Colonel Merchant, as commander of the Aviation Headquarters Operations Center for I Corps, assigned 20 Marine UH-34Ds, four VNAF UH-34s, five U.S. Army UH-1B gunships, and three Marine O-1Bs to the operation which the ARVN code named LAM SON 115. Additionally, 14 VNAF T-28s, four A-1H Skyraiders, and two observation aircraft were assigned by the Joint General Staff to provide support for the helicopter assault. The operation was to be controlled by Colonel Merchant as the Tactical Air Commander Airborne (TACA) from a U.S. Air Force U-10, whose radios would permit the commander and his staff to communicate with every aircraft participating in the effort. (The Marine helicopters had UHF and VHF communications, while the Marine observation aircraft used UHF and FM. The Army UH-1Bs had UHF; the VNAF transport helicopters also relied upon UHF radios.) In addition to Merchant, the airborne control staff from the ASOC included Lieutenant Colonel William Montgomery, USAF, and a Vietnamese officer. The Vietnamese representative was to assist in clearing close air strikes with ARVN ground forces and also was to help resolve any language problems which developed. The one-day operation began early on 18 April with Marine and VNAF transport helicopters lifting 200 South Vietnamese soldiers from an outpost in the northwestern portion of the A Shau Valley into a rugged landing zone approximately six miles further north. Later the same morning 300 more Vietnamese troops were helilifted from a government outpost in the central portion of the valley to a second landing zone situated six miles north of the 200-man unit which had been flown in earlier. HMM-364’s helicopters averaged almost 8 hours per aircraft while flying 160 total hours in support of LAM SON 115. Only one Marine UH-34D and one VNAF helicopter were hit by enemy fire during the execution of the well-planned and efficiently coordinated operation. No aircraft were lost. Often the daily support flights proved more hazardous then the large assault operations whose details were planned in advance. An incident that occurred on 21 April while a UH-34D was evacuating a wounded South Vietnamese soldier from the mountains 15 miles west of Tam Ky confirmed the dangers inherent in such daily operations. In an effort to lure the evacuation helicopter within range of their weapons, the Communists ignited a yellow smoke grenade in a clearing close by the actual landing zone. The pilot alertly identified the correct landing zone, thereby foiling the enemy ruse. [Illustration: MAJOR MARINE HELICOPTER OPERATIONS FIRST HALF 1964 ] [Illustration: _HMM-364 loadmaster directs loaded UH-34D into a hilltop landing zone during operations in I Corps. (USMC Photo A329571)._]