... young Greg had a rough childhood - divorced parents, alcoholic step-father (who Greg believed to be his natural father until he entered the Marine Corps), and lots of moves. He grew up in St. Maries, Idaho, a small logging town. Greg got his first ride in an airplane when he was only six years old.Of course ... you know who we are talking about, right?
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In high school, he took up a sport that he would practice for many years - wrestling. Especially when he had had a few too many (which was often), (he) would challenge others to impromptu wrestling bouts, frequently with injurious results. He enrolled at the University of Washington ... where he continued wrestling and participated in ROTC. He met his first wife, Helene there; they were married not long after his graduation ... His first son, Gregory Clark Boyington, was born 10 months later.
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After a year with Boeing, Greg enlisted in the Marine Corps. On having to supply them with his birth certificate, he only learned of his natural father at that date. He began elimination training (he) had a tough time with flight training, and had to undergo a number of rechecks.
Until he arrived in Pensacola, (he) had never touched alcohol. But here, with hard-partying fliers, and aware of his wife's "fooling around," he soon discovered his affinity for liquor. Early on, (he) established his Marine Corps reputation: hard-drinking, brawling, well-liked,
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Before reporting for his assignment with VMF-1 at Quantico, Virginia, he took advantage of his 30-day to return home, and reconcile with his wife Helene, who became pregnant with their second child. In those days Marine aviators were required to be bachelors; Greg's family was a secret that he kept from the brass, but he brought them with him to Virginia, installing them quietly in nearby Fredericksburg.
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In July, he moved to Philadelphia, to attend the Marine Corps' Basic School for ten months. Apparently not motivated by the "ground-pounder" curriculum, Boyington here evidenced the weaknesses that would haunt him: excessive drinking, borrowing money (and not repaying it), fighting, and poor official performance.
His irresponsibility, his debts, and his difficulties with the Corps continued to mount ... when he flew with VMF-2, stationed at San Diego. One memorable, drunken night, he tried to swim across San Diego Bay, and wound up naked and exhausted in the Navy's Shore Patrol office. Despite his problems on the ground, it was during these days (he) first began to be noticed as a top-notch pilot. Whatever his other issues, he could out-dogfight almost anyone. Back at Pensacola ... his problems mounted - he decked a superior officer in a fight over a girl (not his wife), and his creditors sought official help from the Marine Corps. Greg's career was a hopeless mess ...
Rescue came from, of all places, China.
The money looked very good to Boyington. Assured that the program had government approval and that his spot in the Corps was safe, he signed on the spot, and promptly resigned from the Marine Corps. While the AVG deal for pilots normally did contemplate a return to active U.S. military service, in Greg's case, his superiors took a different view. They were happy to be rid of him, and noted in his file that he should not be reappointed.Yea ... our SOB. Gregory "Pappy" Boyington. Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the Marine Corps top ace, and a year and a half as a Japanese POW.
Head on over to AcePilots and read the rest.
30 comments:
He'd never make it in todays Marine Corps. let alone Navy...
It would be hard as hell for sure to rectify his career with this (from over at USNI):
But the reason overwhelmingly cited by veterans and active-duty officers alike is that the military personnel system—every aspect of it—is nearly blind to merit. Performance evaluations emphasize a zero-defect mentality, meaning that risk-avoidance trickles down the chain of command.
AND they made a TV series about him and the Black Sheep Squadron!
What a contrast...
Wish I could "like" that comment about 100x, even though the accurate sentiment it quotes makes me weep for the future of the nation...
I would submit that given all we know about him now, DOD should retroactively pull all of his awards and relieve him of any duties he previously had.
People who strap planes to their posteriors and do crazy things in the air are NOT like the rest of people.
You cannot fit a square peg into a round hole. Before a military thinks the thing to do is eliminate square pegs entirely, it better be sure it will never.need.square.pegs.
(Funny thing about black sheep... you need their wool unless you want every sweater to be vanilla white. I like a nice houndstooth pattern myself.)
Dang... after reading more about him I feel somewhat baffled about whether he was more agressive in the air or in the bed... you dont get 4 wives and 20+ kills without some really risky maneuvers...
I met him in 1977 at the airshow they used to have at Paine Field in Everett. I got him to autograph his book for me. He had a leathery, grisiled appearance and you could tell he had a lot of life and stories in him. He pretty much used up everything he had living life the way he wanted to.
Boyington, as is true with most humans, was a very complex person. He fled to the AVG when it was becoming obvious that he'd used up most of the goodwill his aerial skills had earned him in the Corps, by his actions on the ground. His brief time with the AVG was less than stellar, despite his 3.5-4.5 kills[opinion varies] and he was not held in good regard by most of his peers. No one was sad to see him break his contract and leave in March, 1942. Yet, for a brief and shining moment, he was indeed the right person, in the right place, at the right time. He fought alchoholism virtually his entire adult life, and it cost him dearly. But there's no denying he was indeed "Full Bore."
Given all the comments about how things used to be wrt Honors, one would expect that they would have welcomed him back with open arms. Selective memory?Were the good old days not actually that good either?
...and now the diversity Thursday rest of the story. http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48808.
If it doesn't work google "Boyington UW statue"
Like The Usual Suspect, I met him at a Confederate Air Force (Can we still say that??) in Harlingen, Texas in 1980. He sat at a small table in the hangar, hawking his book. He looked bad, very tired and very sad. I'm sad that my only memory of such an iconic character is thus.
The UW (and the NROTC Unit there) has had a love-hate relationship with "Pappy" Boyington for many years. I used to encourage my Marine Corps students to research his biography and they were generally surprised when they find out about his alcoholism and multiple marriages. His story provided the opportunity to tell them about the complex people they'll be working for and with and that heroes aren't always the cardboard cutouts that the PAOs want you to believe they are.
I was retired and observed the "Boyington Statue flap" complete with its insipid statements made by undergraduates ignorant of their nation's history, from the other side of Puget Sound. Ultimately the public uproar caused by the Student Senate's actions led to the construction of a monument that honors the eight UW alumni who have been awarded the MOH including Boyington and Bruce Crandall (of <span>We Were Soldiers Once...and Young</span> fame). It was dedicated on Veteran's Day in 2009.
He was the kind of pilot, the kind of man, and the kinf of hero this nations needs and produces easily. He's the kind of man who will win our nations wars. and give the diversity zampolits the vapors.
True grit, He had it in spades.
Brings to mind when Abraham Lincoln was told that Grant was a drunkard. Lincoln asked what he was drinking and wanted to order it for all his other Generals.
In this day and age, Pappy Boyington would have never made it to an airplane, let alone combat.
Insert Bull Halsey quote here
Yes..... Lincon responded to critics of Grant with "I can't spare this man... He fights!"
I am sure Professor Fleming would not have approved.
We need to continue to identify the current crop of "Boyington's", placed them in a wall display with instruction to break glass in time of war.
I'm assuming this is a dig at the DOD, right?
In in every sense of the word, this guy is a hero, even if he didn't believe it about himself.
It is unfortunate that alcoholism really damaged his life, and in the end never did find peace.
Eight seems like a lot. Is there a reliable list available online that compares MOH's among colleges and universities?
I'm sure the Ivies would score well on such a list, because before the liberal elite generally abandoned the military--using Vietnam as an excuse--they considered miltiary service noble, honorable, and a payback to this country for all of the opportunities that it provided to them.
The 2011 Navy version of Lincoln's words:
"This man has to go! He is offensive!"
Boy have you AND URR ever got that right!
Ya think?
I deserved that
How far would this get somebody today...?
his off hours were occupied with drinking bouts and fights. Irving nicknamed him "Sindbad." On leave in Baltimore, he stabbed and killed a drunk threatening him and escaped a lynching.
I didn't have time to fully comment yesterday 'bout the Student Senate flap, but want to say now that at the time radio talk guy Neal Boortz, whose father was a Marine fighter pilot, was all over it. The most revealing take-away for me was that when the oblivious-to-history Student Senate learned of the true background of the guy and how ridiculous their recorded comments appeared in retrospect, like all good little embarrassed lefty Stalinists, they attempted to airbrush history by (unsuccessfully, thank God--as theywere caught out) removing their moronicly ignorant comments from the official Student Senate record. ("Nobody here but us chickens!") What a TOTALLY disgraceful episode!--but SOOOOoooooo representative of today's academic (or what passes for academic) climate on all too many (a majority probably) of this nation's college campii.
vx, The otherwise liberal Seattle PI was all over it too. I was unaware of the attempt to revise the record of the student senate. Winston Smith would have been proud...
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