Many of the VMF-214 squadron members were unhappy how they were portrayed as disciplinary problem cases. Not true FYI. They were surplus pilots from the pool.
I recall reading in TV guide what a stir it was. I think the show's notoriety is what caused Time-Life to have a Black Sheep Squadron segment in one of their WWII series volumes.
I don't recal any stir, on a national level. I'm sure the original pilots were none too happy, but many had problems with Boyington's book, before the tv show.
"Fortunately, Ah keep mah feathers numbered for just such an emergency!"
in a recent article of air classics magazine a ww2 aircraft magazine there was an article saying how several of the pilots were upset with the obvious Hollywood icing of their experiences. They were a very professional group and while they were initial creation did involved some questionable details, by the time they became an operational unit they were pretty close to the typical Marine air unit. one man a credit every,
shareSorry for the incomplete post, my fingers are bigger than the buttons, lol.
now about the black sheep squadron being screw ups: one of the pilots Fred Avery who almost became an ace with black sheep squadron said in his book that they were not a bunch of misfits. But the impression was given by Hollywood because in Boynton book he had said that they were gathered from leftovers from other groups. This is partly true because a man with short time in theater we joined a group it had been there for a while would have to stay to finish his tour and the group would be rotated home. Then this man would be assigned another group to fly with until his tour was finished. In several of their reunions the main topic of their speeches is how to correct the public image of them being drunken buffoons and irresponsible and dangerous soldiers and pilots. There are several good books to read about them but I would not recommend using Pappy Boyington book as a historical reference because he had a tendency 2 glamorise some of their escapades.