27 December 1943 A.D. COL Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, USMC—Black Sheep Squadron (VMF-214) Fighter Ace Downs His 25th Japanese Fighter
Editors.
“Black Sheep Squadron Fighter Ace.” The Marines. The Few. The Proud. N.d. http://www.marines.com/history-heritage/timeline/-/timeline/search-results. Accessed
26 Dec 2014.
Colonel Gregory "Pappy" Boyington
Black
Sheep Squadron Fighter Ace
Gregory
Boyington earned both a Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross for his extraordinary
heroism as a WWII Marine pilot and leader of the Black Sheep Squadron. While
his Medal of Honor Citation was awarded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in
March 1944, he was not decorated until October 5, 1945, due to his captivity by
the Japanese.
Boyington
is best known for flying the Vought F4U Corsair in squadron VMF-214. During his
first tour, he shot down 14 enemy fighter planes in 32 days. With intense
activity in the Russell Islands-New Georgia areas, Boyington tallied his downed
Japanese plane total almost daily. By December 27, 1943, his record had climbed
to 25.
He
tied the American record of 26 downed planes on January 3, 1944, over Rabaul,
but became mixed in a general melee of diving, swooping planes and went
missing, ultimately spending the rest of the war, some 20 months, in Japanese
prison camps. He was liberated from Japanese custody at Omori Prison Camp on
August 29, 1945.
Gregory
Boyington earned the nickname "Pappy" because, being just over 30, he
was a decade older than many of his fellow Black Sheep Squadron pilots.
No comments:
Post a Comment