Officially Licensed USMC VMFA-323 Death Rattlers 2026 Squadron Patch — Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323 F/A-18C Hornet Embroidered Patch
Coiled, ready, and the highest-scoring Marine fighter squadron of WWII — the Death Rattlers strike on.
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323 (VMFA-323), the "Death Rattlers," is a USMC F/A-18C Hornet strike fighter squadron based at MCAS Miramar, California, under MAG-11 and the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. Originally commissioned as VMF-323 on August 1, 1943 at Cherry Point, North Carolina, the squadron made its name in the spring of 1945 as a Corsair squadron flying off Kadena Field on Okinawa, where in just over three months the Death Rattlers shot down 124½ Japanese aircraft — including 24 in a single day — earning the unofficial title of highest-scoring Marine fighter squadron of WWII and producing 12 aces. After the war the squadron flew Corsairs in Korea, transitioned through the F9F Panther and FJ-2 Fury, served on Yankee Station in F-4B Phantom IIs during Vietnam, and stood up as the second Marine F/A-18A Hornet squadron in 1982 before transitioning to the F/A-18C in 1991. The Death Rattlers have deployed continuously across the post-9/11 era in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, routinely deploying as a Tactical Air (TACAIR) integration squadron with carrier air wings — most notably CVW-9 and CVW-11. The squadron's signature coiled snake emblem and "snake bite" callsign trace directly to those Okinawa Corsair pilots, and the same red diamond and black snake mark every F/A-18C on the Miramar flight line today.
Perfect For: VMFA-323 Death Rattlers active-duty and veteran Marines, MCAS Miramar residents, MAG-11 and 3rd MAW personnel, F/A-18C Hornet pilots and maintainers, CVW-9 and CVW-11 alumni, F4U Corsair Pacific theater historians, and Marine fighter community patch collectors.
Death Rattlers — strike, since '43.
