Gregory “Pappy” Boyington

POW 3 Jan 1944 - 29 Aug 1945

MEDALS-RIBBONS: Navy Medal of Honor , Navy Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple heart, Air Medal w/Gold Star, Prisoner of War, American Defense Service, American Campaign, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign w/2 Stars, World War II Victory

"Fighter Pilot, Ace, Author, Actor", Naval Aviator, VMA 214 AVG P-40 Warhawk

Boyington was a fighter Ace with 28 confirmed kills, including two as a Flying Tiger. He was the author of “Baa Baa Black Sheep, a book about the famed Black Sheep Squadron.  Robert Conrad played him in the 1976 TV series, Black Sheep Squadron. His MOH citation includes, “Major Boyington led a formation of 24 fighters over Kahili on 17 October and, persistently circling the airdrome where 60 hostile aircraft were grounded, boldly challenged the Japanese to send up planes. Under his brilliant command, our fighters shot down 20 enemy craft in the ensuing action without the loss of a single ship. A superb airman and determined fighter against overwhelming odds, Major Boyington personally destroyed 26 of the many Japanese planes shot down by his squadron." His plane was shot down at the end of this battle and he became a prisoner of war for 20 months until the end of the war when he was liberated.