Marines Land In Marblehead for Centennial Celebration

Send in the Marines.

That's what the Marblehead Maritime Festival did on Friday for the Marine Aviation portion of the celebration. 

It landed four helicopters by the Village School, remembering Marine aviation’s beginning, the first solo flight by Lieut. Alfred Cunningham, USMC 100 years ago.

The celebration continues Saturday from noon to 6 pm, and includes exhibits inside the Village School gym.

On Friday hundreds of visitors including many families roamed the grassy field by the school to inspect the gray and green helicopters.

They included a small and swift attack helicopter, the Cobra.

They included a mammoth CH-53E — a 100-foot-long and 79-foot-wide Super Stallion.

Captain Shaun Bennett, a USMC reservist flew on this very aircraft a year ago in Afghanistan, he said.

The Stallion's mission is to haul people and stuff, he said. Some people liken them to a Mack truck or a school bus, he said.

They have a pendant that can lift thousands of pounds — even portions of downed helicopters.

The helicopters in the field also include the tough and dependable UH 34-D, a Vietnam War Era helicopter affectionately known as the Dog.

Ron Hatton of Napa, California, served four tours in Vietnam and flew on UH-34D's to rescue injured American troops.

Ron is so enamored of these craft that he calls them heroes.

The Dog in the field in Marblehead will be 50 years old in the spring. It saved 3,000 to 4,000 lives during its active service.

It was peppered with enemey fire but kept flying. This aircraft has 65 patches on it, covering the 65 holes it sustained from enemy fire.

The craft was discovered in a junkyard 12 years ago and 20,000 man hours later was restored and flies to shows around the country from its home on Long Island, NY.

The aircraft will be retired next year and put on display at the National Marine Corps Museum in Virginia, he said.

The Dog is a piece of the story which is the history of the US Marine Corps.

According to festival organizers, it was in August 1912 that Cunningham arrived in Marblehead to learn to fly at the Burgess Aviation Company. The company, headed up by famous yacht (then plane) designer Starling Burgess was located on Redstone Lane and built aircraft and trained pilots until the end of World War l.

After his training Cunningham returned to his base and headed up the brand new aviation division of the Marine Corps which went on to distinguish itself in World War II in the Pacific, in Korea, Vietnam and does today in Afghanistan. It started in Marblehead; the very first moment of Marine aviation.