Tag Archives: Fury

Fury, Devil Dog edition

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You have to love this bad boy, likely of the “Vipers” of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 169.

Official caption: “A U.S. Marine Corps AH-1Z Viper assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 265 (Rein.), 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, prepares to land during flight operations aboard the forward-deployed amphibious assault carrier USS Tripoli (LHA 7), flagship of the Tripoli Expeditionary Strike Group, Dec. 2, 2025, while conducting routine operations in the U.S. 7th Fleet Area of Operations.”

(U.S. Marine Corps photo 120225-M-EC903-1500 by Lance Cpl. Raul Sotovilla)

While Brad Pitt’s battle-hardened SSGT Don “Wardaddy” Collier in Fury needed a whole platoon of M4 Shermans to take out a single ambushing German Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger (the very real Tiger 131 in a rare on-screen appearance), an AH-1Z could exterminate a whole platoon of the toughest panzer cats in the forest of any generation, so the name is apt.

190812-M-EC058-1148 STRAIT OF HORMUZ (Aug. 12, 2019) An AH-1Z Viper helicopter attached to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 163 (Reinforced), 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) takes off during a strait transit aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4). (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Dalton S. Swanbeck/Released)

Sadly, just 189 AH-1Zs were delivered to the Corps, with only about 150 of those in active service with eight (soon to be seven) Marine Light Attack Helicopter (HMLA) squadrons (with two of those reserve units), so they are almost as rare as Tigers…and getting rarer.

Smokin and jokin

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Official caption:

“These American tankmen have just completed a hazardous trip back to the American lines near Cisterna, Italy, after the loss of their M-4 Sherman tank, 26 May 1944.”

L-R: Front row; Pvt. Floyd W. Shelton, Wichita, Kan., and Pvt. Vassar Nance, Leahville, Ark., and back row; Pvt. Donald Jones, Dexter, NY, and Cpl. Earl L. Larson, of S. Minneapolis, Minn.

For reference, the above men are likely of the 751st Tank Battalion, who led the breakout from the Anzio Beachhead in the Italian campaign. Notably, the 751st had already seen action in the African Campaign and Salerno. They would go on to be one of the first Allied units to enter Rome and be the first armored unit to reach the Po Valley and cross it. In all, they would spend 581 days in combat.