The Death Rattlers

Flying and Fighting with VMF-323

- James P. Busha

Marine Fighting Squadron 323 (VMF-323) was commissioned on August 1, 1943, and was quickly brought up to combat-ready status under the leadership of young Maj. George Axtell Jr. Instilling great discipline and aggressive fighter tactics, the men of VMF-323 certainly earned their squadron’s nickname as the “Death Rattlers.” At the controls of the F4U and FG-1 Corsairs, the men of VMF-323 not only provided ground support for the island-hopping Marines below but also shot down more than 124 Japanese planes. Here is the story of three such men who, by their own accounts, were each “just doing my job.”

Maj. Gen. George C. Axtell Jr., USMC, Ret. “When I was promoted to the rank of major in 1943 and given command of a Marine fighter squadron, VMF-323, at the ripe old age of 22, I suddenly became the youngest squadron commander in the Marine Corps. I may have been tough and hard on them and had very little patience for screwups, but my role as CO [commanding officer] was not to make friends. My role was to mold boys into men, creating the deadliest, most highly trained fighter pilots in the world at the controls of the Corsair.

“To me, the Corsair was the nicest fighter I had flown at the time, even better than the F6F Hellcat. The F4U was very smooth; steady; and a delightful, stable gun platform. We could also carry a large assortment of ordnance, including napalm, rockets, and bombs, as we supported the Marines on the ground during the island-hopping campaign.