The Real Story of Corsair Legend Gregory “Pappy” Boyington 

you ever see me going down with 30 zos on my tail don’t give me up I’ll meet you in a San Diego bar and we’ll have a drink for Old Time sake major Gregory papy bton let his own words of just a few days prior echo in his mind the famed Corsair Ace was currently in a bind he had just pulled the trigger sending his third zero of the day down in flames but because of the importance of this kill he is forgotten to check his six behind him now zeros and plenty of them he tried hard to pull away but he had already given up his altitude and there

was nowhere left to go the Japanese Pilots pulled the trigger and bullets tore into the aircraft of one of the top American aces in history surely Greg papy bton was finished or was he now before we get into papy’s story What if I I told you that you could actually get an autograph from the papy boring well now you can thanks to this video’s sponsor flight from historic autographs flight is a collectible card set from the largest non-sport card manufacturer out there and this series focuses on everything around Aviation

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to collect and when you do use code tj3 for 15% off your order thanks again to a store autographs and the flight card set and now enjoy at this moment on January 3rd of 1944 papy was in trouble but this wasn’t the first time that Greg binton looked to be out of options in fact His Story begins with a situation just like this in 1934 A 22-year-old Gregory tried to join the aviation Cadet training program but was denied as he was told that married men were ineligible many would have given up here but not him at the

time his legal name was actually Gregory halenbeck his mother had divorced his father shortly after he was born and his parents had concealed this from him his entire life upon finding out that his father’s last name was in fact Boyington he decided to use this to his Advantage reapplying to the Marine Aviation Cadet program using the name Gregory binton who was as far as the government knew an unmarried 22-year-old man this worked and would be indicative of how the rest of his career would go doing what he

wanted and how he wanted to do it in order to make things work it was not the most traditional way but regardless he was now on his way to becoming a pilot after flying with the Marines for a couple of years in the states Boyington was assigned to be a flight instructor in Pensacola Florida but this would not go well after less than a year in this position in mid 1941 he got into a disagreement with a superior officer punching him in the face he would almost certainly face Court marshal for this and again many men would have given up

here but not Boyington while he was waiting around for the court Marshal a stroke of Good Fortune came and some Representatives came to his air base looking for volunteers to come and fight in China where they would have to first resign from the US Armed Forces it was the perfect out and he jumped at the opportunity shockingly though punching Superior officers in the face wasn’t the only way that papy Boyington liked to make friends he also liked to make friends with those at the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company who sent this

letter to the United States Bureau of Investigation letting them know that Lieutenant Gregory Bon was indebted to them in the sum of $300 for food purchases made on his account while stationed in California and unsurprisingly efforts to contact him about collection were unsuccessful and in case you are wondering a $300 balance on food and tea would be $ 6,191 today clearly papy enjoyed high class meals but he would have to leave all that behind when he joined the fighting in China where he was destined to make even more

friends here he would be a part of the American volunteer group more commonly known as The Flying Tigers this would be where he would get his first taste of combat in a P40 in blazen with the famous shark teeth while flying over China he would do quite well he scored his first confirmed kill here over a Japanese bomber and then his second soon after in a short period of time he was given command over his own flight proving that he was a skilled pilot but once again again as combat went on his friendships that he was making made his

time quite difficult in early 1942 less than a year after he arrived he began to clash with AVG leader Clare Chenal and quickly became disliked by many of the other aviators in the group who called him a liar and a drunk in fact borrington himself claimed that he shot down six aircraft while in China but was only actually given credit for two by the AVG because of these disagreements Bingington broke his contract with the American volunteer group leaving for the United States on his own in April of 1942 shortly after arriving in the

United States in the summer of 1942 Gregory Bingington rejoined the Marine Corps and took a Major’s commission apparently he had just executed the perfect baon switch where the US Marine Corps had essentially forgotten that he had less than a year ago punched a commanding officer in the face so just like it never happened he was accepted back as a fighter pilot and also just as impressive the Marine Corps accepted his own claims of six kills and status as an ace in his time with the Flying Tigers since there was no one from the AVG

around to dispute his claims but nonetheless he was once again a marine around this time Bingington began to train TR in a new aircraft the F4U Corsair the Corsair was the new premier fighter of the Marines and was in many ways an aircraft that was quite difficult to learn it had a tendency to stall and poor visibility on takeoffs and landings but once a pilot mastered it it could turn and fly with the best of the aircraft around after learning the F4U Gregory Bon was deployed to the South Pacific in early 1943 and was assigned to Marine

fighter attack Squadron 122 he flew with this unit for about 3 months over guad Canal scoring no aerial kills during this time then in July he was transferred to commanding officer of vmf 112 and here in July and August of 43 he also scored no kills but then Boyington continued with his ways making friends very fast for reasons that were likely related to his heavy drinking regular smoking and abrasive personality Gregory bton never seemed to last too long in one place this was true once again here this time the move however

would be for the better this transfer would go on to be the one that would make Bon’s career in September of 1943 Gregory was sent to be the leader of a brand new Squadron Marine fighting Squadron 214 this new Squadron was being assembled and would fly out of Henderson field on guad Canal right in the thick of the action as the unit met for the first time it became clear why someone like Buon might have been assigned to lead this unit they were given few reliable planes no mechanics and all of the pilots in the units were orphans

assembled from random squadrons from all over the Pacific because of this they initially opted to name themselves boyington’s bastards but one of the commanding officers told them that this would not work well with public relations so it was instead changed to the black sheep which essentially meant the same thing the Squadron however was not the only thing given a new nickname in addition the men of the unit quickly began to call Boyington Gramps which progressed into papy this was because of his age being 30 years old at the time which was

nearly a decade older than most of the other pilots in the Squadron thus the name of a legend was born and he was from hence forward Gregory papy Boyington and it would not take long for papy to start writing his story just a few days after arriving in organizing this new Squadron on September 16th of 1943 the new unit the black sheep was sent up to escort a large force of dive bombers and torpedo bombers that Were Striking Japanese positions for for the first hour or so of the mission all was normal and the

corsairs linked up with the bombing flight over Munda but then as they neared the target the force was ambushed by a large group of Japanese fighters from the clouds Bingington and the corsairs leapt into action and vmf 214 officially entered the war in the ensuing dog fight which was stretched out over a massive span of Sky the corsairs of the black sheep claimed a massive victory allowing the bombers to reach their target and hit it with high accuracy the final score of the day according to the combat report was an impressive 19 to1

in favor of the Marine Corps aviators now it is important to note the full context of this in China Boyington had been accused of lying about claims getting official credit for two when he himself claimed that he shot down six and then 6 months later with two two other Corsair squadrons in the Pacific bton claimed zero kills but now on his very first mission as commander of his own Squadron binton tallied five kills achieving the rare Ace in a day feat with the Squadron diary literally using the terminology Boyington hit the

jackpot with 5 zeros this is certainly an interesting way of wording it so was Gregory Bingington back to his same games from China or was he simply the kind of pilot that needed to be in command doing things his own way to reach his full potential it is hard to tell for sure but this detailed report from the day lists his victories as sure zeros and what certainly adds more confusion is the fact that the after Action Report also says that Boyington by himself landed a full hour and a half later than all of the other Squadron Pilots that

day regardless quickly word began to spread about this new Young Ace from the South Pacific here we can see a newspaper from just a few days later which reads a new American flying ace has emerged from heavy raids on Japanese bases in the Solomons with a record of shooting down 5 zeros in a single engagement Marine major Gregory Boyington 30 of Okanogan Washington accomplished the rare feat last Thursday as almost 150 dauntless dive bombers and Avenger torpedo bombers escorted by Fighters raided the B air Drome on

banville island Boyington who bagged six bombers while flying with the American volunteer group in China now has 11 victories to his credit and becomes one of the leading aces in the South Pacific simply incredible Gregory bon in a span of Just 2 years has gone from the brink of Court Marshal to one of the leading American aces in the entire War now commanding his own Squadron and making the papers back home but this was only the beginning on September 27th he claimed another destroyed near kahili on October 4th of

1943 he claimed three more shot down in a single pass in less than 60 seconds now this one for example is almost surely accurate as he was with a group of other corsairs who watched this attack and he was the only pilot with kills claimed that day also noteworthy however is that he described what happened to each zero with one Catching Fire one crashing on land and one actually bailing out which is incredibly rare to see from the Japanese Pilots this brought his total to 15 kills making him a triple Ace a few days later on October 15th

Bon’s corsairs were again escorting a bomber raid this time the bombers were B24 liberators around 1200 hours the bombers came over their target and dropped the payload where Japanese Fighters were scrambled to intercept this was a poor strategy by the Japanese with their zeros trying to climb up and hit the bombers making them easy prey for the escorting corsers who already had a major hide Advantage because of this boyington’s preferred strategy of quick attacking passes was used to Perfection he Dove down along with his fellow black sheep

and drill the zeros in this short dog fight Buon claimed one kill and was also credited with three more probables while his fellow Pilots took down five of their own it finally seemed like the abrasive and unique Gregory papy Boyington had found a home leading a ragtag group of Pilots with less than ideal resources his drinking and smoking was tolerated since he was now in charge and their success was undeniable the men began to respect him and proudly followed him into battle as the fighting continued on October 17th 2 days later

he bagged three more zeros raising his total to 19 this would actually put him in the number one spot in the Ace race of the Southwest Pacific taking the number one spot from Thomas El Dorado and the next day he downed another one bringing his total tally now to 20 his goal quickly became clear passing the all-time American record set by legendary World War I Ace Eddie rickenbacher 26 kills he was currently just six kills away but he would have to wait before he would get his next shot a week later on November

3rd Boyington was given rest he was sent to Australia for a health and Recreation period they would return again well rested and hungry for combat on on November 27th but again his hunger would not be met for the first few weeks of December many fighter sweeps and patrols were sent up but the Squadron sparingly found Japanese Fighters despite multiple attempts to draw the enemy up so papy’s primary combat here was the strafing of various targets or simply uneventful missions this was likely especially frustrating to the already

short-tempered bton after hearing that another Marine pilot by the name of Joe Foss had recently surpassed his kill tally taking the lead in the battle over the Pacific but finally on December 23rd Christmas came early for marine fighting Squadron 214 during this mission on a strike over a ball vmf 214 was assigned to Low cover while b-24s and other Fighters were patrolling the higher altitudes here they would run into a large flight of Japanese zero and Tony fighters in the ensuing combat the corsairs got the best of it with many of

the black sheep tallying kills but unsurprisingly the star of the engagement was none other than papy Boon who tallied four himself all zeros in a span of 20 minutes at altitudes ranging from 10,000 ft all the way down to just 500 this day would bring his total to 24 aerial victories in the war once again making the papers back home major Gregory Boyington bagged four Japanese zeros over robal today to bring his score of enemy planes shot down to 24 two under the record of marine Joe Foss the four were part of 26 and possibly 29

 planes destroyed in a raid on the enemy’s New Britain Base by the Marine Black Sheep Squadron Gregory Bon was now closer than he had ever been just two kills away from tying the record of America’s highest scoring Ace in the first world war and regaining a share of the lead in this one his next combat would come 4 days later on December 27th here the large force of F4U corsers ran into 60 Japanese zeros hamps and Tony in the ensuing action vmf 214 Pilots accounted for 7even victories with one of them being a dirty Brown

zero shot down by papy buyon this one burned in for kill number 25 putting him now just one behind Foss and rickenbacher the stage was Now set his next major dog fight would be the one he had likely started to realize that his Squadron was nearing the end of its tour and they would likely be pulled back soon it was now or never he would either take back the lead and break the highly sought after record or he would die trying there would be no in between this Grand Finale would take place on January 3rd of 1944 here major Boyington led a flight

of five F4U Corsair their mission was to perform a fighter sweep over the Japanese stronghold and Port City of raal as they had done many times as they entered the target area a bump of turbulence brought Boyington back into Focus he shook his head awake and wiped the sweat from his eyes as the coast of New Britain Island appeared over the massive blue nose of his F4U Corsair this might be major boyington’s last chance to make history the black sheep’s flight North to the island was calm with a low particularly hazy cloud

cover obscuring the island chain below no enemy Fighters had been spotted yet prepared for their fighter sweep vmf 214 held a tight formation so close that they could communicate with hand signals and facial gestures for a long time all was quiet but then suddenly the abrupt call came out over the radio enemy Fighters 10:00 low Bingington scanned to either side of the nose and the men stayed in formation then a glint the canopy of a Japanese A6 m0 it was near the clouds climbing up to intercept the Marine fighter sweep papy

then shoved the stick forward and pushed the Corsair into a steep dive locked in on the Z es climbing up after them once he brought his nose around and the Gun Sight showed that they were in range he opened fire pouring a long and firm burst from the 6 50 caliber machine guns into the Japanese zero where it immediately burst into flames and fell towards the ground one down one to go major bointon had just achieved his 26th kill and tied the air-to-air victory record with multiple Squadron members behind him watching to confirm it

there was no debating this Victory he would not quit here though he had one more to go Bon continued his dive hard charging straight into the flight of 12 Japanese Fighters multiple aircraft of the enemy formation swung around and pursued him without hesitation though the other flyers of vmf 214 last Saw Boyington here disappearing into the low cloud cover over rabal with around 8 zeros on on his tail it appeared to be just as he predicted telling his men not to give him up and that he would meet them at a bar in San

Diego the dog fight continued and it was a chaotic mess in the thick clouds and low visibility eventually vmf 214 turned back for base when they returned to their Airfield they were met by a swath of cameramen and reporters waiting to interview Boyington on his record setting Victory how however this would be the final time that major Gregory Bonton would be seen or heard from during the war as the famous commander of the black sheep never came home from this mission on January 3rd in the Squadron diary we can see

that the very next morning on January 4th the Squadron awoke earlier than any other day at 5:50 a.m. to search for their missing leader major Boyington as well as Captain Ashman who also went missing during the confusing dog fight but nothing was ever found what happened after papy bton flew into the clouds on January 3rd would not be known until after the end of the war in late 1945 as the leader of the black sheep continued his dive downwards through the clouds near rabal he would punch through and fired his guns into a second zero at

this time though all Visual and radio contact was lost with any of the other flyers in his Squadron the aircraft that he fired at spiraled downwards with a cloud of black smoke his second kill in just a few seconds and just like that he had done it he had met and surpassed the most coveted milestone in American Aviation 27 aerial kills passing fighter Legend Eddie rickenbacher but his focus on this goal had cost him in pursuit of this second Japanese kill of the day he had gone far too low going beneath the cloud cover

and losing contact with his wingmen he was now all alone and the only friends that he had around were Japanese zeros who had just watched him kill two of their own he opted to dive harder going in lower with a swarm of zeros above and behind here major Boon lined up his final aerial victory of World War II eliminating a third zero near the the deck just a few hundred ft above the Pacific but the zeros on him were now directly behind and he had traded all of his speed and altitude to score these kills the Japanese Pilots then opened

fire peppering his aircraft until it gave out even the reliable Corsair couldn’t take the punishment that came his way now with no other options Boyington was forced to bail out of his aircraft eventually floating to the warm Waters below in reality the search that was sent for papy the following day had no chance of finding him as he had already been picked up by a Japanese submarine this would be the start of a grueling 20-month internment as a p until the war’s end in some of the most miserable prison camps around and to make matters

even worse the Japanese never even recorded bton as an official P to the Red Cross so for the remainder of the War it was widely accepted that he had been killed in action but if nothing else the thing that would keep him going was likely the fact that he knew that he had to clarify the records that he had indeed shot down two more zeros and that he was the first American Aviator to pass ricken bacher’s historical milestone for without his own report he knew that no one would ever know as we can see in the original combat report

which lists him with only one kill on the day since that is all any of his wingmen saw and if there’s anything that we know about papy it’s that if he wants something he will find a way to get it but fascinatingly the drive to make the record straight was not the only thing that kept him going in prison because of the strict sobriety policy that was enforced in Japanese P camps boyington’s Health greatly improved since he was not able to smoke and drink on a daily basis so he actually gained weight and was noticeably healthier while he was a

prisoner binton was awarded the Navy cross and the Medal of Honor which in many ways was assumed to be a postumus decoration at the time since it was awarded in March of 1944 but in reality this was not the case after the atomic bombs were dropped and Japan surrendered Gregory papy Boyington was liberated news quickly spread that the American hero was alive back from the dead by this point the men who knew papy expected nothing less in the years after World War I binton wrote a biography called ba ba black sheep

which was later made into a popular TV series that binton himself went on to call hogwash and Hollywood Hokum Gregory binton would pass away in 1988 at the age of 75 at his funeral in Arlington National C AR he was given full military honors including a missing man formation conducted by F4 Phantoms at his funeral one of his close friends looked down at The Headstone next to his and saw that it was boxing Legend Joe Lewis to which he remarked that old py wouldn’t have to go far to find a good fight thanks for

watching I hope you enjoyed and I’ll see you next time