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Don Boyd | all galleries >> Memories of Old Hialeah, Old Miami and Old South Florida Photo Galleries - largest non-Facebook collection on the internet >> Miami and Florida AVIATION Historical Photos Gallery - Airports, Airlines, Aircraft - All Years - click on image to view >> NRAB Miami, Naval Air Station (NAS) Miami, MCAS Miami then Opa-locka Airport - Historical Photo Gallery > 1954 - Marine Corps Air Station Miami at what is now Opa-locka Executive Airport and viewed from over the Cloverleaf
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1954

1954 - Marine Corps Air Station Miami at what is now Opa-locka Executive Airport and viewed from over the Cloverleaf

Northwest Dade County, Florida


Temporary research regarding NAS/MCAS Miami:

Wikipedia: MAG-31 was reactivated 17 March 1952, at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, and transferred to Marine Corps Air Station Miami, Florida, operating as a part of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing until it was again decommissioned in 1958.

Marine Fighter Attack Squadron-142 [VMFA-142]
The squadron was deactivated 21 September 1945 and reactivated 1 July 1946 at Miami, Florida, as Marine Fighting Squadron 142 and assigned to Marine Air Detachment, Naval Air Reserve Training Unit, Naval Air Station, Miami, Florida. The "Flying Gators" were reassigned in December 1946 to Marine Air Reserve Training Command, Naval Air Reserve Training Unit, Naval Air Station, Miami, Florida.

The squadron was redesignated 1 April 1949 as Marine Fighter Squadron 142, Marine Air Reserve Training Command, Naval Air Station, Miami, Florida, later itself redesignated in February 1952 as Marine Corps Air Station, Miami, Florida.

The squadron was redesignated in September 1953 as Marine Fighter Squadron 142, Marine Air Reserve Training Detachment, Marine Air Reserve Training Command, Marine Corps Air Station, Miami, Florida. The squadron was yet again redesignated on 15 May 1958 as Marine Attack Squadron 142 and relocated during March 1959 to Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, Florida.


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Paul Wheelock 18-Apr-2024 12:25
I was stationed at Opa Locka as a sheet metal mechanic in '57 & "58, assigned to the transportation squadron. Our planes were used for the training of new pilots who flew the C-119 (Flying Boxcar) and the small Beechcraft.
If I remember correctly it was called VMR-353. We had perhaps 6-8 C-119's. One odd incident I recall was when one of our elder leaders sat in the rear during a flight when the clamshell was open and he either fell out or jumped to his death. Alcoholism was suggested as the cause. On another occasion when a severe hurricane was in the forecast we flew all the c-119's to Corpus Christi to avoid damage to them. There were not enough hangers to store them at Opa Locka. Sometime around April 1958, the squadron was to be sent to Japan. I was a "short-timer" with 3 months left & encouraged to re-enlist. Since I rejected that option my final months of service were in Cherry Point, NC. It had a parting with many friends most of which I never saw again. I was still under 21 years old when discharged, honorably as a Sgt. Thank you for this opportunity to share & I hope some other comrade of my time will respond.
Jim Wallace 18-Feb-2024 00:22
I was a USMC air traffic controller at Opa Locka from mid '54 until mid '55 when I was relocated to MCAS El Toro, in California. The base closed shortly thereafter.

It was an OK base but the humidity in the summer was pretty severe.
Tom (Earl) Pitts 26-Jan-2024 23:35
I just found this site when I typed in "In 1954, Marine Corps station in Opa-Locka, Fl". It's here, where my story begins. It has been nearly 68 years since my dad transferred from Opa-Locka to Cherry Point (MCAS), NC. I was born shortly after he and my mother transferred from Quantico, Virginia to MCAS Miami (Opa-Locka). As the Marine Corps performed, by what they are known for, Cherry Point turned into Camp Lejeune, before heading out to the West Coast (this was way before Kenny Chesney's lyrics from his song spoke about
"She had that Honda loaded down
With Abercrombie clothes and fifteen pairs of shoes
And his American Express
He checked the oil and slammed the hood, said you're good to go
She hugged them both and headed off to the..... "West Coast".
There would be a few stops a long the way, of course, wrapping it up in the desert of 29 stumps, opp's, I meant to say, the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, USMC base 29 Palms, the world's largest Marine Corps training base. My dad, a "Combat Wounded Veteran" wore his awarded Purple Heart proudly from 1950 until his final roll call in 1986. Now he rests in peace in a National Veterans Cemetery, waiting for my mother so that they can continue their journey to that heavenly home, a home not made by human hands. In just days from now, my journey will take me back to the place where my first steps were taken on God's green earth. I will be hard-pressed not to think that it has been 70 years since that giant of a man in his Marine Corps uniform, stood in his front yard, holding the hand of a very small one-year-old little boy. I'll be back to that area where I took those first steps, watching my daughter cheer on her daughter, as she is pursuing her dreams. Thank you, Dad, Your son.
John (Jack) Vernon 30-Aug-2022 22:43
I was assigned to VMA-324 at Opa Locka from June, 1956 until our unit was transferred to Cherry Point, NC in mid-summer, 1958. We flew AD-6's. VMA's 331 and 332 were also there. They flew the AD-5 until they got jets in the spring of 58.I worked in the squadron's avionics shop.
Neil E Dreher 10-Dec-2021 22:54
I was a Navy dental technician stationed at the MCAS in Opa Locka between 1952 and 1954. I had many Marine Corps friends and really enjoyed my tour of duty. I had just gotten married and was so lucky to have my wife with me. It was the greatest duty ever. I wish that someone had pictures of the MCAS that they would like to share.
Dewey Steele 16-Jan-2020 21:26
I inherited a USMC MCAS MIAMI flag from my friend Seymore Goldweber who was a Marine stationed there. Please let me know how to post a photo and also LMK if anyone is interested in passing it on. Thanks. Semper FI.

Dewey Steele
Ralph Walker 06-Jan-2020 19:15
When I was debriefed at San Diego after returning from Korea in late 1952 I was given a choice of a duty station either east or west coast. I chose east coast 'cause I came from Massachusetts. They ordered me to OpaLocka Fla toopen what was a Naval Air Station but the Marines were taking it over. They changed my MOS to truck driver and I was one of 29 duty drivers but just one jeep. This made for a lot of free time til the station became more settled. This was the best duty station ever for me. I met my wife at the USO in South Miami Beach and we got married in 1954.
Earnest F Najorka 10-Jun-2019 19:18
Was there in 1954 and transferred to Korean in 1955. After Korea was sent back to Opa-Locka in 1956-57 Headquarter Squadron as base Armorer till release from active duty.
Guest 25-Feb-2019 23:02
Hey Bob... I was there in 57/58... 331 was in the next hangar over... FJ Fury's were in our hangar w/VMR 353... I remember a 331 AD 5 wheels up landing on foam. and one of your pilots (maybe the CO) bitching because someone safety wired his seat pack to the seat.. discovered after he landed... He must have been a real pr...k to have that happen !
bob parsons 25-Jun-2018 20:14
i served at mcas miami 1957/58 with vma 331 ad 5s after we left for japan base was deactivated good duty station
bob parsons
Jack Morrison 06-May-2018 20:07
I served at MCAS Miami after boot camp at Parris Island from Feb. 1954 to Nov. 1956. I really loved Miami in those years that I was there especially since I was 17 when I reported there and home was in Fort Pierce only a few miles north. I was a teletype operator and worked rotating shifts so I had a lot of time to head out to Miami Beach. I loved hanging out at the skating rink on south 27th ave at south Dixie. There were so many things to do in Miami
Bob Jones 18-Dec-2017 00:09
I was a Cpl. serving in Opa Locka in1954-55.6At one point we served on the USS Saipan.
I was a hydraulic's man servicing the F6, but in the back of my mind there were some planes that had two seats as we would get flight skins once or twice a year. Greetings to all.
Don Boyd29-Oct-2015 06:34
Claudia: thank you for your comments and memories. Please feel free to write more about your experiences back then because readers would surely enjoy reading what you have to say.

Reed: thank you for the correction - one site says the name change came in February 1952 which would be 3 years prior to your arrival. I have changed the title to be correct as you pointed out. If you would care to write more about your experiences at MCAS Miami please feel free to do so because I for one would be most interested in reading what you have to say.

Don
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Reed Dearing 28-Oct-2015 23:48
You title this picture as that of Naval Air Station Miami at Opa Locka. I believe it had been turned over to the Marine Corps by then, and was titled, Marine Corps Air Station Miami. I reported for duty there in 1955 to VMR 353, MAG 31 and the base was a Marine base....
claudia bell 16-Oct-2014 22:02
my husband was stationed at Opa Locka from Oct 1954 to april 1956/ I lived outside the base at Scharazhard Blvd. in an small apt down from the Police Station. My husband was always on trips all over the country, I loved this place so much. So beautiful.
Guest 04-Feb-2008 16:43
I dated the base commandant's daughter, a lovely girl who I met in Ms Janie Long's art class at newly opened HHS. It was a thrill for a young teenager to have clearance to pass through the Marine checkpoints. My earliest memories include seeing a ship, torpedoed by a German U-boat, burning off Miami Beach. Navy blimps operating from Opalocka and Richmond Field, now the Metro zoo, played a major tole in turning back the submarine menace.