Scope and Contents

The collection consists of approximately 3.5 linear feet of materials documenting the history of Navy Helicopter Combat Support Squadron Seven (HC-7) accumulated by HC-7 historian Ronald Milam. The materials include award citations; command reports; muster rolls; rescue logs and reports; damage reports; images; photocopies of newsletters and newspapers; narratives; articles; presentations; and manuals. The materials are dated predominately 1967-1975.

The collection also includes one thumb drive containing the history of the HC-7 Seadevils. HC-7 was established on September 1, 1967, and disestablished June 30, 1975. 1732 men and two women served as Seadevils during that time. The squadron's operations included Combat Search and Rescue in North Vietnam, Seventh Fleet helicopters, Vertical Replenishment via helicopters, Aerial Mine Countermeasures, and providing helicopter support for the 1968 and 1969 North Korean incidents. HC-7 provided support while based at Atsugi, Japan, Cubi Point, the Philippine Islands, and Imperial Beach California. They were nicknamed the Orphans of the Seventh Fleet, due to their constant movement from ship to ship. The thumb drive includes 13,000 documents and over 1,500 photos.

Biographical / Historical

Ronald Milam was born in 1949 in Livingston, Montana. He volunteered for the Navy in 1967 and served for three years and two months, with one year and 4 months in Southeast Asia. He served with HC-7 from February 1969 to June 1970 and HC-5 from February 1968 to February 1969 as an Aviation Machinist Mate, Flight Deck Director, Ordinance, and Plane Captain, and was stationed at Atsugi, Japan and numerous ships off of North Vietnam. He performed aerial mine sweeping and combat search and rescue. He separated from the Navy in June 1970. After his service, he worked for a private engineering land survey company in Montana and Idaho.