Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient Major Gregory "Pappy" Boyington

World War II Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient

Major Gregory 'Pappy' Boyington

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World War II Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient Major Gregory 'Pappy' Boyington Gravesite

President Harry S. Truman Awards Pappy Boyington with the Medal of Honor

Colonel Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, Marine Corps Ace credited with the destruction of 28 Japanese aircraft, was awarded the Medal of Honor "for extraordinary heroism above and beyond the call of duty" while in command of a Marine Fighting Squadron in the Central Solomons Area from 12 September 1943 to 3 January 1944. He was shot down over Rabaul on the latter date, and his capture by the Japanese was followed by 20 months as a prisoner of war. Colonel Boyington died on 11 January 1988 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Gregory Boyington was born at Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, 4 December 1912. He was graduated from Lincoln High School in Tacoma, Washington, and majored in aeronautical engineering at the University of Washington, graduating in 1934 with a Bachelor of Science degree. He was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. Always an athlete, he was a member of the college wrestling and swimming teams, and is a one-time holder of the Pacific Northwest Intercollegiate middle-weight wrestling title.

During his summer vacations he worked in either a mining camp or a logging camp in his home state. One summer, he was employed by the Coeur d'Alene Fire Protective Association in road construction and lookout work.

The famed flyer started his military career while still attending college. As a member of the Reserve Officers Training Corps for four years, he became a cadet captain. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Coast Artillery Reserve in June, 1934, and served two months of active duty with the 630th Coast Artillery at Fort Worden, Washington. On 13 June 1935 he enlisted in the Volunteer Marine Corps Reserve. He went on active duty that date and returned to inactive duty on 16 July.

In the meantime the Colonel had become a draftsman and engineer for the Boeing Aircraft Company of Seattle.

It was on 18 February 1936 that Boyington accepted an appointment as an aviation cadet in the Marine Corps Reserve. He was assigned to the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida, for flight training. Years before, he first flew when he was only eight years old, with Clyde Pangborn, who later flew the Pacific non-stop.

He was designated a Naval Aviator on 11 March 1937; he was next transferred to Quantico, Virginia, for duty with Aircraft One, Fleet Marine Force. He was discharged from the Marine Corps Reserve on 1 July 1937 in order to accept a second lieutenant's commission in the regular Marine Corps the following day.

Detached to the Basic School, Philadelphia, in July 1938, Lieutenant Boyington was transferred to the 2d Marine Aircraft Group at the San Diego Naval Air Station upon completion of his studies. With that unit he took part in fleet problems off the aircraft carriers USS Lexington and USS Yorktown.

Promoted to first lieutenant on 4 November 1940, he went back to Pensacola as an instructor the next month.

Lieutenant Boyington resigned his commission in the Marine Corps on 26 August 1941 to accept a position with the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company. CAMCO was a civilian organization formed for the protection of the Burma Road. The unit later became known as the American Volunteer Group, the famed "Flying Tigers" of China. During his months with the "Tigers" Boyington became a squadron commander and shot down six Japanese planes to secure an appreciable lead over other American aces who didn't get into the fight after 7 December 1941. He flew 300 combat hours before the AVG disbanded.

Major Boyington joined Marine Aircraft Group 11 of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and became Commanding Officer of Marine Fighting Squadron 214 after a short tour in the Solomons with another squadron. The new squadron was made up of a group of casuals, replacements, and green pilots and was dubbed the "Black Sheep" Squadron.

Before organizing the "Black Sheep," Major Boyington had done some combat flying at Guadalcanal in April 1943, as Executive Officer of Marine Fighting Squadron 121, but he had added no enemy planes to his score there. However, during those two periods of intense activity in the Russell Islands-New Georgia and Bougainville-New Britain-New Ireland areas, "Pappy", so named because of his age (31) compared to that of his men, added to his total almost daily. During his squadron's first tour of combat duty, the major personally shot down 14 enemy fighter planes in 32 days. On 17 December 1943, he headed the first Allied fighter sweep over impregnable Rabaul. By 27 December his record was 25. He tied the then-existing American record of 26 planes on 3 January when he shot down another fighter over Rabaul.

Typical of Major Boyington's daring feats is his attack on Kahili airdome at the southern tip of Bougainville on 17 October 1943. He and 24 fighters circled the field persistently where 60 hostile aircraft were grounded, goading the enemy into sending up a large numerically superior force. In the fierce battle that followed, 20 of the enemy planes were shot out of the skies. The Black Sheep roared back to their base without the loss of a single ship.

On 3 January 1944, 48 American planes, including one division (4 planes) from the Black Sheep Squadron took off from Bougainville for a fighter sweep over Rabaul. Boyington was the tactical commander of the flight and arrived over Rabaul at eight o'clock in the morning. In the ensuing action the major was seen to shoot down his 26th plane. He then became mixed in the general melee of diving swooping planes and was not seen or heard from again. Following a determined search which proved futile, the major was declared as missing in action. While a prisoner of the Japanese he was selected for temporary promotion to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

During mid-August, 1945, after the atom bombs and the Japanese capitulation, Major Boyington was liberated from Japanese custody at Omori Prison Camp in the Tokyo area on 29 August and arrived in the United States shortly afterwards.

On 6 September the top ace who had been a prisoner of the Japanese for the past 20 months accepted his temporary lieutenant colonel's commission in the Marine Corps.

At the time of his release it was confirmed that Colonel Boyington had accounted for two Japanese planes on that fateful 3 January before he himself was shot down. That set his total at 28 planes which was highest for Marines.

Shortly after his return to his homeland, Colonel Boyington was ordered to Washington to receive the nation's highest honor, the Medal of Honor, from the President. The medal had been awarded by the late president, Franklin D. Roosevelt in March 1944 and held in the Capital until such time as the colonel was able to receive it. On 5 October 1945, "Nimitz Day," he, together with a number of other Marines and Naval personnel appeared at the White House and was decorated by President Harry S. Truman.

On the day previous to that he was presented the Navy Cross by the Commandant of the Marine Corps for the ace's heroic achievements on the day he became missing in action.

Following the receipt of his Medal of Honor and Navy Cross, Colonel Boyington made a Victory Bond Tour. Originally ordered to the Marine Corps Schools, Quantico, he was later directed to report to the Commanding General, Marine Air West Coast, Marine Corps Air Depot, Miramar, San Diego, California.

Colonel Boyington was retired from the Marine Corps on 1 August 1947 and, because he was specially commended for the performance of duty in actual combat, he was advanced to his final rank.

In addition to the Medal of Honor and Navy Cross, Colonel Boyington held the American Defense Service Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, American Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.

World War II Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient Major Gregory 'Pappy' Boyington

There aren't many UW alumni who win the Medal of Honor, write a best-selling book and have Robert Conrad portray them in a TV series. In fact, there is only one: World War II Fighter Pilot Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, a 1934 engineering graduate who shot down 28 enemy planes as a Marine pilot.

Strangely enough, when he attended the UW, Boyington had a different name. Students in the early Thirties knew him a Greg Hallenbeck, a "short, solidly built aeronautical engineering major who was a member of the wrestling team," according to one report. At that time he was using the name of his step-father and did not revert to his father's last name until after graduation.

"His mother lived in Tacoma and worked as a switchboard operator to put him through college," reports Pappy's son, Gregory Boyington Jr. "My dad parked cars in some garage." He also worked in an Idaho gold mine in the summer to pay his way through school and support his membership in the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.

Though an ROTC member, Boyington spent a year after graduation as a Boeing draftsman before he joined the Marines. He was a flight instructor for six years until he volunteered to be a "Flying Tiger" pilot in China prior to Pearl Harbor. Between his tour in China and Burma and later action in the South Pacific, Boyington shot down 28 planes-a World War II record for a Marine pilot.

But the day of his 28th kill was also the day he was shot down by a Japanese Zero fighter. Fished out of the water by an enemy sub, Boyington spent the next 20 months in prisoner of war camps, where he often suffered beatings and near starvation.

For some reason, the Japanese did not want Boyington's whereabouts known to the Allies, so they never reported his capture. The Marines listed him as missing in action, but many thought he died in the crash. Through a fellow POW, he was able to send a code word to his mother that he was still alive. But for the rest of America, when his camp was liberated on August 28, 1945, the Medal of Honor winner seemed to come back from the dead.

Although his POW exploits make fascinating reading, Universal Studios was more interested in the rag-tag fighter squadron he created in the Pacific, officially known as VMF 214. In 1943, at the Espiritu Santo airfield in the New Hebrides, Boyington had a desk job handling the replacement pilots pool. When a call for a fresh fighter squadron from the States went unanswered, Boyington convinced his superiors to let him put together a unit from replacement flyers.

Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient Pappy Boyington briefs his "Black Sheep" pilots at an airfield in the New Hebrides. National Archives Photo.

Boyington briefs his "Black Sheep" pilots at an airfield in the New Hebrides. National Archives Photo.

At first the makeshift squadron was a joke. "It was generally agreed at the fighter strip that we were going to make an awful mess of the deal," Boyington later wrote. But in only 12 weeks of combat, the squadron destroyed 94 enemy fighters and made headlines in the States. As its leader, Boyington was a flamboyant commander, a darling of war reporters and a heavy drinker. According to one memoir, he would get raging drunk and try to wrestle other pilots-who were usually 10 or more years his junior. In fact, he got his nickname "Pappy" because he was so much older than the men he commanded.

As he neared the Marine record for kills, war reporters wouldn't leave Boyington alone. Fred Avey, a squadron member, later told Aviation History, "They wanted him to break the record for downing Japanese planes. There were always four or five guys who wanted to interview him. I resented them because they should have let Boyington and us rest. They didn't think about what it was like for us. Boyington was tired and at times shouldn't have gone up, but he did. I wonder if that didn't have something to do with his being shot down and captured."

Though many squadron members wanted to name the group "Boyington's Bastards," the slightly more genteel "Black Sheep" squadron stuck instead. Banking on that name recognition, Boyington titled his 1958 memoir Baa Baa, Black Sheep. "He wrote every single word himself," his son recalls. The book spent more than a year on the best-seller list and is still in print.

Robert Conrad as Pappy Boyington

Robert Conrad played Boyington in the NBC TV series. Photofest photo.

Eighteen years later, when the movie/TV rights reverted back to Boyington, he sold them to Universal. The studio put TV veteran Robert Conrad in the role of squadron leader and named Boyington its "technical adviser." Titled Baa Baa, Black Sheep , the NBC series debuted in 1976, but with competition from Happy Days and Charlie's Angels, it only lasted two seasons. "It was a very expensive series to produce," his son says, "but the reruns have been going on ever since."

Some squadron veterans resented the series. "Television made it look like all we did was party, but that was in no way true," Black Sheep veteran Fred Avey said in the Aviation History interview. "We never went up drunk. The only thing accurate about the show was that we flew Corsairs." During a 1976 squadron reunion in Hawaii, "we all gave him hell for allowing them to do what they did," Avey said. "Boyington realized how upset we were and apologized to us, and he was not one to apologize very often."

There may have not been any drinking in the air, but Boyington did a lot on the ground. His addiction, he once wrote, was "no doubt the most damning thing in my character." The problem grew worse during his post-war years. In his memoir, Once They Were Eagles, Black Sheep veteran Frank Walton wrote of that period, "Boyington went through a series of lurid, broken marriages and bounced from one job to another: beer salesman, stock salesman, jewelry salesman, wrestling referee. Liquor was always present."

Alcoholics Anonymous helped, says his son, although Pappy never completely licked his addiction. His later years were plagued with ill health, including an operation for lung cancer. "He loved to go to air shows. He was in his 70s and was rather ill in his last years, but my stepmother used to say that when he went to air shows, it was the only time he was truly happy," his son recalls.

He was also a life-long Huskies fan, his son reports. "One year you had a pretty good football team and I remember my dad saying, 'If the Huskies go to the Rose Bowl, we're going.' But you never did make it that year."

Boyington died on Jan. 11, 1988, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. In summing up his own life, he wrote at the end of his memoir, "If this story were to have a moral, then I would say, 'Just name a hero and I'll prove he's a bum.'"-Tom Griffin

Gutterman:

I'm gonna flame him personally! (77k)

Boyington:

I like regulations... (55k)

Micklin:

All these planes are mine, college boys (87k)

Boyle:

It took them 72 hours to catch me!(107k)

T.J.:

I've got to be the worst pilot...(80k)

Casey:

I'm not a deskjockey (77k)

French:

I'll tie you to the tail of my Corsair (55k)

Hutch:

Beautiful airplane! (99k)

Bragg:

Getting your can shot off! (94k)

World War II Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient Major Gregory 'Pappy' Boyington and his Black Sheep

Boyington (3rd from right) & Black Sheep

Gregory "Pappy" Boyington was one of the most colorful characters of World War II. As the charismatic "skipper" of Marine Fighting Squadron (VMF) 214, he led the famed Black Sheep on the ground and in the air while becoming the Marine Corps' top-scoring ace and earning the Medal of Honor. Shot down at the beginning of January 1944 over the Japanese bastion of Rabaul, Boyington was presumed killed in action (KIA). With war's end, Pappy returned from the dead having survived twenty months in Japanese prison camps.

When the shooting stops, great warriors such as Boyington most often just fade away and, at first, the retired Marine colonel was no exception. A dozen years after the war, however, his bestselling autobiography Baa Baa Black Sheep catapulted Pappy out of obscurity. Eighteen years later, a popular television series based on his book made him a celebrity once again. During the war Boyington had often signed off as "Black Sheep One" on official correspondence. Robert Conrad, who portrayed Pappy on television, adopted the appellation "Black Sheep Two."

Exhaustively researched and richly detailed, Black Sheep One is the first biography to completely cover Boyington's paradoxical life. Above all, in war or peace, Pappy Boyington was a fighter, whether against the Japanese over the Southwest Pacific or the alcoholism that stalked him throughout his life.

As portrayed on television by the properly pugnacious Conrad, we feel we know Pappy Boyington. But do we really? In Black Sheep One, noted historian and Black Sheep expert Bruce Gamble sets the record straight with an engaging, exciting, warts-and-all biography of this larger than life American legend.

Book Cover

BLACK SHEEP ONE

The Life of Gregory "Pappy" Boyington

by Bruce Gamble

World War II Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient Major Gregory 'Pappy' Boyington and his Corsair

World War II Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient Major Gregory 'Pappy' Boyington

The following information is courtesy of the United States Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma's web site (the home of the famous Black Sheep Squadron):

Marine Attack Squadron (VMA)-214 is one of four AV-8B Harrier squadrons assigned to Marine Aircraft Group-13, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. Its mission is to provide close-air support, conduct armed reconnaissance and limited air-defense for Marine expeditionary forces.

VMA-214 was originally commissioned as Marine Fighter Squadron (VMF)-214 early in 1942 at Ewa on the island of Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands. In August of 1943, 27 young men under the leadership of Maj. Gregory "Pappy" Boyington (who was later awarded the Medal of Honor) formed the original "Blacksheep" of VMF-214.

In the early part of World War II, from island to island in the South Pacific, there occasionally cropped up flyers who were unattached and who were separated from their squadrons by reason of illness or breakup of their organizations. They had been left out of it somehow in the shuffle and had no way to get back into the fight. Some were veteran combat pilots with several kills to their credit; others were pilots newly arrived from the United States as replacements. All were eager to join a squadron and see action against the Japanese, but their efforts were met with refusals and orders to sit and wait. This was the situation at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, when finally the persistent campaigning of Maj. Boyington and Maj. Stan Bailey (who was later named executive officer) was rewarded when wing headquarters gave them permission to form the stragglers into a squadron, with the understanding that they would have less than four weeks to mold themselves into a fully trained, completely coordinated Marine squadron. This was accomplished by flying every day and night with their eight Corsairs.

The "Blacksheep" fought their way to fame in just 84 days, piling up a record 197 planes destroyed or damaged, troop transports and supply ships sunk, and ground installations destroyed in addition to numerous other victories. Boyington was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1945.

After being decommissioned at the end of World War II, VMF-214 was recommissioned in 1948 and spent most of its time aboard various carriers operating in the waters off the West Coast of the United States, training Marine pilots for carrier operations.

At the outbreak of the Korean Conflict, VMA-214 was again given short notice to "get ready." By August of 1950, the Blacksheep were aboard the USS Sicily Strait, en route to Korean waters and into the fight. Another chapter in the illustrious history of the Blacksheep squadron was being written as the "Fighting 214th" was the first Marine squadron to see action in Korea.

In January 1956, the Blacksheep again received the order to "get ready." This time, however, they were given more time to prepare. In the ensuing 15 months, all aspects of Marine aviation were covered by the Blacksheep of the newly designated Marine all-weather fighter squadron.

January 1959 saw the Blacksheep transition to the famed FJ-4B Fury with which the squadron logged more than 27,000 hours as an attack squadron. The squadron was presented the Commandant of the Marine Corps' Safety Award for the most outstanding safety record achieved among attack squadrons throughout the Marine Corps on Aug. 29, 1961. Jan. 23, 1962, saw the Blacksheep turn another page in Marine history when their FJ Fury jets, the last in an active Marine squadron, were flown away. In their place came the squadron's first A-4 Skyhawks.

In 1965, VMA-214 flew attack missions in support of the III Marine Amphibious Force and the Republic of Vietnam in South Vietnam. The squadron remained in Vietnam for eight months and flew 3,971 combat missions totaling 5,274 combat hours. In February 1966, the Blacksheep rotated out of Vietnam to pick up new pilots and personnel. In May 1966, '214 returned to Chu Lai, Vietnam, where it again flew combat missions in support of operations in Vietnam.
VMA-214 returned from Vietnam for a final time in April 1967. The Blacksheep flew 14,000 hours in combat, 13,200 sorties, and dropped more than 10,000 tons of ordnance.

August 1969 saw the Blacksheep in Nevada, flying 453 sorties and dropping 77.5 tons of ordnance in 11 days. From 1971 to 1979 the Blacksheep deployed on numerous occasions to China Lake, Kadena, Iwakuni and Korea. The A-4M Skyhawk has a payload of 8,000 pounds of ordnance, including, a 20mm cannon and Sidewinder air-to-air missiles.

June 1986 marked the third accident-free year for VMA-214 and 15,000 accident-free hours. The Blacksheep also demonstrated an impressive record of operational readiness for those three years in seven deployments to NAS Fallon, Nev.; Hill AFB, Utah; Luke AFB, Ariz.; MCAS Yuma, Ariz.; and Twentynine Palms, Calif.

From December 1986 to June 1987, the squadron was deployed to the Western Pacific taking part in exercises at Iwakuni, Kadena, Cubi Point, and Pohang, Korea. In September 1987, VMA-213 relocated from MCAS El Toro, Calif., to MCAS Yuma.

January 12, 1988, was a sad day in the history of the Blacksheep Squadron. Its famous leader, Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, whose combat exploits were dramatized in the television series "Baa Baa Blacksheep," died of cancer at 4 a.m. at the age of 75.

In June, the Blacksheep left another deployment to WestPac, before returning to Yuma in December. 1989 was another historic year for the squadron. The Blacksheep were the first A-4 squadron to fly 30,000 accident-free hours and achieved six years accident-free flying. The squadron retired the A-4M Skyhawk in June and formed the first night attack squadron with the AV-8B Night Attack Harrier, marking another milestone of the world famous Blacksheep.

The squadron completed the first overseas deployment of the Night Attack Harrier to Iwakuni, Japan, in 1992

Boyington briefs his "Black Sheep" pilots at an airfield in the New Hebrides. National Archives Photo.

Robert Conrad played Boyington in the NBC TV series. Photofest photo.