April 30th, 2012 marks the 37th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, and next month wll mark the 40th anniversary of the deployment of VMA-211 & 311 to Bien Hoa AB, 20 miles NW of Saigon...They were A-4 Skyhawk squadrons that had been deployed from MCAS Iwakuni on 17 May 1972, along with detachments from MAG-12 (Fwd) and H&MS-12 (Fwd)...These Marines flew hundreds of combat missions during both Operation Linebacker I & II, and they didn't re-deploy back to Iwakuni until 29 Jan 1973.

Because these Marines were not part of Task Force Delta, we didn't read or hear too much about them, but their contribution towards ending the conflict was no less important than any of us who served with TFD in Nam Phong,Thailand, and was problably even more stressful, as they were operating in the midst of battle in South Vietnam the whole time.

It was kind of unique how the Air Force got the Marine air crews combat certified with the region...All of our A-4 pilots had to first fly the right hand seat in the Cessna A-37 Dragonfly ("Mosquito Bombers") with a USAF pilot flying out of Bien Hoa...Once they were "snapped in" and certified by the Air Force, then our guys began flying combat missions in their own A-4 Skyhawks.

Except for the Marine security detachment at the US Embassy, the Marines from these MAG-12 squadrons were the last Marines to leave Vietnam.
...courtesy of Jim Mackin