Col. Gregory "Pappy" Boyington

[PTR]

The World War II ace was born on this date, December 4, 1912.  28 kills before being shot down and spending remainder of war as a POW.

The F4U Corsair and P40 Warhawk have always been two of my favorite aircraft. Boyington flew them with great skill for sure. 

[BiggTim]

I had the pleasure of meeting him at an air show once as a kid. Saburo Sakai, too. I wish I had pictures!!!

 

Tim

[scvrobeson]

He finished his later years in Fresno, CA. Not sure what brought him here, but it's cool to know that a legend resided here

 

 

 

Matt 

[ChuckD]

On 12/4/2023 at 10:54 PM, BiggTim said:

I had the pleasure of meeting him at an air show once as a kid. Saburo Sakai, too. I wish I had pictures!!!

 

Tim

Back in my 20s, I got the opportunity to see a panel presentation put on by the Yankee Air Museum.  The panel consisted of Chuck Yeager, Bud Anderson, and Gunther Rall.  I later got to meet and shake hands with Anderson and Rall, but Yeager was charging so much for the privilege of coming near him, it put me off.  Mr. Rall signed a copy of his book for me.  It was loud and his hearing wasn't great, so I now have a copy of his book with an inscription from him that starts, "To Jeff..." 

 

(Spoiler alert: My name isn't Jeff.)

[Shoggz]

On a similar note, I had a golden period in the early nineties when I got to meet some of my WW2 heroes - usually at airshows, but my dad being quite a luminary in the UK air preservation scene helped to meet a few more characters too.

 

I think my favourite was Wing Commander Tom Neill, who was an absolute gent.. and actually only passed away a few years ago at 98.

[Furie]

In the 80s, I went to the Paris Air Show (le salon du Bourget) to see (a little) the air show and the flight demonstrations but especially to see (a lot!!!) A.Galland who dedicated his book «les premiers et les derniers».
I have his book with the dedication: Pour Denis…
And my name is Denis!   

 

A few years before, still at the Paris Air Show, there was Greg «Pappy» Boyington who also dedicated his book.
Again, the dedication was good!

 

I also met Derek Leyland STEVENSON, a Hurricane pilot who was absolutely charming and spoke perfect French.
I stayed several hours to discuss with him and I literally «drank» his words.
He was the grandson (I think) of the famous Robert Louis Stevenson.
 

[BiggTim]

6 hours ago, ChuckD said:

Back in my 20s, I got the opportunity to see a panel presentation put on by the Yankee Air Museum.  The panel consisted of Chuck Yeager, Bud Anderson, and Gunther Rall.  I later got to meet and shake hands with Anderson and Rall, but Yeager was charging so much for the privilege of coming near him, it put me off.  Mr. Rall signed a copy of his book for me.  It was loud and his hearing wasn't great, so I now have a copy of his book with an inscription from him that starts, "To Jeff..." 

 

(Spoiler alert: My name isn't Jeff.)

 

5 hours ago, Shoggz said:

On a similar note, I had a golden period in the early nineties when I got to meet some of my WW2 heroes - usually at airshows, but my dad being quite a luminary in the UK air preservation scene helped to meet a few more characters too.

 

I think my favourite was Wing Commander Tom Neill, who was an absolute gent.. and actually only passed away a few years ago at 98.

 

5 hours ago, Furie said:

In the 80s, I went to the Paris Air Show (le salon du Bourget) to see (a little) the air show and the flight demonstrations but especially to see (a lot!!!) A.Galland who dedicated his book «les premiers et les derniers».
I have his book with the dedication: Pour Denis…
And my name is Denis!   

 

A few years before, still at the Paris Air Show, there was Greg «Pappy» Boyington who also dedicated his book.
Again, the dedication was good!

 

I also met Derek Leyland STEVENSON, a Hurricane pilot who was absolutely charming and spoke perfect French.
I stayed several hours to discuss with him and I literally «drank» his words.
He was the grandson (I think) of the famous Robert Louis Stevenson.
 

 

Sometimes, it's actually a good thing to be old. We got to see some cool things and cool people that younger folks missed out on.

[Citadelgrad]

8 hours ago, ChuckD said:

Back in my 20s, I got the opportunity to see a panel presentation put on by the Yankee Air Museum.  The panel consisted of Chuck Yeager, Bud Anderson, and Gunther Rall.  I later got to meet and shake hands with Anderson and Rall, but Yeager was charging so much for the privilege of coming near him, it put me off.  Mr. Rall signed a copy of his book for me.  It was loud and his hearing wasn't great, so I now have a copy of his book with an inscription from him that starts, "To Jeff..." 

 

(Spoiler alert: My name isn't Jeff.)

Flashback alert:

 

When I was a kid, like 7 or 8, Yeager lived near us at Norton AFB in on base housing.  My dad told me he was kind of an a-hole, the AF didn't know what to do with him, so he walked around a lot without his nametag on and berated anyone who didn't recognize him.

 

Anyway, he asked my dad, who was a Col. at the time, if he could put some stuff in our garage.  My dad said sure to the pioneering Brigadier General. 

 

Well, he came over to the house to get something when my dad was naturally hard at work, so my mom answered the door.  She saw a guy with green overalls on, and had called base maintenance about the dishwasher, so she first reminded him he was supposed to come to the side door, not the front door, and then pointed at the dishwasher and said there it is.

 

To his credit he dutifully pulled the dishwasher out from the counter and looked at the innards, then told my mom he would need to send another guy who was more familiar with dishwasher repair.

 

I think my dad was ribbed about that interaction.     

[JeepsGunsTanks]

It's interesting Chuck Y came up for being a jerk, but Pappy didn't. In my opinion,  it's a real shame men like Marion Carl and John Smith are not as well known. They were actual stand-up guys.  My dad could be very direct, and he saw me reading Baa Baa Black Sheep. He asked me what I thought of Boyington, I was like 12, and said I thought he was a hero.  My dad's response stuck with me, because it was dripping contempt. He said Boyington was a disgraceful, drunken ******* and not someone to be admired, and Boyington himself would freely admit to it.  He also suggested a book, but I do not remember it, but it wasn't Chuck's! 

[Furie]

I wouldn’t judge him, but maybe a year and a half in Japanese jails left some psychological and physiological traces?
Japanese prisons for prisoners of war have never had the reputation of being a haven of peace and goodwill for its residents…

[D Bellis]

10 hours ago, Furie said:

maybe a year and a half in Japanese jails left some psychological and physiological traces?

Alcoholism was his primary problem BEFORE he ever went into action. 

 

HTH,

D

[Furie]

Alcohol is an enemy.
A soldier never backs away from the enemy!   

[ChuckD]

7 hours ago, D Bellis said:

Alcoholism was his primary problem BEFORE he ever went into action. 

 

HTH,

D

I read that he was one of the few people whose health improved while in a POW camp.

[D Bellis]

1 hour ago, ChuckD said:

he was one of the few people whose health improved while in a POW camp.

While all the other POWs were emaciated when released, Boyington came out with a fat belly...

https://www.ww2online.org/image/gregory-pappy-boyington-after-his-liberation-omori-prison-camp-japan-1945

 

D

[John1]

On 12/6/2023 at 7:21 PM, JeepsGunsTanks said:

It's interesting Chuck Y came up for being a jerk, but Pappy didn't. In my opinion,  it's a real shame men like Marion Carl and John Smith are not as well known. They were actual stand-up guys.  My dad could be very direct, and he saw me reading Baa Baa Black Sheep. He asked me what I thought of Boyington, I was like 12, and said I thought he was a hero.  My dad's response stuck with me, because it was dripping contempt. He said Boyington was a disgraceful, drunken ******* and not someone to be admired, and Boyington himself would freely admit to it.  He also suggested a book, but I do not remember it, but it wasn't Chuck's! 

Pretty harsh, compassionless opinion on a guy who honorably served his nation, was a combat ace and spent years in a Japanese prison camp. If I went through all that, I might be struggling with some demons as well.    We’ve got thousands of vets from our recent conflict who arguably saw much less duress than Boyington seeking treatment for PTSD and yet this guy is nothing more than a drunken a-hole?   Maybe your dad had a bit of jealousy going on here? Sorry but your post really rubs me the wrong way.   Hopefully the next time we have an all-out war, we’ll still have a few of those a-holes around to fight for us.