Gregory Boyington

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Gregory Boyington
Boyington shortly after receiving the Medal of Honor

Gregory Boyington (born December 4, 1912 in Coeur d'Alene , Idaho , † January 11, 1988 in Fresno , California ) was an American fighter pilot in World War II

Life

Boyington studied aerospace engineering at the University of Washington . After completing his studies in 1934 was initially employed by the Boeing Aircraft Company . He was appointed Aviation Cadet of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) by Washington State in February 1936 . In March 1937, he completed his training at Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida. He joined the Flying Tigers , an American volunteer group led by General Claire Lee Chennault . When the US was drawn into World War II by the Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 , he rejoined the Marines in 1942. In the South Pacific, he served as Executive Officer of Marine Fighting Squadron 121 (VMF-121) in the months following the battle for Guadalcanal . In 1943 Major Boyington was given command of the newly formed Marine Attack Squadron 214 Black Sheep , which operated primarily in the Solomon Islands . His fatherly relationship with his men and probably his old age for a fighter pilot soon earned him the nickname "Pappy". On January 3, 1944, he took three Japanese fighter planes from the sky and was shot down in the port of Rabaul , New Britain, and landed with a parachute in the South Pacific. A Japanese submarine picked him up and took him to the Ōfuna prisoner of war camp .

He was released from captivity in 1945 and US President Harry S. Truman awarded him the Medal of Honor (the highest military honor) in Washington, DC on October 5, 1945 . The day before, General Alexander Archer Vandergrift, Commandant of the Marine Corps, had awarded him the Navy Cross for shooting down 28 (or 26) enemy aircraft of the Japanese. In 1947 he was retired as a colonel . Boyington was buried with military honors in Arlington , Virginia National Cemetery in 1988 .

Publications

  • Baa baa, black sheep . Bantam Books, Toronto 1958 (memoir).
  • Tonya . Pocket Books, New York 1961, OCLC 36481322 .

reception

  • Loosely based on the book "Baa Baa Black Sheep" written by Gregory Boyington, Stephen J. Cannell produced a 36-part US war series of the same name between 1976 and 1978 . The series "Baa Baa Black Sheep" ran in Germany under the name Pazifikgeschwader 214 .
  • In 1978 an audio book with the title Pappy Boyington, [World War II Ace] a personal reflection on his life appeared on a long-playing record. Boyington talked about his childhood, his career as a pilot and his adventures with the "Flying Tigers" in World War II.
  • In 2007, when he was born in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, the airport was renamed “Pappy Boyington Field”. It is reported in a documentary by actor Robert Conrad and Greg Boyington, son of Pappy Boyingtons.

literature

  • Peter B. Mersky: The One and Only 'Pappy' . In: Time of the Aces: Marine Pilots in the Solomons, 1942-1944 . History and Museums Division, Headquarters, US Marine Corps, Washington, DC 1993, p. 24–30 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  • David MacGregor: Boyington, Gregory (1912–1988), Marine Corps fighter pilot . In: American National Biography . Oxford University Press, New York, ISBN 978-0-19-860669-7 , doi : 10.1093 / anb / 9780198606697.article.0700501 (English, beginning of the article).
  • Nancy Capace: Boyington, Gregory “Pappy” (1912–1988) . In: Encyclopedia of Idaho . Somerset Publishers, Inc., Santa Barbara 2001, ISBN 0-403-09409-7 , pp. 156 ( books.google.de - excerpt).
  • Alan Axelrod, Jack A. Kingston: Boyington, Gregory “Pappy” (1912–1988) . In: Encyclopedia of World War II . HW Fowler, New York 2007, ISBN 978-0-8160-6022-1 , pp. 181–182 ( books.google.de - reading sample).
  • John F. Wukovits: Black sheep: the life of Pappy Boyington . Ed .: United States Naval Institute. Annapolis, Maryland 2013, ISBN 978-1-59114-980-4 .
  • Pappy Boyington - American pilot . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 2017 (English, britannica.com ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ap: 'Pappy' Boyington Is Dead at 75; Hero of the Black Sheep Squadron . In: The New York Times . January 12, 1988 ( nytimes.com ).
  2. ^ Medal of Honor, Major Gregory Boyington, United States Marine Corps Reserve thisdayinaviation.com
  3. ↑ 75 Years Of Marine Corps Aviation: A Tribute . 1986, p. 6–7 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  4. ^ Warren H. Goodman: Marine Corps aviation in World War II: a chronology . Headqarters, US Marine Corps, Historical Division, 1945, p. 11 (English, Textarchiv - Internet Archive ): “Major Gregory Boyington shot down one enemy plane over Rabaul to bring his total score to 26, tying Major Foss' record score. Major Boyington did not return from this mission. For his inspiring leadership and combat achievements, he was later awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor ”
  5. ↑ Gregory H. "Pappy" Boyington (1912–1988). findagrave.com, accessed May 25, 2020 .
  6. ^ Pappy Boyington Field Documentary Film Production Details. pappyboyingtonfield.com, accessed May 25, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Boyington, Gregory
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Boyington, Pappy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American fighter pilot in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH 4th December 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Coeur d'Alene , Idaho
DATE OF DEATH January 11, 1988
Place of death Fresno , California