HMM-365’s operations continued throughout the remainder of October with only a few significant actions reported. One of these was an abortive medical evacuation mission attempted on 26 October during which the squadron suffered its first combat casualties. The incident, in which both the copilot and crew chief were wounded by Viet Cong small arms fire, occurred while the helicopter was approaching a poorly protected landing zone 10 miles southwest of Tam Ky. The pilot managed to return the damaged helicopter to Tam Ky and land safely, whereupon the seriously wounded copilot was evacuated to Nha Trang and the crew chief was administered first aid. In early November, at the height of the monsoon season, Typhoon Iris struck the Annamese coast. The tropical storm, whose full force was felt on 4 November, was followed by nearly a week of continuous rain, wind, and fog. The conditions caused flight operations to be suspended except for emergency medical evacuations. When the operations resumed on the 10th, the Marine Corps birthday, the Leatherneck crews concentrated on rescuing Vietnamese civilians from the inundated coastal plains. Between 1700 and 1900 on their first day of the flood relief operation, Lieutenant Colonel Koler’s Marines rescued 144 flood victims. These rescues, many of which were accomplished by hoisting the Vietnamese from precarious positions in trees or on roof tops were complicated by sporadic Viet Cong harassing fire. Many of the stranded civilians were evacuated to the Da Nang airfield. Following emergency medical treatment administered by Navy doctors and hospitalmen, the civilians were given shelter in the task unit hangar. Lieutenant Robert P. Heim, the Navy chaplain assigned to SHUFLY at the time, later praised the Marines who shared their birthday cake with the homeless Vietnamese that night.[12-3] The next day, although poor visibility continued to hamper flights, the Marines helilifted 1,136 more flood victims to safety. Again the guerrillas harassed the rescue attempts with small arms fire, this time hitting three of the participating aircraft.