Hamhung.
Between August 1950 and 27 July 1953, units of the 1st Marine Aircraft
Wing flew more than 118,000 sorties, of which more than 39,500 were close
support missions. Marine helicopter squadrons, during the same period,
evacuated almost 10,000 personnel.
Since the end of the Korean War, elements of the 1st Wing have remained
on station in the Far East, where they bolstered the air defense of Taiwan in
the latter part of 1958. The 2d Marine Aircraft Wing, stationed at Cherry
Point, North Carolina, has regularly provided squadrons for duty aboard
carriers of the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. These units, as well as
Marine helicopters and airlift transports, figured as part of the Marine Corps
force-in-readiness in the Lebanon operation in the summer of 1958. The 3d
Wing remains in El Toro, California, also providing squadrons for carrier
duty.
During the year 1959, Marine helicopter pilots and ground crewmen
provided aid to homeless flood victims in Ceylon and Taiwan.
In 1960, 1961, and 1962, Marine aviation units continued to support their
ground colleagues. Throughout the Caribbean,
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the Far East, and in the Mediterranean area, aviation units stationed afloat
maintained a vigilant watch, ready to lend assistance in troubled areas.
Aviation units, as part of our Fleet Marine Force, remain in close
proximity to amphibious shipping, and stand as a constant reminder that
Marines are ready and able to counter aggression in any quarter of the globe,
ever assisting our Navy in extending the long arm of seapower ashore.
NOTE
The material in this paper for the period through World War II is based upon
Capt Edna L. Smith, MCWR, "Aviation Organization in the United States Marine
Corps, 1912-1945---Essays in the History of Naval Air Operations, v. V," ms.
monograph, Naval Aviation History Unit, Office of the Chief of Naval
Operations, n.d. (copy in Aviation Subject File, Historical Branch, HQMC);
Robert Sherrod, "History of Marine Corps Aviation in World War II"
(Washington: Combat Forces Press, 1952); and historical records of Marine
aviation in the Pacific War. The material for the Korean War period is
derived from the operational records of Marine units engaged. All original
records used are in the custody of the Historical Branch, HQMC.
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Appendix 1
DIRECTORS OF MARINE CORPS AVIATION <1>
Maj Alfred A. Cunningham 17 Nov 1919 - 12 Dec 1920
LtCol Thomas C. Turner 13 Dec 1920 - 2 Mar 1925
Maj Edward H. Brainard 3 Mar 1925 - 9 May 1929
Col Thomas C. Turner 10 Nay 1929 - 28 Oct 1931<2>
Maj Roy S. Geiger 6 Nov 1931 - 29 May 1935
Col Ross E. Rowell 30 May 1935 - 10 Mar 1939
BriGen Ralph J. Mitchell 11 Mar 1939 - 29 Mar 1943<3>
MajGen Roy S. Geiger 13 May 1943 - 15 Oct 1943
BriGen Louis E. Woods 15 Oct 1943 - 17 Jul 1944
MajGen Field Harris 18 Jul 1944 - 24 Feb 1948
MajGen William J. Wallace 24 Feb 1948 - 1 Sep 1950
BriGen Clayton C. Jerome 1 Sep 1950 - 1 Apr 1952
LtGen William O. Brice 1 Apr 1952 - 31 Jul 1955
LtGen Christian F. Schilt 1 Aug 1955 - 31 Mar 1957
LtGen Verne J. McCaul l Apr 1957 - 2 Dec 1957<4>
MajGen Samuel S. Jack 14 Jan 1958 - 20 Feb 1958
MajGen John C. Munn 21 Feb 1958 - 14 Dec 1959
MajGen Arthur F. Binney 15 Dec 1959 - 10 Sep 1961
Col Kieth B. McCutcheon 11 Sep 1961 - 17 Feb 1962
Col Marion E. Carl 18 Feb 1962 - 4 Jul 1962<5>
BriGen Norman J. Anderson 5 Jul 1962 -
<1> On 1 Apr 1936, the title of the senior aviator attached to Headquarters,
U. S. Marine Corps, was changed from Officer in Charge, Aviation, to
Director of Aviation.
<2> Hiatus due to accidental death of Col Turner in Haiti on 28 Oct 1931.
<3> Col Clayton C. Jerome was Acting Director, 30 Mar - 12 May 1943.
<4> Col John L. Smith was Acting Director, 3 Dec 1947 - 13 Jan 1958.
<5> As of 25 Apr 1962, the designation Division of Aviation was changed to
Office of Deputy Chief of Staff (Air). Concurrently, the title of
Director of Aviation was redesignated Deputy Chief of Staff (Air).
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Appendix 2
AIRCRAFT LETTER AND NUMBER SYSTEM OF IDENTIFICATION
Marine aircraft can be identified by the following letter-number system
introduced in 1923:
The first letter indicates the type of plane, the second the manufacturer
with a number appended standing for the modification of the aircraft, e.g., an
FF-2 is identified as a fighter, by (F) Grumman, (2) second modification. A
number inserted between type and manufacturer's letters indicates the model
number of the designer's aircraft in the same class (the first model or design
number "1" always omitted), e.g., an F6C-1 is identified as a (F) fighter, (6)
sixth model, by (C) Curtiss, (1) first modification.
Suffixes have had to be added when aircraft have been equipped for
special missions or have certain modifications, e.g., an SBD-4P is defined as
a (SB) scout-bomber by (D) Douglas, (4) fourth modification, equipped for (P)
photography.
TYPE LETTERS
A - Attack; ambulance P - Patrol
B - Bomber PB - Patrol-bomber
F - Fighter R - Transport (Multiengine)
G - Transport (single engine) S - Scout
H - Helicopter; hospital SB - Scout-bomber
J - Transport and general SN - Scout-trainer
utility SO - Scout-observation
JR - Utility-transport T - Torpedo and bombing; trainer
N - Trainer TB - Torpedo-bomber
O - Observation U - Utility
OS - Observation-scout X - Experimental
MANUFACTURERS' SYMBOLS
The year shown opposite the manufacturer indicated the first time that
particular manufacturer's symbol appeared in the designation of aircraft
assigned to the Marines.
A - Atlantic (1927) E - Bellanca (1923)
A - Brewster (1936) E - Cessna (1951)
B - Beech (1941) E - Piper (1942)
B - Boeing (1925) F - Columbia (1944)
C - Cessna (1943) F - Fairchild (Canada) (1944)
C - Curtiss (1926) F - Grumman (1934)
(Curtiss Wright) G - Great Lakes (1935)
D - Douglas (1923)
14
H - Howard (1942) R - Ford (1929)
H - McDonnell (1947 S - Sikorsky (1931
J - North American S - Stearman (1944
K - Fairchild (U. S.) T - New Standard (1931)
(1943) T - Northrop (1946)
K - Kaman (1952) T - Timm (1942)
L - Bell (1951) U - Chance Vought (1927)
L - Loening (1926) (Vought-Sikorsky)
M - General Motors (1943) V - Lockheed (1950)
M - Glenn L. Martin (1922) V - Vega (1943)
N - Naval Aircraft Factory V - Vultee (1943)
(1942) W - Canadian Cart Foundry (1944)
O - Lockheed 1939 W - Dayton-Wright (1925)
P - Piasecki 1952 X - Cox-Klemin (1926)
P - Pitcairn 1931 W - Dayton-Wright (1925)
P - Spartan 1937 Y - Consolidated (1926)
Q - Fairchild (1950) Y - Consolidated-Vultee (1942)
SUFFIX LETTERS
A - Amphibious N(A) - All-weather stripped
B - Special Armament for day operations
C - Carrier operation of NL - All-weather and winterized
noncarrier aircraft P - Photographic
D - Drone control Q - Countermeasures
E - Special radar; special R - Transport-personnel/support
electronics T - Training
F - Flagship W - Special search; air warning;
H - Hospital airborne early warning
L - Winterized Z - Administrative
M - Missile carrier
N - Night; all-weather
15
Appendix 3
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING
Maj Charles W. Boggs, Jr., USMC. MARINE AVIATION IN THE PHILIPPINES.
Washington: Historical Division, Headquarters, U. S. Marine Corps, 1951.
Capt John A. DeChant, USMCR. DEVILBIRDS--THE STORY OF UNITED STATES MARINE
CORPS AVIATION IN WORLD WAR II. New York and London: Harper & Brothers,
1947.
LtCol Robert D. Heinl, Jr., USMC. THE DEFENSE OF WAKE. Washington:
Historical Section, Division of Public Information, Headquarters, U. S.
Marine Corps, 1947.
LtCol Robert D. Heinl, Jr., USMC. MARINES AT MIDWAY. Washington: Historical
Section, Division of Public Information, Headquarters, U. S. Marine
Corps, 1948.
Capt Richard G. Hubler, USMCR, and Capt John A. DeChant, USMCR. FLYING
LEATHERNECKS--THE COMPLETE RECORD OF MARINE CORPS AVIATION IN ACTION
1941-1944. New York: Doubleday, Doran & Co., Inc., 1944.
Jeter A. Isely and Philip A. Crowl. THE U. S. MARINES AND AMPHIBIOUS WAR--ITS
THEORY AND ITS PRACTICE IN THE PACIFIC. Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 1951.
William T. Larkins. U. S. MARINE CORPS AIRCRAFT 1914-1959. Concord, Calif.
LtCol Clyde H. Metcalf, USMC. A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS.
New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1939.
Lynn Montross. CAVALRY OF THE SKY--THE STORY OF U. S. MARINE COMBAT
HELICOPTERS. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1954.
Robert Sherrod. HISTORY OF MARINE CORPS AVIATION IN WORLD WAR II.
Washington: Combat Forces Press, 1952.
Capt Archibald D. Turnbull, USNR, and LCdr Clifford L. Lord, USNR HISTORY OF
UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1949.
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These items and much more can be found at The Marine Corps Research Center (MCRC)
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