A little history... The Marines were very happy with their new aircraft, and it saw combat from February 1943 on from bases in Guadalcanal and the Solomon Island chain, it became a very potent aircraft and produced its first ace by May of 1943, 2nd Lieutenant Kenneth A. Walsh, who ended the war with 21 kills.

As the war progressed the F4U Corsair developed itself into a close support aircraft, providing marines with precision strikes in support of amphibious landings. The Navy also adopted several squadrons as they needed more combat aircraft to combat the increasing threat of kamikaze attacks

By the end of the war, US pilots had flown 64051 sorties and scored 2140 kills against enemy aircraft for only 189 losses; a kill ratio of over 11:1. It also dropped close to 70% of the total bombs dropped by fighter-bombers during the war, an important statistic to the Marines on the beaches of Okinawa or Iwo Jima. It also saw WWII service with the Royal Navy in both theatres, and with the RNZAF and other commonwealth nations

Upon the conclusion of the Second World War, the Corsair continued to see service around the world. The advent of jet fighters such as the Mig-15 and F-86 Sabre made them obsolete as fighters, but the corsair continued to be a popular ground attack aircraft, and saw extensive combat in Korea. They served faithfully with the French navy during the 50's, seeing combat in French Indochina against the Vietcong, and also against the Eqyptians during the Suez crisis and continued to serve until 1964.