VMF(N)-542 Tigers Friday Patch

VMFA-542 "Tigers" · USMC · 2022-present

Worn today as a Friday/heritage patch by the Marines of VMFA-542, this insignia revives the squadron's original World War II designation as Marine Night Fighter Squadron 542, commissioned at MCAS Cherry Point on 6 March 1944. Flying radar-equipped F6F-5N Hellcats from Yontan Airfield during the Battle of Okinawa, the Tigers opened their night account on 16 April 1945, downed eighteen Japanese aircraft, ran rocket strikes through the Ryukyus, and earned a Presidential Unit Citation; Major Robert B. Porter and Captain Wallace E. Sigler became the first night fighter pilots to make ace over Okinawa. The prowling tiger under a field of stars, riding a cloud with lightning in its claws, is the squadron's night-fighting pedigree in embroidery. Redesignated VMFA-542 on 1 December 2022 and now flying the F-35B as the Marine Corps' first East Coast operational F-35 squadron, the Tigers still put the old VMF(N) scroll on their flight suits.