Medal of Honor: Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, World War II, September 12, 1943 – January 3, 1944

Name: Gregory “Pappy” Boyington
Rank: Major
War: World War II
Date of Action: September 12, 1943 – January 3, 1944
Unit: Marine Fighting Squadron 214 (VMF-214), “The Black Sheep” Squadron
Born: December 4, 1912 – Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
Entered Service From: Washington

Summary of Action
Over the skies of the Central Solomons, Major Gregory “Pappy” Boyington carved his name into Marine Corps legend. As commander of VMF-214—his famously unruly “Black Sheep” Squadron—Boyington led from the front, turning raw fliers and outcasts into a lethal fighting unit. Between September 1943 and January 1944, he relentlessly hunted Japanese aircraft and shipping, often outnumbered and deep behind enemy lines.

On October 17, 1943, he led twenty-four Marine fighters over the heavily defended airfield at Kahili, circling low and daring the Japanese to come up and fight. Sixty enemy planes took the challenge—and Boyington’s squadron shot down twenty of them without losing a single aircraft. By the time he was shot down and captured in January 1944, “Pappy” had personally destroyed twenty-six enemy aircraft, tying Eddie Rickenbacker’s World War I record. His defiant leadership, reckless courage, and fierce devotion to his men made him one of the most iconic aces in Marine Corps history.

Medal of Honor Citation
BOYINGTON, GREGORY
Rank and organization: Major, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Marine Squadron 214. Place and date: Central Solomons area, from 12 September 1943 to 3 January 1944. Entered service at: Washington. Born: 4 December 1912, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Other Navy award: Navy Cross.
Citation: For extraordinary heroism and valiant devotion to duty as commanding officer of Marine Fighting Squadron 214 in action against enemy Japanese forces in the Central Solomons area from 12 September 1943 to 3 January 1944. Consistently outnumbered throughout successive hazardous flights over heavily defended hostile territory, Maj. Boyington struck at the enemy with daring and courageous persistence, leading his squadron into combat with devastating results to Japanese shipping, shore installations, and aerial forces. Resolute in his efforts to inflict crippling damage on the enemy, Maj. Boyington led a formation of twenty-four fighters over Kahili on 17 October and, persistently circling the airdrome where sixty hostile aircraft were grounded, boldly challenged the Japanese to send up planes. Under his brilliant command, our fighters shot down twenty enemy craft in the ensuing action without the loss of a single ship. A superb airman and determined fighter against overwhelming odds, Maj. Boyington personally destroyed twenty-six of the many Japanese planes shot down by his squadron and, by his forceful leadership, developed the combat readiness in his command which was a distinctive factor in the Allied aerial achievements in this vitally strategic area.