USMC Col. Gregory "Pappy" Boyington: The Black Sheep Ace of WWII

Yesterday, I mentioned the 1970s television series “Baa Baa Black Sheep” based on the exploits of fighter ace USMC Col. Gregory "Pappy" Boyington. I enjoyed watching this show as a kid and I was surprised about how many people on Facebook also enjoyed watching this TV show. During my research, I analyzed Pappy’s personnel file and found out some interesting information. As many of you know, he was one of the most famous Marines of World War II and President Harry S Truman was adamant about having him at a big celebration in the Rose Garden on 5 October 1945 when he was going to award several living Medal of Honor recipients from the Pacific War and he wanted Pappy there to attract more press. And for all of Truman’s bias against Leathernecks, he seemed to really like Pappy.

Pappy had difficulties his whole life with alcohol and with telling the truth. He was indeed a crazy, skilled fighter-pilot who started his combat career with the Flying Tigers in China. He was with the Flying Tigers because he wanted to see action in combat and because he had been kicked out of the Marine Corps due to dishonorable conduct. After Pearl Harbor, he was able to obtain a waiver to returned to the Marine Corps because of his skill as a pilot and he would command several squadrons throughout the Pacific campaign. By the time he was shot down and became a POW in January 1944, he had earned, according to him, 28 kills (historians put the kills at 26). And he may be the only serviceman who was “healthier” after being a POW in Japan due to the forced sobriety.

For Boyington’s exploits, he was awarded a Medal of Honor in absentia (until the end of the war, many did not know if he was alive or dead). However, many people don’t know that Pappy was also given a Navy Cross for the same actions that led to his Medal of Honor, something that violates the regulations—you cannot receive two medals for the same actions. In making this exception, one overseeing officer of the process claimed: “Yet, of all our air heroes, Major Boyington has been one of the least recognized.” According to this staffer, Boyington was “owed” these awards because he had been ignored too long. This double award was indeed rare, but when it did happen, it seemed to only happen to officers. Two others who had this happened to them documented in my book “Flamethrower” was USMC Commandant, General Alexander A. Vandegrift, and head of the Navy Awards and Decorations Department, Rear Admiral R. W. Halyer. Vandegrift received his Medal of Honor and a Navy Cross for the same actions on Guadalcanal and Hayler received one of his three Navy Crosses and a Silver Star for the same actions. All these men must have known they received these medals without justification because it was known to all that a serviceman could not receive double awards with the Marine Corps officially writing: “since only one decoration or medal may be awarded for the same act or acts, it is necessary to set aside and cancel previous awards.” Well the double awards for Pappy, Vandegrift and Hayler were never “cancelled.” All these men, when reading their citations, must have known they got these double awards “illegally.”

The valorous medal process is indeed a strange world and many men feel they should have received more than what they did. For example, after the war, in 1952, now Colonel and MOH recipient Pappy Boyington solicited President Harry Truman to get Lieutenant General Chesty Puller a Medal of Honor citing the reason he had not got one was due to politics and not due to a lack of merit (Puller did have five Navy Crosses). Boyington even claimed his MOH would not have been awarded to him had people not assumed the Japanese had killed him: “I was never awarded a single decoration until after I was presumed dead and lost in action.” He also took the opportunity to “document” that he should have received more medals than he did, but was denied them due to personalities working against him writing: “During this time, according to the standards, I should have received thirty-two Air Medals, fifteen Distinguished Flying Crosses, three Navy Crosses and two Purple Hearts and a Silver Star from the Army Commanding General at Guadalcanal.” Boyington may have warranted a few of these medals, but how in the world he thought he deserved more Navy Crosses and a Silver Star was purely subjective on his part and without evidence. Nonetheless, Truman pushed Boyington’s request for Puller with the Marine Corps. However, Puller never got a Medal of Honor with the Commandant answering Truman: “The records of this Headquarters show that Brigadier General Puller has never been recommended for the award of the Medal of Honor for his services in the Marine Corps” (this was not actually true—Chesty had been put in for a MOH, but Vandegrift had shot it down). With that statement, the Corps hoped to put to rest a review of Puller’s file for awarding him a MOH.

But the Commandant had further explaining to do. Truman had apparently also inquired with the Corps as to why Boyington did not merit the list of awards he claimed he should have received. The Commandant then took two pages to explain many errors in Boyington’s letter with pointing out one of the most glaring ones: “It will be noted that the recommendation for the Medal of Honor was submitted over two months prior to Colonel Boyington’s capture by the Japanese.” So, the highest medal for valor was being “processed” for Boyington months before he was “presumed dead.” While both Puller and Boyington probably should have received more awards, not all acts of a military man will ever be fully documented. Although this “medal” process seems unfair and arbitrary, it does not mean one can dismiss the practice of giving medals. It is there to award bravery and many men, like Pappy, Chesty and many others, do get a lot of awards, just maybe not as many or at the proper level they maybe should have.

Pappy was always pushing the envelope past acceptable norms, and he did this with his exploits and his medals his whole life. He was indeed a very brave, crazy Marine and performed some unbelievable acts during World War II as a fighter pilot. However, he took a respectable record that he had and tarnished it with lies, alcoholism and embellishments. In a very candid moment, he said about his life: “’I’m a psychopathic liar,’ probably intending to say” pathological. In reviewing Pappy’s memoir, historians have found he was being truthful about being a liar. The sad fact remains, he didn’t have to. Most Marines would have given a right arm to have had half the accomplishments Pappy did and if we were in combat today, there probably wouldn’t be a Marine Corps fighter pilot who wouldn’t want Pappy as their wingman. Semper Fi, Pappy.

To learn more about the Marines who served in the battle of the Pacific, see “Flamethrower”:

 https://www.amazon.com/Flamethrower-Recipient-Williams-Controversial-Holocaust/dp/1734534109/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid&sr&fbclid=IwAR2f1rsCasi9YxM9H3qIPpVGZlu-ODwE8mZCN1iptADaQy5MoeqLiDePkrY