was unclear if the helicopters had been shot down or collided in mid-air. On 3 January 1964 another squadron UH-34 was shot down by the Viet Cong west of Da Nang with no casualties. The squadron completed its Shufly assignment on 1 February having flown 4,236 combat flight hours and just under 7,000 combat sorties. On 30 July 1965 the squadron returned to Da Nang, joining Marine Aircraft Group 16 (MAG-16). In August the squadron supported Operation Starlite. On 12 August the squadron conducted the first nighttime helicopter assault by Marines during the war when they lifted 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines into a landing zone northwest of Da Nang during Operation Midnight. In December the squadron supported Operation Harvest Moon. The squadron left South Vietnam on 1 April 1966 and returned on 26 May. In August the squadron supported Operation Colorado. The squadron left South Vietnam on 16 December. On 16 February 1967 the squadron returned to South Vietnam from Okinawa rejoining MAG-16. In late May the squadron supported Operation Union II. On 3 September 17 of its helicopters were destroyed by People's Army of Vietnam artillery fire while they were parked at Đông Hà Combat Base. This incident would lead to their transfer south to the Marble Mountain Air Facility. On 15 November the squadron flew aboard to become the Special Landing Force (SLF) Alpha helicopter squadron. On 22 January 1968 the squadron lifted BLT 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines ashore to Camp Evans and then lifted the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines to Khe Sanh Combat Base. On 10 February the squadron was assigned to MAG-16. On 18 May the squadron departed for the U.S. On its return to the U.S. the squadron was attached to Marine Aircraft Group 26 at Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina. It was there that the squadron transitioned to the CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopter and was redesignated Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron, HMH-361. In August 1969 the squadron returned to South Vietnam joining Marine Aircraft Group 36 at Phu Bai Combat Base. On 26 September the squadron was transferred to MAG-16. On 28 January 1970 the squadron departed South Vietnam boarding ships for Marine Corps Air Station Santa Ana, California. Postwar and the 1980s HMH-361 received their first CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopter in 1977, and on 1 June 1979, made their first squadron to deploy overseas as part of the new Unit Deployment