The last major heliborne assault conducted in extreme western I Corps during 1964 was initiated in the first week of September. Eighteen Marine UH-34Ds, four Army UH-1Bs, six VNAF Skyraiders, two Marine O-1Bs, and two U.S. Air Force liaison aircraft were assigned to support a 2d ARVN Division heliborne offensive against Communist infiltration routes in remote southwestern Quang Nam Province. The operation, code named CHINH BIEN, began on the morning of 4 September when 15 HMM-162 helicopters (the other three UH-34Ds participating in the operation were serving as search and rescue aircraft) lifted the first wave of South Vietnamese soldiers from Kham Duc, a government-controlled town located 12 miles from the Laotian border in northwestern Quang Tin Province. Their objective was a landing zone situated 24 miles northwest of the assembly area in Quang Nam Province and only three miles from the Laotian border. No enemy resistance was encountered and the initial assault helilifts were completed shortly after noon. Support for CHINH BIEN continued the next morning. When the helilifts were finally completed shortly before 1000, Marine UH-34Ds had flown 265 sorties for 180.2 flight hours in another effort to place ARVN ground forces in remote areas of I Corps. _Monsoon and Flood Relief Operations_ Adverse weather began influencing SHUFLY’s operations a few days after CHINH BIEN ended. On 14 September all flights were cancelled by rain and high winds from Typhoon Violet, a severe tropical storm. All aircraft remained grounded until late afternoon of the next day when HMM-162 helicopters conducted an emergency evacuation of storm victims from Tam Ky which had been hard hit by Violet. The typhoon caused some minor damage to SHUFLY’s facilities when electrical power was lost for a few hours. By the morning of the 16th, power was restored and all Marine operations returned to normal. Within a week, however, a more severe weather disturbance--Typhoon Tilda--struck the coast near Da Nang. On the morning of 21 September, in the face of the approaching storm, Colonel Hay ordered Lieutenant Colonel Curtis to displace his squadron to Nha Trang in central II Corps. Later in the day, the unit’s entire complement of aircraft departed Da Nang on the 325-mile flight to safety. The task element’s C-117D found refuge at Saigon. HMM-162 remained at Nha Trang until the 23d when it returned to I Corps. [Illustration: _Marine helicopters enroute to an objective overfly the coastal plain south of Da Nang. (Official USMC Photo)._]