page_title: Pappy Boyington
section_title: Flying Tigers
hierarchical_section_title: Pappy Boyington / Military career / Flying Tigers
caption_attribution_description: English: Vought F4U-1A Corsair, BuNo 17883, of Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, commander of VMF-214, Vella Lavella, end of 1943
context_page_description: Gregory "Pappy" Boyington was an American combat pilot who was a United States Marine Corps fighter ace during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross.
  A Marine aviator with the Pacific fleet in 1941, Boyington joined the "Flying Tigers" of the Republic of China Air Force and saw combat in Burma in late 1941 and 1942 during the military conflict between China and Japan.
  In September 1942, Boyington rejoined the Marine Corps. In early 1943, he deployed to the South Pacific and began flying combat missions in the F4U Corsair fighter. In September 1943, he took command of Marine fighter squadron VMF-214.
  In January 1944, Boyington, outnumbered by Japanese "Zero" planes, was shot down into the Pacific Ocean after downing one of the enemy planes. He was captured by a Japanese submarine crew and was held as a prisoner of war for more than a year and a half. He was released shortly after the surrender of Japan, and a few days before the official surrender documents were signed.
  The television series Baa Baa Black Sheep was inspired by Boyington and his men in the "Black Sheep" squadron. It ran for two seasons in the late 1970s.
context_section_description: Boyington resigned his commission in the Marine Corps on August 26, 1941, to accept a position with the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company (CAMCO). CAMCO was a civilian firm that contracted to staff a Special Air Unit to defend China and the Burma Road. This later became known as the American Volunteer Group (AVG), the famed Flying Tigers in Burma. During his time with the Tigers, Boyington became a flight leader. He was frequently in trouble with the commander of the outfit, Claire Chennault. Boyington was officially credited with 2 Japanese aircraft destroyed in the air and 1.5 on the ground, but AVG records suggest that he may have been owed an additional ground "kill". (He afterward claimed six victories as a Tiger, each kill detailed in his autobiography, but there is no substantiation for that figure, and aircraft destroyed on the ground normally do not count as victories.) In April 1942, he broke his contract with the American Volunteer Group and returned on his own to the United States.
caption: Vought F4U-1A Corsair, BuNo 17883, of Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, the commander of VMF-214, Vella Lavella, end of 1943
exif: {"Image Software": "LIBFORMAT (c) Pierre-e Gougelet", "Image DateTime": "2015:08:11 23:16:19", "Image ExifOffset": "102", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2006:11:17 09:23:45", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2006:11:17 09:23:45", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "00", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}