10/31/2018. Remarks by Jack McKillop: "Under a 1971 Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) named "Bee Line", 228 F-4Bs were converted to F-4Ns at NAS North Island, California. This involved strengthening the airframe and updating the F-4B with advanced avionics. The first F-4N flew on June 4, 1972, the first renovated F-4Ns joined the fleet in February of 1973.

The pictured aircraft was originally built as an F-4B-25-MC and was updated to an F-4N. It is shown in the markings of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron Three Hundred Fourteen (VMFA-314) known as the "Black Knights". In 1961, VMFA-314 became the first Marine squadron to transition to the new F-4B Phantom II and deployed eight times between 1961 and 1964.

In 1965, VMFA-314 deployed onboard the aircraft carrier USS Valley Forge (CV-45) for combat operations in the Republic of Vietnam. From 1965 to 1970, the "Black Knights" flew more than 25,000 combat hours out of Chu Lai and Da Nang airfields, and employed more than 100 million pounds (45,4 million kg) of ordnance in support of the Marine rifleman and other Allied ground units. In September of 1970, VMFA-314 ended 49 months of deployed combat operations and received the Meritorious Unit Citation for its outstanding performance.

The squadron returned to the USA and was based at MCAS El Toro, Irvine, California. In 1982, VMFA-314 received the first of its McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornets, becoming the first tactical squadron in the USMC and USN to employ this aircraft. On October 19, 1983, this aircraft was transferred to the MASDC), by November 2004 it had been scrapped."