Typhoon Tilda caused considerably more damage to the Marine base of operations than had her immediate forerunner. Most of the permanent structures in the compound showed signs of water damage and the electrical power was lost for an entire week, except at the waterpoint and the mess hall where a concerted repair effort restored power promptly. Teletype communications circuits were closed for a full week as a result of damage, and the radio link with the 1st MAW was broken for nearly two hours. While the Marines of the MABS-16 sub unit concerned themselves with cleaning up the debris and repairing their damaged facilities, HMM-162’s crews resumed combat support operations. On the afternoon of their return from Nha Trang, a flight of UH-34Ds delivered 19 passengers and 4,000 pounds of cargo to Tien Phuoc, a government-controlled town located seven miles west of Tam Ky. The next day Major General Paul J. Fontana, who as commanding general of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing was responsible for the administrative and logistical support of the task element, arrived at Da Nang for a one day visit to assess the damage and to confer with Colonel Hay. Flood relief missions and clean up activities combined with normal flight operations to consume the remainder of September. Two changes were made in the composition of the Marine task element in late September and early October. On 29 September, the security force from the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines rotated back to its parent unit on Okinawa. It was replaced by a 78-man element from Company E, 2d Battalion, 9th Marines the same day. Led by Second Lieutenant Anthony A. Monroe, the newly arrived Marines would provide protection for the aviation unit until late November. The second alteration occurred about a week later when HMM-162 was relieved on-station by the officers and men of a fresh squadron. The rotation of helicopter units was completed on 8 October when Lieutenant Colonel Curtis officially signed over the aircraft and maintenance equipment to the new squadron’s commanding officer. In a three month deployment to the war zone HMM-162’s helicopters had conducted approximately 6,600 sorties for a total of slightly over 4,400 flight hours. Many of these sorties had been missions of mercy flown in the wake of the typhoons which had ravaged Vietnam’s northern provinces. During three months of sustained combat support activities, the squadron had lost two UH-34Ds and one O-1B in operational accidents.[12-1]