Pappy Boyington
09-25-2015, 08:02 PM
#7
I've read many books on Pappy..." Once They Were Eagles " by his intelligence officer Frank Walton is the most insightful of all of them.
Basically Pappy fabricated many of his kills to become the leading Marine pilot. His 6 kills in Burma were all highly disputed by his fellow flyers.
One of his last kills on his last flight was never confirmed by the Japs....
Seems he learned after the war that he needed two more claims to break the record so made them up !!!
No doubt he was an excellent leader and pilot with many kills probably more like 20-22 in reality..
And he freely admits.... that he was a pathological liar .!
Basically Pappy fabricated many of his kills to become the leading Marine pilot. His 6 kills in Burma were all highly disputed by his fellow flyers.
One of his last kills on his last flight was never confirmed by the Japs....
Seems he learned after the war that he needed two more claims to break the record so made them up !!!
No doubt he was an excellent leader and pilot with many kills probably more like 20-22 in reality..
And he freely admits.... that he was a pathological liar .!
09-26-2015, 09:09 AM
#13
My Feedback: (21)
Read the real story of the Black Sheep and see what they thought of him! He was lucky to get out of China without the other flying tigers shooting him down.
Since they were paid by the kill the other pilots did not take kindly to him claiming theirs. Got the MOH because every one thought he was dead. Not a very nice man, nothing like he's portrayed in the TV series.
Since they were paid by the kill the other pilots did not take kindly to him claiming theirs. Got the MOH because every one thought he was dead. Not a very nice man, nothing like he's portrayed in the TV series.
Last edited by larry@coyotenet; 09-26-2015 at 10:13 AM. Reason: can't type sometimes
09-26-2015, 10:19 AM
#15
My Feedback: (21)
Sorry, my fingers sometimes get ahead of my brain
A good friend of mine in our local war birds group loves Corsairs, so when Boyington was at an airshow nearby he stood in line to pay for an autographed picture of Pappy. My friend came back completely disillusioned. My friend was a Navy Vet and looked up to Boyington because the series was running at that time. He said Pappy was a 1st class ass. Interesting how the real person can be so far from the legend.
A good friend of mine in our local war birds group loves Corsairs, so when Boyington was at an airshow nearby he stood in line to pay for an autographed picture of Pappy. My friend came back completely disillusioned. My friend was a Navy Vet and looked up to Boyington because the series was running at that time. He said Pappy was a 1st class ass. Interesting how the real person can be so far from the legend.
09-26-2015, 12:47 PM
#16
I think in reality Pappy was many different people and personalities depending on his state of sobriety ( aren't we all ?...Human )...He was basically and top class A-Hole Drunk in Burma..it wasn't until he got back to the sates and was parking cars again in Washington that he finally realized he had a "mans job" to do...
No doubt he was a great patriot as in his later years he ran for state congressman ( or some political position )...
He loved being in the limelight and made a career out of promoting himself ...phony as he was , achievements and all...must have been hard to live with those character weaknesses...thus the endless achohol abuse.
No doubt he was a great patriot as in his later years he ran for state congressman ( or some political position )...
He loved being in the limelight and made a career out of promoting himself ...phony as he was , achievements and all...must have been hard to live with those character weaknesses...thus the endless achohol abuse.
