Pappy Boyington
Gregory "Pappy" Boyington was an American combat pilot who was a United States Marine Corps fighter ace during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross. A Marine aviator with the Pacific fleet in 1941, Boyington joined the "Flying Tigers" of the Republic of China Air Force and saw combat in Burma in late 1941 and 1942 during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
In September 1942, Boyington rejoined the Marine Corps. In early 1943, he deployed to the South Pacific and began flying combat missions in the F4U Corsair fighter. On August 14, 1943, he took command of Marine fighter squadron VMF-214.
In January 1944, Boyington, outnumbered by Japanese "Zero" planes, was shot down into the Pacific Ocean after downing one of the enemy planes. He was captured by a Japanese submarine crew and was held as a prisoner of war for more than a year and a half. He was released shortly after the surrender of Japan.
The television series Baa Baa Black Sheep was inspired by Boyington and his men in the "Black Sheep" squadron. It ran for two seasons in the late 1970s.
Early life
Born on December 4, 1912, in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, he moved with his family to the logging town of St. Maries at age three and lived there until age 12. He was of Brulé Sioux descent. He then lived in Tacoma, Washington, where he was a wrestler at Lincoln High School. He took his first flight at St. Maries when he was six years old, with Clyde Pangborn, who later became the first pilot to fly over the Pacific Ocean non-stop.After graduation from high school in 1930, Boyington attended the University of Washington in Seattle, where he was a member of the Army ROTC and joined the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. He was on the Husky wrestling and swimming teams, and for a time he held the Pacific Northwest Intercollegiate middleweight wrestling title. He spent his summers working in Washington in a mining camp and at a logging camp and with the Coeur d'Alene Fire Protective Association in road construction. He graduated in 1934 with a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering. Boyington married shortly after graduation and worked as a draftsman and engineer for Boeing in Seattle.
Military career
Boyington began his military training in college as a member of Army ROTC and became a cadet captain. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Coast Artillery Reserve in June 1934, and then served two months of active duty with the 630th Coast Artillery at Fort Worden, Washington. In the spring of 1935, he applied for flight training under the Aviation Cadet Act, but he discovered that it excluded married men. Boyington had grown up as Gregory Hallenbeck, and assumed his stepfather, Ellsworth J. Hallenbeck, was his father. When he obtained a copy of his birth certificate, he learned that his father was actually Charles Boyington, a dentist, and that his parents had divorced when he was an infant. As no record was found of any Gregory Boyington ever being married, he enrolled as a U.S. Marine Corps aviation cadet using that name.United States Marine Corps
On June 13, 1935, he transferred to the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. He returned to inactive duty on July 16. On February 18, 1936, Boyington accepted an appointment as an aviation cadet in the Marine Corps Reserve. He was assigned to Naval Air Station Pensacola for flight training. Boyington was designated a naval aviator on March 11, 1937, then transferred to Marine Corps Base Quantico for duty with Aircraft One, Fleet Marine Force. He was discharged from the Marine Corps Reserve on July 1, 1937, to accept a second lieutenant's commission in the Marine Corps the following day. Boyington attended The Basic School in Philadelphia from July 1938 to January 1939. On completion of the course, he was assigned to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Group at the San Diego Naval Air Station. He took part in fleet problems off the aircraft carriers and. Promoted to first lieutenant on November 4, 1940, Boyington returned to Pensacola as an instructor in December.Flying Tigers
While serving as an instructor at Pensacola, Boyington punched another officer during a disagreement, and was informed by his superiors that he likely faced a court-martial. At this time, representatives looking for volunteer fighter pilots to fight in China visited Pensacola. Boyington quickly resigned his commission in the Marine Corps on August 26, 1941, to accept a position with the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company, which was a civilian firm that contracted to staff a Special Air Unit to defend China and the Burma Road. This later became known as the American Volunteer Group, the famed Flying Tigers in Burma. During his time with the Tigers, Boyington became a flight leader. He was frequently in trouble with the commander of the outfit, Claire Chennault, and reportedly was disliked and distrusted by the other pilots in the organization, who considered Boyington a "liar and a drunk". Boyington was officially credited with two Japanese aircraft destroyed in the air and one and a half on the ground. Boyington always claimed that he shot down six in the air, a claim accepted by the Marine Corps. In April 1942, he broke his contract with the American Volunteer Group and returned on his own to the United States.Return to the Marine Corps
On September 29, 1942, he rejoined the Marine Corps and took a major's commission. The Marine Corps needed experienced combat pilots, and in early 1943, he was assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 11 of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and deployed to the South Pacific as executive officer of Marine Fighter Squadron 122 operating from Guadalcanal until April 1943. While assigned to VMF-122, Boyington shot down no enemy aircraft. From July to August 1943, he commanded Marine Fighter Squadron 112. In September 1943, he became commanding officer of Marine Fighter Squadron 214, better known by its nickname, the "Black Sheep Squadron".Boyington received the nickname "Gramps", because at age 31, he was a decade older than most of the Marines serving under him. The name "Gramps" was changed to "Pappy" in a variation on "The Whiffenpoof Song", whose new lyrics had been written by Paul "Moon" Mullen, one of his pilots, and this version was picked up by war correspondents. Boyington is best known for his exploits in the Vought F4U Corsair in VMF-214. During periods of intense activity in the Russell Islands-New Georgia and Bougainville-New Britain-New Ireland areas, he shot down 14 enemy fighter planes in 32 days. By December 27, 1943, his record had climbed to 25.
A typical feat was his attack on Kahili airdrome at the southern tip of Bougainville on October 17, 1943. Boyington and 24 fighters circled the field, where 60 hostile aircraft were based, goading the enemy into sending up a large force. In the fierce battle that followed, 20 enemy aircraft were shot down, while the Black Sheep returned to their base without loss. Boyington's squadron, flying from the island of Vella Lavella, offered to down a Japanese Zero for every baseball cap sent to them by major league players in the World Series. They received 20 caps and shot down more than that number of enemy aircraft.
On January 3, 1944, he beat World War I ace Eddie Rickenbacker's record of 26 enemy planes destroyed, before Boyington was shot down, though his last two kills for a total of 28 were confirmed after his return. On that mission, 48 American fighters, including four planes from the Black Sheep Squadron, were sent on a sweep over Rabaul. Boyington was tactical commander of the flight and arrived over the target at 8:00 am. He was seen to shoot down his 26th plane, but he then became mixed in the general melee of dogfighting planes and was not seen or heard from during the battle, nor did he return with his squadron. Boyington's wingman, Captain George Ashmun, was killed in action. In later years, Masajiro "Mike" Kawato claimed to have been the pilot who shot down Boyington. He described the combat in two books and numerous public appearances, but this claim was eventually "disproven", though Kawato repeated his story until his death. Kawato was present during the action in which Boyington was shot down, as one of 70 Japanese fighters that engaged about 30 American fighters.
The IJN Forces were the 204th Kōkūtai and 253d Kōkūtai. The 204th Kōkūtai losses are unknown; however the 253d Kōkūtai reported 1 Zero shot down and Pilot slightly injured.
Prisoner of war
Following a determined but futile search, Boyington was declared missing in action. He had been picked up on 3 January 1944 by the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine and taken to Rabaul, becoming a prisoner of war. According to Boyington's autobiography, he was never accorded official POW status by the Japanese, and his captivity was not reported to the Red Cross.He spent the rest of the war, some 20 months, in Japanese prison camps. After being held temporarily at Rabaul and then Truk, where he survived the massive U.S. Navy raid known as "Operation Hailstone", he was transported first to Ōfuna and finally to Ōmori Prison Camp near Tokyo. During that time, he was selected for temporary promotion to the rank of lieutenant colonel. A fellow American prisoner of war was Medal of Honor recipient submarine Captain Richard O'Kane. At Ōfuna, Boyington was interned with the former Olympic distance runner and downed aviator Lieutenant Louis Zamperini.
On August 29, 1945, after the atomic bombs and the Japanese capitulation, Boyington was liberated from Japanese custody at Omori Prison Camp. Boyington returned to the United States at Naval Air Station Alameda on September 12, 1945, where he was met by 21 former squadron members from VMF-214. That night, a party for him was held at the St. Francis Hotel in downtown San Francisco that was covered by LIFE in its issue October 1, 1945. The coverage of the party marked the first time that the magazine had ever shown people consuming alcohol. Prior to his arrival, on September 6, he accepted his temporary lieutenant colonel's commission in the Marine Corps.