Boyington & his Black Sheep
Posted by GP
The brashest, most publicized pilots of the Pacific Theater belonged to the appropriately named Black Sheep Squadron. They were rowdy, profane, hard-drinking, fun-loving and credited with so many Japanese aircraft that they became legends in their own time.
The leader of this wild bunch was Major Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, a former Flying Tiger with 6 kills to his credit. The boozing, brawling commander downed 28 enemy planes – more than any other Marine pilot. He was born 4 December 1912 and in Coeur d’Alene, IA he took his first flight at 6 years old with barnstormer, Clyde Pangborn. Boyington grew up thinking his step-father was his biological father and went by the name Hallenbeck. It wasn’t until he graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in aeronautical engineering that he learned his real name.
Boyington formed the Black Sheep in the summer of ’43 when he noticed scattered pilots and aircraft unattached and unused by other units, despite the US forces need of more squadrons. They flew their first mission 14 September in Chance Vought F4U Corsairs.
So confident of their success against the enemy, Boyington and his cohorts made a startling announcement in October 1943. Having run out of baseball caps – their traditional headgear – they promised to shoot down a Japanese Zero for every cap sent to them from a major league baseball team. In December, when the St. Louis Cardinals forwarded 20 caps, the daredevils more than kept their end of the bargain – 48 aircraft downed; 14 of them by Boyington himself.
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On 3 January 1944, the Black Sheep lost their commander. During a fighter sweep over Rabaul, Boyington parachuted from his flaming plane into St. George Channel, just after bagging his 28th enemy aircraft. He was picked up by a Japanese submarine and brought to Rabaul where he was interrogated and sent to Japan. He remained a prisoner until 29 August 1945. During his time as a POW, he was made a temporary Lt. Colonel and awarded the Medal of Honor and Navy Cross. A TV series, staring Robert Conrad, Baa Baa Black Sheep, aired 1976-78, depicting Boyington and his crew’s antics and bravery.
Gregory Boyington passed away 11 January 1988 and was buried at Arlington Cemetery.
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Military Humor –
“I think Auntie (she wasn’t ‘Auntie’ then, of course) sent me the ‘Keep Smiling’ card. I got shipped to Crailsheim Germany because the Rehab Center needed two social workers, but six months later they closed it and I got reassigned to a hospital in Muenchweiler. They had no active psych. unit so I ran the PA system, paging people, and reading lots of books.
Dennis’s website is HERE.
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Farewell Salutes –
Tom Abrash – Windsor, CAN; RC Navy, WWII
Ray Brendemuehl – Milwaukee, WI; US Navy, WWII, PTO, USS Natoma Bay
Albert ‘Sonny’ Erickson – San Jose, CA; US Army, WWII, ETO
John Gunselman – Ephrata, PA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 11th Airborne Div.
John Jones – Gloucester, NJ; US Navy, WWII, Korea, SeaBees
Jim McQueen – Auckland, NZ; RNZ Air Force # 404466, WWII, ETO, POW
George Ogden – Broad Channel, NY; US Navy, WWII
Trevor Riordan – Sydney, AUS; RA Air Force # A222011, Vietnam, 9th Squadron
Melvin Strople – Gloucester, MA; US Army (Ret. 21 years), WWII & Korea
Steven Talamantez – Laredo, TX; US Army, Iraq, 1st Cavalry Div., Sgt., KIA
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About GP
Everett Smith served with the Headquarters Company, 187th Regiment, 11th A/B Division during WWII. This site is in tribute to my father, "Smitty." GP is a member of the 11th Airborne Association. Member # 4511 and extremely proud of that fact!Posted on February 1, 2016, in Uncategorized, WWII and tagged 1940's, Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, History, Marines, Military, Military History, Pacific War, Tributes, WWII. Bookmark the permalink. 134 Comments.
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My father Camander Jack O Watson, flew with Pappy Bouington, when his ship the USS Shangri-la was sunk while he was in the air. He was routed to Boganville.
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You must be very proud of your father. That is quite an episode in the world’s history and he was part of it. He was lucky to be so close to Bougainville that he could land there. Your Dad must have been loaded with old stories, eh?
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Baa Baa Black Sheep Squadron
I Have good Memories Of This TV show,
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My dad and I used to watch it faithfully!!
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Same Here… 😉 🙂
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Reblogged this on PT Boat Red and commented:
I am very pleased to reblog this post from GP Cox who has developed a terrific blog dedicated to his father, Everett “Smitty” Smith who served in WWII as part of the Headquarters Company, 187th Regiment, 11th A/B Division. This recent post from his blog features background information on Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, Commander of the legendary Black Sheep Squadron from WWII–one of the most daring and decorated squadrons of fighter pilots in the South Pacific, and one of my all-time heroes from WWII. Over the course of writing my blog, I have received great support and inspiration from the fine work of GP Cox and I am very grateful to him. I am sure that the readers of PT Boat Red will enjoy this fine blog.
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Such a wonderful intro to the post, Mr. Stahley. I thank you very much and stand humbled myself.
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One of the great. No accolades due “Papa” justice. I wonder how the Black Sheep would function in today’s political correct environment.
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Off the top of your head – how many charges do you think would be brought against them? Unfortunately, we have become far too politically correct to ever see anything like this bunch again!
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I remember that TV series.
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Based on reality, they were quite a bunch!
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I was a big fan of Baa Baa Black Sheep and its star Robert Conrad. I always wondered how accurately it portrayed Boyington and that time and place in history.
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It did a pretty good job – they had a lot of material to work with! 🙄
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I just looked at the Wikipedia page. Pappy was technical advisor for the show and he and Conrad got to know each other quite well.
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Yes, you are quite right!
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My NCOIC, MGySgt Peavy served with the Black Sheep Squadron after WWII.
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Then I’m sure he heard a lot more stories than we ever will!!
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Reblogged this on quirkywritingcorner.
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Thank you. They men deserve the recognition!!
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The Black Sheep Squadron will long be remembered as it should be!
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Thank you, Hollie!!
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my pleasure to read once more about the Black Sheep Squadron, they earned their place in history!
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Didn’t they!!
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indeed! 🙂
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I don’t remember the series but if they captured their spirit I believe it would have been fun to watch!
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They did a mighty fine job of it! Thanks, Shelley.
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interesting post, as always 🙂
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Thank you.
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Pappy Boyington doesn’t look like the classic hero , or the ideal chisel-jawed Marine officer . That makes me like him even more .
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I’ve always been told he was a down-to-earth kinda guy – that’s what sold me! Thanks for coming by, Dan.
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What an amazing group of men with an outstanding leader. He was a true American Hero. Thank you for sharing his story.
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You are very welcome, Claire. Enjoy your day.
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Very interesting and also remember the tv series. Good thing I checked my reader since didn’t get a email about this post!
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Strange things have been going on lately, I’m not surprised! Glad you remember this bunch, Kathy!
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You never know with WP! Yes, remember it well!
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Another extremely colourful character, who certainly put his money where his mouth was! A Japanese demolition squad!
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You might want to say, (in paraphrasing Sinatra’s words…) ‘They did it their way….’
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Definitely a colorful and memorable character. I enjoy the television show and wrote about it two years ago https://mholloway63.wordpress.com/2014/04/05/history-from-the-small-screen-baa-baa-black-sheep-black-sheep-squadron/
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After a quick peek, I remember it. I never did answer your question, I suppose “12 O’Clock High” would be the other show I used to watch.
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I’ll have to see if that show is available streaming. I’m familiar with the Gregory Peck film.
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I do know episodes can be found on youtube.
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Great story. I’m going to ask my uncle Tom, who was also a Marine in the Pacific, what he knows about the Black Sheep Squadron.
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If he has any stories, pertinent to this article or not, please share them here – we all love first-hand accounts!
PS. It’s good to see you around.
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Reblogged this on KCJones.
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Thank you, Penny.
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I recall enjoying the TV series on the Black Sheep. Brought back some memories.
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I’m glad, they sure did for me!
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That was one show I didn’t see, unfortunately. This looks like an interesting documentary on his life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yyZY1aauxk
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Thanks for the link, Ann. I stopped it after a few minutes and will get back to it later!
If you wish to see the TV show, I put a link in my reply to Elmer Nev Valenzuela’s comment.
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Thanks. I will take a look.
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Sharing info – that’s what it’s all about!
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My Dad’s memory is increasingly frail but I will ask him if he remembers Boyington. Might trigger some old memories for him. My Dad’s photo was finally taken for the WW2 veterans project in Australia. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-05/world-war-ii-veterans-photographed-honour-service-preserve-image/6674018 He was very pleased with his photo and that it will be kept at the Australian War Memorial archive.
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A very nice article here, I’m surprised you haven’t made a post out of it. I am thinking that Ray Barber is your father?
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No. Not my Dad. When I get a decent copy of my Dad’s photo I may do an article. I hope to visit him again in April.
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Sorry, I thought your dad was in the article.
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Mentioning Boyington to your dad just may spark a memory. The older we get, the clearer the old memories become – when we can’t even remember if we have breakfast or not.
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Exactly!
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Pleased to report that although he doesn’t recall anything about Boyington my father has come up with a great many other memories of his war service in the Solomons; mostly on Malaita. Great to have him chatting again. He’s been a bit down-hearted lately.
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That is FANTASTIC news, Ann. It makes me very happy to hear that, thank you for sharing that with me! Please thank your father for me for all he did!!
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I will. My Dad was in radar at Cape Astrolobe. The story of NZ/American radar in the Pacific is one of great cooperation. http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2AirF-c15.html
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That is a a powerful site packed with valuable information, Ann. Thank you. I’ve been into Victoria.gov before, but never spotted this!
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I hadn’t seen it before either.
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We learn together!!
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As I read the story, I thought good for the St Louis Cards. –Curt
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You know, I was surprised they were the only club to do it!!
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Me too, actually. I would have thought teams would have been competing. Maybe it didn’t get that much news coverage. Imagine this day and age, GP.
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It goes to show you just how much media coverage there was of the Pacific!!
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I was just a young boy at the time of the TV series. Now I know what its all about
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If you happen to watch any of the episodes, they start off with an explanation of who they were – it is true….
http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/baa-baa-black-sheep/episodes/389127
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It sounds a little perverse, perhaps, but I’m always so pleased to hear that these war heroes have survived, say, being a prisoner of war in Japan, to pass away at home, more than forty years after the end of the conflict.
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I understand what you’re saying and yes, to know they came home is a relief – especially after all they did for us!!
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Saw Conrad interviewed. He was a pilot but “they”, the show’s bosses, would not let him actually fly a Corsair. Apparently the Corsair is a bit twisty (torque) from the big engine if you don’t know what you are doing.
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Being allowed to do your own stunts costs a studio quite a bit in insurance money, I understand. But by being a pilot himself, he was familiar with the and comfortable with the lingo, etc – made for a great show!
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I would like to add the text of this to my Profiles post on the black sheep; consistent with the uncertainty of YouTube, the video I had was gone – the YT channel account was closed.
I do have some photos you might like from that post. https://profilesincourage.wordpress.com/2015/02/24/the-black-sheep-squadron/
P.S. Thanks for the copy of The Silent service. A little mystery: the enclosed invoice (from the UK division of Alibris sent to Alibris in the U.S.) stated the book ordered was “Everything But the Flak, by Martin Caidin.
I use Bookfinder to locate images from sellers for my sidebar. It takes awhile to find an image, let alone the particular edition I had, or have in my library. Call it a labor of love…
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I only use Bookfinder when all else fails – I start out with Thriftbooks and then Abe Books – two book dealers I have always depended on (especially since I need to order many, many books for my father-in-law).
Thanks for the pictures.
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You are most welcome.
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I learned about them through the TV series years ago. Your post creates a realistic perspective of their amazing bravery.
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Thank you very much. It’s really kinds of easy when you have so much material to work with! (they did the work)
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My dad used to watch the Black Sheep Squadron re-runs. That’s how I learned about Pappy. I never really watched the show, so I had no idea about the baseball caps. Thanks for the post!
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You’re very welcome. He was quite a unique individual.
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I remember watching reruns of the television show, not realizing that it was all based on real-life.
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I’ve had people ask me if the intro to the show was true, just Hollywood – I just keep nodding!
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That is one amazing photo, GP. Sort of said it all about the man, even before I got to read the post.
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He definitely looked as though he was ready for anything you could throw at him, doesn’t it?!
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And some!
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Great diary. We watched the tv show when we were kids. Nice to know more of his history. Pappy sounds like he had a somewhat charmed life.
Marcey
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He might not have agreed with you while he was imprisoned, but he did survive. Thanks for visiting today.
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They were real heros.
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Yes they were, thank you for recognizing that, MaryLou.
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I really enjoyed the TV series. But I suppose no military could survive if it was full of “I do not follow orders” and “I’ll do it my way” commanders. I do wonder, however, how much of that defiant attitude was rooted in fact.
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We can only go by the people who knew him and it seems to be true according to them. Of course the show emphasized the crazy stunts, there were days of inactivity and the usual military stuff. (But that would sell on prime-time TV.)
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I have never seen the TV show, which I don’t think was shown over here in the UK. But I can well imagine someone like Errol Flynn portraying such a hard-drinking, hard-fighting flier like Gregory. They made them tough in those days!
Best wishes, Pete.
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Flynn probably would have been chosen if he had been in his prime, Robert Conrad had to do, especially since he led a rough-and-tumble life himself. It was about a rough bunch of guys, but there were plenty of parts that would get you rolling on the floor!
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Yup… I’ll be 51 this year and I’ve watched most of the TV series in the 70s. Baa Baa Black Sheep, wild wild west, star trek, starsky and hutch, six million dollar man, wonder woman, mork and mindy, and even the mickey mouse club!
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You made the rounds, that’s for sure. Being a tad (just a tad mind you) older than you, I could add a few more westerns and medical shows (they went through phases back in the 60’s) and such shows as the Honeymooners were great sit-coms. But, nothing was more innovative than Star Trek!
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Yup, I even had some slides of star trek for my 3d viewer way back then. Hahaha!
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Whoa! I never saw any of these, 3-D you say…..
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Yup, remember the View Master? They have a set of slides about a star trek story where Spock went back in time to save his young self. 🙂
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Yes, I remember the View Master – never knew they had a Star Trek set!!!
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They had it… And it was a great set. Sadly, I forgot where I placed it about 40 years ago. Huhuhu!
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Too bad. They are on ebay though….
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/star-trek-viewmaster
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Wow! I gonna check that. Thanks for the link… 🙂
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No problem!
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Boyington had a pretty rough post war time of it. My father and he had a mutual friend and Dad met Boyington on just a couple occasions when Pappy was piloting shortly for their friend’s smalll charter airline in the late 50’s / early 60’s.
The story that Boyington’s health actually improved while a prisoner of war is true.
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He couldn’t get the booze from the Japanese. I would have liked to have met him and your dad both.
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Yep,
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Loved the show…loved the quality of the real characters. I have always been drawn to people who did things differently!
And, oh did I have a crush on Robert Conrad! 😉
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He always did seem to be a ‘man’s-man’ sort of guy and that would sure attract the women! I sometimes happen to catch the reruns of the show on Memory Channel.
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Even today, you can see the show?
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I’ve caught it a couple of times, on the weekend, Comcast MEmory Channel.
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Good to know 🙂
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I remember the black sheep… On TV. The Baa Baa Black Sheep! 🙂
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That’s right…crazy bunch of guys, weren’t they?!!
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Hahaha! Yup. And the lead actor I think was also in Wild Wild West, if I remember it right.
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You most definitely have that right! Seems we watched the same shows!
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Another unsung hero we never heard of. Social grants are better news than guys who fought for our freedom that made the grants possible. Thanks for this.
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You are very welcome, these men deserve the recognition.
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It’s so cool to learn the history behind the legend. I hope I don’t end up feeling like Sad Sack at the end of this week. It’s starting out looking similar to his.
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Uh-oh, Dan – tread carefully, it’s only Monday!
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I know, but it’s one of those Mondays.
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I hope it isn’t catching!!
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I just loved that show!
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Dad and I were glued to it!
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I am sure Old Man Jack was also, but it must have given him nightmares.
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Koji might answer that better than I.
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Reblogged this on Lest We Forget II and commented:
Great tribute!
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Thanks, Pierre.
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This deserves a place of honor on Lest We Forget II.
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The men deserve recognition.
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I just can’t help it when I find the forgotten one.
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I know the feeling.
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Have a nice day.
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I hope your readers enjoy the link!
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