Pacific Stars and Stripes information
for VMO-6
MAG-17

For date 700402


VMO-6 was a US Marine Corps unit
MAG-17 was a US Marine Corps unit
Primary service involved, US Marine Corps
Quang Nam Province, I Corps, South Vietnam
Location, Da Nang
Description: The following is an edited version of an article titled "Marines Turn Over 'Bird Dogs'" DA NANG - A Marine Corps era ended recently when Capt. John J. Moriarty circled the Da Nang airfield in an O1 Bird Dog and taxied to within 50 feet of a waiting group of Republic of Korea Marine officers. When Moriarty stepped from the cockpit, the ROK Marines assumed control of remaining Bird Dogs in the Navy/Marine inventory. The two-passenger Bird dog has played a colorful role in the history of Marine aviation. Its service has spanned the Pacific campaigns of World War II, the Chosin Reservoir campaign of Korea and the battle of Khe Sanh in Vietnam. In Vietnam it has been used primarily as a reconnaissance aircraft and a forward air control spotter. But its past reveals an amazing versatility. "It has also been used as a wire stringer, a convoy escort, a medevac 'bird', a weather-check plane and has even been used for bombing," explained Moriarty, a former Bird Dog pilot with Marine Observation Sqdn. VMO-6. Although it is one of the smallest planes the Marine Corps has ever flown, with a wingspan of 17 feet and an even smaller length, it inspired its own brand of esprit de corps. "It's a great plane to fly," concurred Capt. Wallace D. Bracken, aviation safety officer for Marine Wing Support Group MWSG-17 and another former Bird Dog pilot. At times the Bird Dog seemed to belong to an earlier age in aviation. The aerial observer could mark a target by opening his window and throwing out a smoke grenade. "Sometimes it was hard to believe VMO-6 really belonged to the 20th century. One time the enemy shot at one of the Bird dogs with a crossbow and we had to dig an arrow out of the fuselage," M. Sgt. James C. Runyon recalled.
Comments: CPT Bracken, Wallace D.; pilot MWSG-17; ; CPT Moriarty, John J.; pilot VMO-6; ;

The source for this information was 7004pss.avn supplied by Les Hines 02/02/2000


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Last updated 02/03/2000

Date posted on this site: 05/13/2023