MovieChat Forums > Baa Baa Black Sheep (1976) Discussion > Blacksheep Squadron

Blacksheep Squadron

posted 19 years ago by Eventide_Dragon_Gold
10 replies | jump to latest

I am in Civil Air Patrol and our squad. is named after the original Blacksheep one. We even have the same call sign, 214. In 1978 Pappy Boyington visited our squad and allowed us to use the name and sign. (Of course that was before my time!) We watched the pilot episode of the series last night and had a lot of laughs, ecspecially about the whole drunkeness thing. Even though it was really far off base it was a good show.
Actual Facts about Pappy:
Was a drunk
WW2 Ace
Recieved Congressional Medal of Honor
Flew the F4U1A Corrsair
Took down a number of Japanese pilots as he catapulted out of the sky
Was captured and held POW
Was one of the best-fed prisoners due to the fact he worked in the kitchens
Was cured of his addiction to acohol until he got back to the states
Formed the Blacksheep squad. with remnants of other disbanded squads

Brittany in Texas

[–] Eric-1226 19 years ago

>>Was captured and held POW<<

That's really amazing. I didn't know he was shot down by the Jap(anese)s and held as a POW?? I long knew about his drinking, but I never had ANY idea that he was a POW during the war. Your post prompted me to check out his bio page here on IMDb and sure enough, it says "He was shot down himself on January 3rd, 1944, over the St. George Channel in the Soloman Islands. He was rescued by a Japanese submarine and spent the remainder of the war as a POW."

Can't say for sure, and somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe this POW affair of Colonel Boyington was ever incorporated into the TV show??

BTW, for further reading, there's a really good Wikipedia entry for Boyington, here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Boyington

[–] WickedLester 19 years ago

...or just read his book.
From what I've read, they took a lot of liberties with the show.

"You said it, Curly.....ACK!"

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Eventide_Dragon_Gold 19 years ago

Yeah, Pappy was low on money after his return to the states so he made up a bunch of stuff so that the tv company would give him more.
The one thing he said about being held POW was that the japanese cured him of his drinking problem(until he returned to the states that is).
The one thing I have a question about is that he was issued a Congressional Medal of Honor yet his name was not in the book about all the recepients of the medal of honor.

[–] sewalk927 19 years ago

His medal was something of an embarrassment to the Navy Department. Boyington was intensely disliked by many of his superiors and by many others throughout the War and Navy Departments. Only the presumption of his death on his final mission allowed his MoH to be approved. It was only after repatriation after the war that he was discovered to still be alive. Had the US government known he was still alive, he would most likely have not received the Medal of Honor.
Sad but true; He was a brave and resourceful pilot who cared deeply for the men who served in his squadron. A good pilot, officer, and Marine.

[–] skeevo666 19 years ago

Can't say for sure, and somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe this POW affair of Colonel Boyington was ever incorporated into the TV show??

No. "Hogan's Heroes" had already been done :-)

More Trivia: The pilots originally wanted to call themselves "Boyington's Bastards" but the War Department wouldn't allow it :-(

"It's a trap!"
- Admiral Ackbar

[–] Dakotan 19 years ago

All above items true and well documented in his autobiography, which is worth a read. A few more items about him:

Was shot down on a mission where he had 2 kills. These two kills brought him to 28 total, which made him the #1 American ace at the time, which was what he got the Medal of Honor for. He broke the record from World War I held by Eddie Rickenbacker. (Later broken by an Army P38 pilot)

Flew in the Flying Tigers and had to fight to get his USMC commission back (shown in the pilot). I think he had six kills in the Tigers, flying P-40s.

Worked in a brewery for a while after his return and discharge, which led him back to alcoholism. Also worked as a referee for professional wrestling. In his autobiography, there's a picture of him refereeing. He was actually a good collegiate wrestler in his day.

When shot down, he was picked up by a Japanese submarine while floating in a raft. He was going to conceal his identity, but his parachute pack, with his name on it, floated and he couldn't get rid of it.

[–] GrinningDwarf 19 years ago

You have to take Boyington's biography 'Baa Baa Black Sheep' with a grain of salt. It's more susceptable to tall tales than your average autobiography. Two books by a man named Bruce Gamble will give you a more acurate picture of the man and the squadron.

'Black Sheep One' is his bio of Boyington. Don't worry...he doesn't do a hack job and try to destroy a hero. You'll come away with a more realistic view of Boyington but still a healthy respect for his accomplishments and the personal demons he battled throught his life.

'The Black Sheep' is Gamble's book on VMF-214...in ALL it's incarnations. Great read!! Highly recommended!!

[–] jidxdeh 19 years ago

http://imdb.com/title/tt0517360/

he was in an episode and was creative consultant

[–] sslwolfman 18 years ago

okay let me clear up some stuff. pappy may have "given" permission for the squad to be called that. but in all actuallity he cant just go somewhere and give the squad name out.VMF-214 is for marine squads. now having the name black sheep and the designation of 214 given by the famous pilot ma ysound cool. but unless you are leading a whoel brach of the service you ahve no control.