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Baa Baa Black Sheep
The World War II air war in the Pacific needed tough men like Colonel Pappy Boyington and his Black Sheep Squadron. The legendary Marine Corps officer and his bunch of misfits, outcasts, and daredevils gave new definition to "hell-raising" - on the ground and in the skies.
Pappy himself was a living legend - he personally shot down 28 Japanese planes, and won the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross. He broke every rule in the book in doing so, but when he fell into the hands of the vengeful Japanese his real ordeal began.
Here, in his own words, is the true story of America's wildest flying hero, of his extraordinary heroism, and of his greatest battle of all - the fight to survive.
368 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1958
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1648 people want to read
About the author
Gregory Boyington
9 books13 followersGregory "Pappy" Boyington was the U.S. Marine Corps' top scoring fighter ace during the Second World War, scoring 28 victories in aerial combat.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 135 reviews
March 20, 2012
I've been told the TV show Baa, Baa Black Sheep was not very good. I don't know. When it was on, I was too busy enjoying it to notice.
I think that may be the case here - one thing I can say for sure is that the book was not ghost written. God bless him, but the man was not a gifted writer. He was a gifted flyer and fighter. The book is probably not "good," but I enjoyed it too much to notice.
And if you want to round out your vision of the myth with some facts, this book will help you. Flyers were in combat zones for short periods - 6 or 12 weeks or something. He did most of his flying in one half (the second half) of 1943, was shot down in the first days of 1944, and spent the rest of the war in a secret Japanese prison camp where they kept 'special prisoners' that they didn't tell the Red Cross about. Boyington was missing in action, presumed killed, until two weeks after the war ended.
He also struggled with booze, and it's clear Alcoholics Anonymous philosophies directed his approach to life at the time he wrote the book.
If you love Corsairs, and enjoyed the TV show, and thought it was so cool that the show had actual combat from the wing cameras, this book is pretty much a must-read. If you have an autographed picture of "Pappy" with his squadron because your uncle was in the Marines and served in the Pacific in WW II and knew him, then you already enjoyed this book. I have to bug my wife to let me hang up that picture.
I think that may be the case here - one thing I can say for sure is that the book was not ghost written. God bless him, but the man was not a gifted writer. He was a gifted flyer and fighter. The book is probably not "good," but I enjoyed it too much to notice.
And if you want to round out your vision of the myth with some facts, this book will help you. Flyers were in combat zones for short periods - 6 or 12 weeks or something. He did most of his flying in one half (the second half) of 1943, was shot down in the first days of 1944, and spent the rest of the war in a secret Japanese prison camp where they kept 'special prisoners' that they didn't tell the Red Cross about. Boyington was missing in action, presumed killed, until two weeks after the war ended.
He also struggled with booze, and it's clear Alcoholics Anonymous philosophies directed his approach to life at the time he wrote the book.
If you love Corsairs, and enjoyed the TV show, and thought it was so cool that the show had actual combat from the wing cameras, this book is pretty much a must-read. If you have an autographed picture of "Pappy" with his squadron because your uncle was in the Marines and served in the Pacific in WW II and knew him, then you already enjoyed this book. I have to bug my wife to let me hang up that picture.
June 27, 2012
This book didn’t grab me because of the writing ability of Gregory Boyington, but I was hooked from page one. There is no phony about this man and it is no wonder that he was a born leader. He pulls no punches and tells everything the way that he sees it. His personal accounts of the war and his opinions of the people he encountered there were mesmerizing. I read it as a boy in 1977 and he was instantly one of my heroes. His front page quote has stuck with me to this day, “Just name any hero… and I’ll prove he’s a bum.” Boyington saw the world differently than anyone around him and even though he was in the military, he pulled no punches about doing things ‘his’ way and the world be damned. His accounts about fighting his own demons, such as alcohol, were unbelievably honest and stark. Even though he was obviously a drunken braggart at times, I have no doubt that there is some truth in every single story he told and that to his death he would have fought anyone to defend the honor of his words. I’d recommend this book to anyone with interest in WWII or as an autobiography or a real man and a real American hero.
February 17, 2023
Very interesting and entertaining read. Pappy Boyington has been a hero of mine since I first saw the fictionalized TV series about him and his flyers. Very well written book. Very recommended
August 24, 2023
My husband pressed this book upon me several times and I'm grateful he did. Col. Boyington had a great many adventures! He was a complex man it seems. I valued reading about his Marine service in the Pacific and of his time as a POW with the Japanese. His raw descriptions of his struggles with alcohol abuse add poignancy to the memoir.
October 3, 2010
A fantastic tale from real person about war in the pacific--without the whitewash. Some embellishments maybe, who knows? I wasn't there but this book made me feel that i was. This book cannot be rated like other books, simply as a "good read" or whatever. More than that, this is one man's insight, raw and unedited, into the life of a true modern day hero. This book proves, like Pappy says and so admits about himself that all heroes are bums in some respect at least. Pappy was an alcoholic, who cares? Pappy lived most of his life in squalor thanks to the military, made almost no money for his selfless (or some might say selfish) work. In spite of his personal failures and in the nadir of mental anguish, he reached a zenith as a combat pilot and leader of men. Except for being shot down once, he was a preternatural pilot and feared by his opponents. When most people would have given up after so many set backs (physical, mental, spiritual, and political) and denials from his superiors, political intrigue, etc., he manged to find a way to rise to the top, cut the red tape and in a material way help win a war. He pretends to nothing. You can't questions his belief in what he was doing you can't help but respect him as an American.
May 14, 2021
Not one of the more gripping World War II books I have read, this memoir still has a great deal to commend it. "Pappy" Boyington looks back on his exploits as a Marine pilot in the Pacific Theater. His story is not one of blood and guts or of flying by the seat of his pants but one determined to explain the life of a fighter pilot. Many readers may be surprised (as I was) to learn how little of their time was taken up with the missions themselves. Also shocking is the news that Boyington spent the last 20 months of the war as a POW of the Japanese. In fact, this is probably the most exciting part of the book as he details how he survived. Through it all, Boyington's rational discussion of his war and his views on it make him a unique warrior-hero and his book worth a look.
October 4, 2024
I avidly read Boyington's wartime memoir in April 1977. I was then a preteen who had become "aviation mad."
This is a book that richly describes Boyington's experiences of flying combat with the "Flying Tigers" in China and Burma (1941-42) and later with the USMC in the South Pacific (September 1943 - January 1944) - as well as the time Boyington spent as a POW in Japan, in addition to the early postwar years back in the U.S. (and his struggles with alcoholism).
This is a book that richly describes Boyington's experiences of flying combat with the "Flying Tigers" in China and Burma (1941-42) and later with the USMC in the South Pacific (September 1943 - January 1944) - as well as the time Boyington spent as a POW in Japan, in addition to the early postwar years back in the U.S. (and his struggles with alcoholism).
June 16, 2018
Surprisingly good. Despite Boyingtons reputation for padding the truth a little, my initial hesitations were won over by the honest and down to earth tone of his writing. The number of times he makes fun of himself outnumber the times he brags.
I enjoyed taking a look back in time into the minds of the fighting citizen soldiers at that time, learning about air warfare in the Pacific, and seeing the strange contradictions of life as a prisoner under the Japanese.
I enjoyed taking a look back in time into the minds of the fighting citizen soldiers at that time, learning about air warfare in the Pacific, and seeing the strange contradictions of life as a prisoner under the Japanese.
June 14, 2007
"Show me a hero, and I'll prove he's a bum." -Greg Boyington
This book's is about the author's experiences as a WWII pilot in the Pacific. It is mostly a linear rant, but nonetheless very interesting. He meets many colorful characters and sees many strange things in China and the Solomon islands. He has some interesting insights into war and the human condition. He also talks a fair amount about the planes and missions he flew, but never deteriorates into geek-speak.
As commander of the Black Sheep Squadron, Major Greg "Pappy" Boyington was the first American to shoot down 26 enemy planes, surpassing the record set in WWI. He was also a total drunk, and there are a few stories of his drunken escapes through the book. It follows his experiences at the beginning of the war with the Flying Tigers, through the end of the war, and for a few years after when he was paraded around as a "war hero". Thus he has some interesting insights into the whole military propaganda machine as well. In short, an interesting book, with lots of stories told in a very matter-of-fact manner. It was nice to see WWII through the eyes of someone who was actually there, and not through the Hollywood lens. Worth reading if you are interested in WWII or military aviation.
This book's is about the author's experiences as a WWII pilot in the Pacific. It is mostly a linear rant, but nonetheless very interesting. He meets many colorful characters and sees many strange things in China and the Solomon islands. He has some interesting insights into war and the human condition. He also talks a fair amount about the planes and missions he flew, but never deteriorates into geek-speak.
As commander of the Black Sheep Squadron, Major Greg "Pappy" Boyington was the first American to shoot down 26 enemy planes, surpassing the record set in WWI. He was also a total drunk, and there are a few stories of his drunken escapes through the book. It follows his experiences at the beginning of the war with the Flying Tigers, through the end of the war, and for a few years after when he was paraded around as a "war hero". Thus he has some interesting insights into the whole military propaganda machine as well. In short, an interesting book, with lots of stories told in a very matter-of-fact manner. It was nice to see WWII through the eyes of someone who was actually there, and not through the Hollywood lens. Worth reading if you are interested in WWII or military aviation.
December 28, 2021
I loved the TV Series based on this book, and enjoyed the archived version of it again recently. I decided that I really needed to read the original story. That was a good decision, as the book covers MUCH more than the actually short time (it seems much longer in combat) that he spent in the South Pacific. The early years and experiences in China with the Flying Tigers take up almost a quarter of the book and are really necessary to understand the man and his circumstances.
The “action” years in the Pacific Theater were short but intense, and dramatized in the TV series. They were only the prelude to the last half of the biography, which details his almost two years of captivity in Japan. Those stories may be more informative of the attitudes and character of both Major Boyington and the Japanese than any other part of the book. Finally, he comes home as a reluctant hero, realizing but not avoiding the fact that he is an alcoholic. This part is not as “adventuresome” as some may like, but I think that his honest telling of the problems of alcoholism and the only way to live sober despite that condition are the most valuable parts of this story.
The “action” years in the Pacific Theater were short but intense, and dramatized in the TV series. They were only the prelude to the last half of the biography, which details his almost two years of captivity in Japan. Those stories may be more informative of the attitudes and character of both Major Boyington and the Japanese than any other part of the book. Finally, he comes home as a reluctant hero, realizing but not avoiding the fact that he is an alcoholic. This part is not as “adventuresome” as some may like, but I think that his honest telling of the problems of alcoholism and the only way to live sober despite that condition are the most valuable parts of this story.
June 10, 2011
My whole prior knowledge of "Pappy" Boyington was derived from the old TV show so I wanted to get the full story by reading the book that the show was based on. It was an ok read even though he is tough to follow at times since his narrative is much like a stream of semi-random thoughts and stories, especially early on. I learned a few things - he was a five-time combat ace, he was a hidden POW (what the Japanese termed a "captive" and therefore not subject to Geneva Convention rules concerning treatment) for two years, and he was an alcoholic. The books gets more interesting after he is shot down until he returns home. The later part of a the book focuses on the alcoholism and his life after the war. As militry biographies go, all in all, the most value comes from the discussion of his life as a prisoner and how our guys were treated by the Japanese.
June 10, 2010
I'm not normally a major reader of war memoirs, but Greg "Pappy" Boyington's story of his experiences as a fighter pilot during WWII (including commanding the famous Black Sheep Squadron) and his time spent in a Japanese POW camp was a fascinating read. Blunt, honest, and witty, with self-deprecating humor and understated heroics aplenty, this autobio left me with stars in my eyes, muttering "What a guy" in amazement at both his nerve (the man was a self-confessed troublemaker) and his bravery.
March 21, 2024
Pappy Boyington was, as many war heros were and still are today, not cut from the fair haired American boy central casting image often seen in movies. Not even close.
I can't decide if he was more likely to be killed by the Japanese or court marshalled and jailed by the military in which he served.
Either way, a hero for certain given all he accomplished as a fighter pilot and leader of other fighter pilots.
I give him credit for titling his book as he's done. To have called it anything else would have been a failed attempt to whitewash his image.
Instead, based on his own account, he appears to struggle to make amends for some of what he did and didn't do, said and didn't say.
We should all be so self aware and honest about ourselves.
I've dropped off one star for what could have made this a better book with better editing. You believe you are reading the words of a man who was not well educated, but such was not the case.
He graduated college, joined the service, learned to fly, was a POW, awarded the Medal of Honor, all in addition to having done an incredible job leading men into air combat with the Japanese in the early days of the war.
That said, the fact that the writing often violates the Chicago Manual of Style only makes his story all the more believable.
I can't decide if he was more likely to be killed by the Japanese or court marshalled and jailed by the military in which he served.
Either way, a hero for certain given all he accomplished as a fighter pilot and leader of other fighter pilots.
I give him credit for titling his book as he's done. To have called it anything else would have been a failed attempt to whitewash his image.
Instead, based on his own account, he appears to struggle to make amends for some of what he did and didn't do, said and didn't say.
We should all be so self aware and honest about ourselves.
I've dropped off one star for what could have made this a better book with better editing. You believe you are reading the words of a man who was not well educated, but such was not the case.
He graduated college, joined the service, learned to fly, was a POW, awarded the Medal of Honor, all in addition to having done an incredible job leading men into air combat with the Japanese in the early days of the war.
That said, the fact that the writing often violates the Chicago Manual of Style only makes his story all the more believable.
April 22, 2020
I love this book, but not for all the same reasons I love many other WWII memoirs. It has its fair share of history, of course, and in this case it helps that Boyington's experience includes his time with the Flying Tigers in Burma as well as his contributions to the Pacific island-hopping campaigns. But what makes this book really unique is Boyington's voice. He paints a very vivid and highly personal picture of life at war--both with the Japanese and with some of his own incompetent military leaders (though he certainly doesn't gloss over his own faults). And his accounts of the Japanese prison camps are equally riveting, and they add interesting depth to one's appreciation of other POW experiences like that of Zamperini in "Unbroken" (whose path crossed with Boyington's). In places, "Black Sheep" reads more like a diary than a war memoir--highly personal, filled with asides and reflections, and lots of Boyington's own opinions. But it is all fascinating and engaging. I wish he had described his battles in more detail. And I would have loved to hear more about his experiences flying the Corsair, in particular. But those caveats aside, this is a great book. This is perhaps the third time I've read it, but still enjoyed it immensely.
February 1, 2023
Very comparable to Steel Boat, Iron Hearts: A U-boat Crewman's Life Aboard U-505 - not ghostwritten, excellent perspective on the war, corrects errors and assumptions. I also enjoyed both quit a bit.
This details Boyington's service career, non-service time with the Flying Tigers, and subsequent service career again. Gives an excellent overview of day-to-day life in those flying corps, and even some great descriptions of dogfights.
Will caveat that I've not watched the television show, but I know of it. Yes, Pappy was no writer, but he gets his message across in a very readable format. Would have been nice to have a few more pictures - everything after incarceration is text only.
This details Boyington's service career, non-service time with the Flying Tigers, and subsequent service career again. Gives an excellent overview of day-to-day life in those flying corps, and even some great descriptions of dogfights.
Will caveat that I've not watched the television show, but I know of it. Yes, Pappy was no writer, but he gets his message across in a very readable format. Would have been nice to have a few more pictures - everything after incarceration is text only.
April 6, 2021
First published in 1958, this story is simply amazing! As a career-long USAF pilot I’d heard ‘Pappy’ (a call sign he received because he was older (~30) than the much younger pilots around him) Boyington’s name all the time. This autobiography—many have criticized it for being written poorly but you’ll be drawn in from the beginning—is funny and truthful and will have readers smiling the entire book through! Pappy shot down 28 Japanese fighters, won the Congressional Medal of Honor, Navy Cross and was shot down and spent time as a POW. The exploits and stories will be relatable to other military people. Pappy and his Black Sheep squadron were misfits, but loyal to one another—there’s nothing they wouldn’t do for mutual support. Pappy courageously addresses his lifelong struggle with alcohol which makes his story even more human.
May 14, 2024
Written in a way that feels as if Pappy is in the room with you recounting the story, taking rabbit trails as they come, Baa Baa Black Sheep is an easy-to-read memoir that provides a rarely-seen perspective on the Pacific Theatre of WWII.
I would only suggest this book for mature readers as Pappy was not the most virtuous, by his own admission, and some of the scenes reflect that in more detail than a younger reader may like.
I would only suggest this book for mature readers as Pappy was not the most virtuous, by his own admission, and some of the scenes reflect that in more detail than a younger reader may like.
June 6, 2023
I found his opinions of Chennault and Stilwell interesting. It's obvious he wrote this himself and it wasn't ghost written. There are some sins of omission and I think some lies in this autobiographical true story, but he doesn't shy away from his alcoholism. The telling seems mostly true and a lot less glamorous than the TV show Black Sheep Squadron.
December 16, 2021
This is an easy, straight forward read directly from the 'horse's mouth' as it were. What held my interest was Boyington's willingness to present himself, warts and all, to the reader; given what most countries demand of their war heroes, and the spin doctor polishing of history, the narrative is all the more refreshing.
Two things come through clearly about WWII pilot's experience. Firstly, the 'actual shooting war' is a very, very small part of their lives - months out of years, in fact - and even that is dominated by boredom, interspersed with moments of action. As Boyington describes, even on a successful mission it's 30 seconds of fighting action in amongst hours of flying tedium. Secondly, the role of serendipity in all of it; finding yourself in the right place, the right time, the right squadron, the right posting. As Boyington says, better pilots than he ended up with no kills simply because they never saw an enemy aircraft during their tour(s) of duty.
Absolutely recommended reading
Two things come through clearly about WWII pilot's experience. Firstly, the 'actual shooting war' is a very, very small part of their lives - months out of years, in fact - and even that is dominated by boredom, interspersed with moments of action. As Boyington describes, even on a successful mission it's 30 seconds of fighting action in amongst hours of flying tedium. Secondly, the role of serendipity in all of it; finding yourself in the right place, the right time, the right squadron, the right posting. As Boyington says, better pilots than he ended up with no kills simply because they never saw an enemy aircraft during their tour(s) of duty.
Absolutely recommended reading
January 11, 2019
Excellent
Exciting and often hilarious aviation/WW2 adventure story, followed by Boyington's gradual redemption in his personal life, which was surprisingly insightful. Highly recommended.
Exciting and often hilarious aviation/WW2 adventure story, followed by Boyington's gradual redemption in his personal life, which was surprisingly insightful. Highly recommended.
October 13, 2015
Greg "Pappy" Boyington writes about his life in a U.S. Marine fighter squadron {VMA)-214 during World War II in the Pacific. He includes some of the regulations that he and his men ignored.
May 3, 2015
Great story of the Flying Tigers & VMF-214, flying the great Chance-Vought Corsair. Plus a spiritual journey through a difficult life.
Read
November 16, 2016Very Gud
March 10, 2020
Boyington is the master of understatement. This book starts off with a bang but ends with a whimper.
November 25, 2023
Gregory "Pappy" Boyington's 1958 Baa Baa Black Sheep is the earthy and irreverent, droll and cocky, and ultimately probing memoir, or "aviation adventure of sorts" (1977 Bantam paperback, page 116), of a famed fighter pilot who reveals to us, slowly and bit by bit, that in addition to his 28 enemies shot down in combat, he also battled an enemy within.
In September of 1941 Boyington is "an instructor at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida," "a regular first lieutenant in the Marine Corps, with six years of flying experience, most of it in fighters" (pages 3-4), and he "instruct[s] and check[s] out students eight flights a day for one hour each, five days a week" (page 5). The man definitely knows his stuff--one does not end up scoring 28 aerial victories in the next two years without having a great deal of skill, and of course some luck, too--but he he is not one to lord it over youngsters, instead commenting to us that he "never recalled giving a student a down-check, as [he] had found it much more satisfactory to talk him into flying an up-check" (page 132).
Indeed, much later, when commanding a fighter squadron in the Pacific and discovering that one of his men has taken off without authorization and flown "through...two hundred miles of fog" to strafe the absolute hell outta five Japanese ships, probably "kill[ing] practically everyone aboard," Boyington explains that though it "was up to [him] to bawl [the pilot] out," he just doesn't have the temperament for that:
"'I'm not going to bother chewing you out, Jack,' I told him. 'You knew yourself that you disobeyed orders. But I'm going to write you up for a Navy Cross.'
This boy was awarded the Navy Cross.
Or, as I was told by 'Chesty' Puller years ago, there is only a hairline's difference between a Navy Cross and a general court-martial." (pages 185-86)
Boyington understands the bad-boy type all too well to criticize, because of course that is what he himself is. A big overgrown kid, a self-described "lug" who was "blessed...with strength and coordination both" (page 92), he has had a lot of joyful experience in boxing, wrestling, womanizing, and--through the time period of most of this book--being "a whiz at a cocktail party" (page 5). The author also shrugs, though, that at the time he was in certain respects a "true lame-brain" (page 127). Before the war, after all, he "had a fatal gap between...income and accounts payable" and "had to account by mail to Marine Corps Headquarters each month about how much money was being paid on each debt" (page 5).
Fortunately for his bank balance, Boyington hears about the "World War I flyer, a retired Army Air Corps captain, breez[ing] around different flying bases...in the United States" (page 3), recruiting for a mysterious outfit that eventually will be revealed as the American Volunteer Group, or Flying Tigers. In addition to adventure in far-off China, the job offers big money: $675 monthly, plus a $500 "bonus" for every Japanese plane shot down (page 4). Lest we sniff at these numbers, let us remember that the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator says this would be over $13,000 per month in mid-2023 dollars, with a shoot-down bonus close to $10,000. And presumably this would be tax-free. Like I say, for most folks that's big money.
So Boyington fought with the Flying Tigers against the Japanese in China, and not solely for money, although by the end this "half-assed idealist" (page 106) had grown more than a little disillusioned. It is not simply his conclusion that it was "so obvious" Chiang Kai-shek "was nothing but a front for Madame Chiang," whom Boyington "was positive...was a number-one con artist if [he] had ever seen one" (page 94), or his estimation "that only about 5 per cent of the arms and ammunition, medical supplies, and the like from the Allies ended up for their intended purpose" (page 81). Even with that remaining 5%, "[i]t was so obvious," he again asserts, "that the Chinese weren't fighting with the supplies that were given to them" (81). At one point a smuggler from "a province some distance" away, a fellow with "a sort of knowing, pimp-like wiseness about his manner," tries to dicker for his .38 and some ammo, and "[s]omething else became clear," Boyington tells us in disgust. "These yellow-skinned bums weren't with the United States against the Japanese. They were all fighting for power within China, standing by for an opportunity to take over. And they went for the guy they counted on giving them the most in the end" (pages 80-81).
A few months after Pearl Harbor, the members of the AVG--who, remember, at the time were civilians, having been carefully discharged from American service first--were to be inducted into the Army Air Corps. Yet according to "those secret papers lying in Admiral Nimitz's safe in Washington" (page 91), Boyington "ha[s] a regular commission waiting for him in the Marine Corps" (page 90), and he determines that if he is killed in the war, then dammit, "there was going to be a slab of marble with Gregory Boyington, USMC, inscribed thereon in Arlington National Cemetery" (page 91). Really, the tale of how he got out from under the thumb of General Claire Chennault--who would have started him out in the Army not even as a first looey like he had been, but as a second lieutenant, when "all of [his] classmates by then were majors in the Marine Corps" (page 104)--and then unstuck his stuck paperwork with a "masterpiece" of a telegram to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy written with the help of a fifth of bourbon (page 110) is a doozy. Suffice it to say here, however, that by January 1943 he was steaming for the Pacific once again (page 112).
Eventually, of course, the thirty-year-old major who due to age was relegated to merely pushing paper is able "to con [his superior] into making a squadron out of thin air" (page 143), a supposedly "temporary fighter squadron to fill the gap until" the arrival of promised Navy carriers and their onboard fighter wings (page 129)...and thus the Black Sheep Squadron was born. Its exploits, and "Pappy's" as well, are legendary, and justly so. Perhaps my favorite flying shenanigan is the time "enemy ground control had [their] frequency," with a voice, as if from another American fighter unit, yet in too-perfect English, asking to join up:
"'Major Boyington, what is your position?'
'Over Treasury Island,' I came back with...and then told him exactly where we were above the clouds.
'What are your angels, Major Boyington?'
'Twenty angels, repeating, twenty angels.'
'I read you five by five,' which means loud and clear, and then they ceased transmitting. I had lied about my altitude angels, for we were at twenty-five thousand, and were putting an extra grand on for luck while I was talking." (pages 154-55)
Boyington tells us that when that "most beautiful sight" of "a formation of thirty Nippon Zeros" climbs out of the clouds, "I recall placing a finger to my lips to caution for silence," and the Black Sheep drop out of the sun and begin "a mad whirlpool" of a dogfight, with "several" Zeroes soon downed (page 155), including three by Pappy himself (page 156).
Such jollities rarely work more than once, however, and next time around with their "Major Boyington, what is your position?" gag, the Japanese won't take the bait being tossed back. Before fuel runs too low and forces heading back to base, Boyington "trie[s] to taunt them off the ground" with "Right over your airport; why don't you yellow bastards come on up and fight?" The enemy's response is "Major Boyington, why don't you come down if you are so brave?"...so, "leaving the rest of the fighters upstairs," Pappy and his wingman dive in for some quick "insult strafing" to hit a couple of anti-aircraft positions and the aircraft on the field. "All right, you devils, I was down," he "challenge[s]" them. "Now, how about you coming up?" (page 170), but poor Boyington gets no takers. "This was a hell of a note, a fellow having to change his tactics daily in order to get a nibble," he quips. "I should have been thankful the enemy was not in a complete rut, and killing me with monotony" (pages 170-71).
Of course, casual braggadocio aside, when one's "chosen field" is "sitting behind a single engine killing people with six machine guns" (page 91), then in addition to reaching for "meat on the table" (page 140) in the form of unwary enemy aircraft, there also is a helluva lot of danger. It's "no way to get rich--or, for that matter, even live to a ripe old age" (page 91). Piled on top of the danger of combat, there also is, at least in the Pacific, the misery of "the tropical crud" that Boyington reports left "[r]unning sores...in [his] armpits, on [his] chest, and in [his] crotch so badly [he] wasn't able to sleep much," along with ears that are "sealed tight by caked pus" every morning, needing the "painful operation daily" of being broken open and having sulfa "blow[n]...into them with a straw" (page 212).
Moreover, being "the biggest drunk [of] fighter-pilot commanders in the Corps during this period" (page 133) and "disregard[ing]...orders concerning drinking, like they were so much confetti" (page 195), certainly sounds on first read like quite a swaggering manly thing, especially if the squadron one leads has "destroyed over a hundred enemy aircraft, not to mention a bit of shipping, and ha[s] done loads of escorts and patrols" successfully (page 198). But if it "become[s] standard procedure" to have to wake oneself every morning from a hangover by "wobbl[ing] out of the tent" and "submerging...head and shoulders" in a rain barrel "several times" to "steady...down a bit" (page 207)...well, then things really have gone too far, haven't they?
It will take a near-fatal shoot-down to shake Boyington out of his self-destructive slide deeper, ever deeper, followed by a couple years of utter privation and occasional savage beatings in a secret Japanese "intimidation camp" that, unlike a normal P.O.W. camp, was completely off the books and unknown to the Red Cross. Even then, after the war, the man will not be able to keep himself from sinking once again, and it will take still more years before he at last finds a way out.
"Pappy" Boyington is worldly and opinionated, yet understanding as well, from his appreciation of the finer points of visiting exotic Bali--"[n]o brassieres and so forth" (page 16)--to how, even after his captivity, he "didn't hate the Japanese" in general (page 351), and his Baa Baa Black Sheep, by turns action-filled, witty, and philosophical, will continue to remain, even generations removed from his exploits and sorrows and joys, a 5-star read for anyone interested in the Second World War or aviation.
In September of 1941 Boyington is "an instructor at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida," "a regular first lieutenant in the Marine Corps, with six years of flying experience, most of it in fighters" (pages 3-4), and he "instruct[s] and check[s] out students eight flights a day for one hour each, five days a week" (page 5). The man definitely knows his stuff--one does not end up scoring 28 aerial victories in the next two years without having a great deal of skill, and of course some luck, too--but he he is not one to lord it over youngsters, instead commenting to us that he "never recalled giving a student a down-check, as [he] had found it much more satisfactory to talk him into flying an up-check" (page 132).
Indeed, much later, when commanding a fighter squadron in the Pacific and discovering that one of his men has taken off without authorization and flown "through...two hundred miles of fog" to strafe the absolute hell outta five Japanese ships, probably "kill[ing] practically everyone aboard," Boyington explains that though it "was up to [him] to bawl [the pilot] out," he just doesn't have the temperament for that:
"'I'm not going to bother chewing you out, Jack,' I told him. 'You knew yourself that you disobeyed orders. But I'm going to write you up for a Navy Cross.'
This boy was awarded the Navy Cross.
Or, as I was told by 'Chesty' Puller years ago, there is only a hairline's difference between a Navy Cross and a general court-martial." (pages 185-86)
Boyington understands the bad-boy type all too well to criticize, because of course that is what he himself is. A big overgrown kid, a self-described "lug" who was "blessed...with strength and coordination both" (page 92), he has had a lot of joyful experience in boxing, wrestling, womanizing, and--through the time period of most of this book--being "a whiz at a cocktail party" (page 5). The author also shrugs, though, that at the time he was in certain respects a "true lame-brain" (page 127). Before the war, after all, he "had a fatal gap between...income and accounts payable" and "had to account by mail to Marine Corps Headquarters each month about how much money was being paid on each debt" (page 5).
Fortunately for his bank balance, Boyington hears about the "World War I flyer, a retired Army Air Corps captain, breez[ing] around different flying bases...in the United States" (page 3), recruiting for a mysterious outfit that eventually will be revealed as the American Volunteer Group, or Flying Tigers. In addition to adventure in far-off China, the job offers big money: $675 monthly, plus a $500 "bonus" for every Japanese plane shot down (page 4). Lest we sniff at these numbers, let us remember that the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator says this would be over $13,000 per month in mid-2023 dollars, with a shoot-down bonus close to $10,000. And presumably this would be tax-free. Like I say, for most folks that's big money.
So Boyington fought with the Flying Tigers against the Japanese in China, and not solely for money, although by the end this "half-assed idealist" (page 106) had grown more than a little disillusioned. It is not simply his conclusion that it was "so obvious" Chiang Kai-shek "was nothing but a front for Madame Chiang," whom Boyington "was positive...was a number-one con artist if [he] had ever seen one" (page 94), or his estimation "that only about 5 per cent of the arms and ammunition, medical supplies, and the like from the Allies ended up for their intended purpose" (page 81). Even with that remaining 5%, "[i]t was so obvious," he again asserts, "that the Chinese weren't fighting with the supplies that were given to them" (81). At one point a smuggler from "a province some distance" away, a fellow with "a sort of knowing, pimp-like wiseness about his manner," tries to dicker for his .38 and some ammo, and "[s]omething else became clear," Boyington tells us in disgust. "These yellow-skinned bums weren't with the United States against the Japanese. They were all fighting for power within China, standing by for an opportunity to take over. And they went for the guy they counted on giving them the most in the end" (pages 80-81).
A few months after Pearl Harbor, the members of the AVG--who, remember, at the time were civilians, having been carefully discharged from American service first--were to be inducted into the Army Air Corps. Yet according to "those secret papers lying in Admiral Nimitz's safe in Washington" (page 91), Boyington "ha[s] a regular commission waiting for him in the Marine Corps" (page 90), and he determines that if he is killed in the war, then dammit, "there was going to be a slab of marble with Gregory Boyington, USMC, inscribed thereon in Arlington National Cemetery" (page 91). Really, the tale of how he got out from under the thumb of General Claire Chennault--who would have started him out in the Army not even as a first looey like he had been, but as a second lieutenant, when "all of [his] classmates by then were majors in the Marine Corps" (page 104)--and then unstuck his stuck paperwork with a "masterpiece" of a telegram to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy written with the help of a fifth of bourbon (page 110) is a doozy. Suffice it to say here, however, that by January 1943 he was steaming for the Pacific once again (page 112).
Eventually, of course, the thirty-year-old major who due to age was relegated to merely pushing paper is able "to con [his superior] into making a squadron out of thin air" (page 143), a supposedly "temporary fighter squadron to fill the gap until" the arrival of promised Navy carriers and their onboard fighter wings (page 129)...and thus the Black Sheep Squadron was born. Its exploits, and "Pappy's" as well, are legendary, and justly so. Perhaps my favorite flying shenanigan is the time "enemy ground control had [their] frequency," with a voice, as if from another American fighter unit, yet in too-perfect English, asking to join up:
"'Major Boyington, what is your position?'
'Over Treasury Island,' I came back with...and then told him exactly where we were above the clouds.
'What are your angels, Major Boyington?'
'Twenty angels, repeating, twenty angels.'
'I read you five by five,' which means loud and clear, and then they ceased transmitting. I had lied about my altitude angels, for we were at twenty-five thousand, and were putting an extra grand on for luck while I was talking." (pages 154-55)
Boyington tells us that when that "most beautiful sight" of "a formation of thirty Nippon Zeros" climbs out of the clouds, "I recall placing a finger to my lips to caution for silence," and the Black Sheep drop out of the sun and begin "a mad whirlpool" of a dogfight, with "several" Zeroes soon downed (page 155), including three by Pappy himself (page 156).
Such jollities rarely work more than once, however, and next time around with their "Major Boyington, what is your position?" gag, the Japanese won't take the bait being tossed back. Before fuel runs too low and forces heading back to base, Boyington "trie[s] to taunt them off the ground" with "Right over your airport; why don't you yellow bastards come on up and fight?" The enemy's response is "Major Boyington, why don't you come down if you are so brave?"...so, "leaving the rest of the fighters upstairs," Pappy and his wingman dive in for some quick "insult strafing" to hit a couple of anti-aircraft positions and the aircraft on the field. "All right, you devils, I was down," he "challenge[s]" them. "Now, how about you coming up?" (page 170), but poor Boyington gets no takers. "This was a hell of a note, a fellow having to change his tactics daily in order to get a nibble," he quips. "I should have been thankful the enemy was not in a complete rut, and killing me with monotony" (pages 170-71).
Of course, casual braggadocio aside, when one's "chosen field" is "sitting behind a single engine killing people with six machine guns" (page 91), then in addition to reaching for "meat on the table" (page 140) in the form of unwary enemy aircraft, there also is a helluva lot of danger. It's "no way to get rich--or, for that matter, even live to a ripe old age" (page 91). Piled on top of the danger of combat, there also is, at least in the Pacific, the misery of "the tropical crud" that Boyington reports left "[r]unning sores...in [his] armpits, on [his] chest, and in [his] crotch so badly [he] wasn't able to sleep much," along with ears that are "sealed tight by caked pus" every morning, needing the "painful operation daily" of being broken open and having sulfa "blow[n]...into them with a straw" (page 212).
Moreover, being "the biggest drunk [of] fighter-pilot commanders in the Corps during this period" (page 133) and "disregard[ing]...orders concerning drinking, like they were so much confetti" (page 195), certainly sounds on first read like quite a swaggering manly thing, especially if the squadron one leads has "destroyed over a hundred enemy aircraft, not to mention a bit of shipping, and ha[s] done loads of escorts and patrols" successfully (page 198). But if it "become[s] standard procedure" to have to wake oneself every morning from a hangover by "wobbl[ing] out of the tent" and "submerging...head and shoulders" in a rain barrel "several times" to "steady...down a bit" (page 207)...well, then things really have gone too far, haven't they?
It will take a near-fatal shoot-down to shake Boyington out of his self-destructive slide deeper, ever deeper, followed by a couple years of utter privation and occasional savage beatings in a secret Japanese "intimidation camp" that, unlike a normal P.O.W. camp, was completely off the books and unknown to the Red Cross. Even then, after the war, the man will not be able to keep himself from sinking once again, and it will take still more years before he at last finds a way out.
"Pappy" Boyington is worldly and opinionated, yet understanding as well, from his appreciation of the finer points of visiting exotic Bali--"[n]o brassieres and so forth" (page 16)--to how, even after his captivity, he "didn't hate the Japanese" in general (page 351), and his Baa Baa Black Sheep, by turns action-filled, witty, and philosophical, will continue to remain, even generations removed from his exploits and sorrows and joys, a 5-star read for anyone interested in the Second World War or aviation.
August 20, 2022
This autobiography, published in 1958, was written many years before the fictitious show loosely inspired by Gregory Boyington’s life, "Baa Baa Black Sheep" (later syndicated as "Black Sheep Squadron"), was televised on NBC from 1976 through 1978, starring actor Robert Conrad.
Boyinton's real life was fascinating and, in his book, he exposes his flaws, including his alcoholic problems. Without getting into too much detail, he mentions his failed first marriage and his three children. He mentions that he was born in Idaho (in 1912). He doesn't go into detail about his past military life, as in the beginning of his book, he mentions that he became a volunteer pilot for the Flying Tigers. The Flying Tigers was formed to help to oppose the Japanese invasion of China. When the Japanese invaded Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, it caused American’s involvement in WWII.
By September 1942, Boyington rejoined the Marine Corps, where he had originally been working as a pilot before the Flying Tigers, and was deployed to the South Pacific. A year later he became the commanding officer of what was to be nicknamed, the "Black Sheep Squadron." The other pilots referred to Boyington as "Gramps" since he was in his early 30s at this time, at least ten years older that most of the other Marines serving under him. He writes about boozing and women, when opportunity arose. He was a daring pilot who took many risks to shoot down the Japanese. He rarely flew the same aircraft more than a few times. During his time with the Black Sheep Squadron, he had reached his record of shooting down 25 Japanese fighter planes. He was almost ready to retire, but with encouragement from others, they urged him to shoot down at least one more plane and then on January 3, 1944, he had a record of 26 enemy planes shot down. But, then on that same day, although it was witnessed that Boyington shot down a Japanese Zero, he was himself shot down by the Japanese. Boyington's wingman was killed that same day and Boyington was not seen after his air battle with the Japanese, and declared Missing in Action (MIA).
The most fascinating part of Boyington’s story begins as he becomes a capture of the Japanese when one of their submarines finds him floating on the Pacific Ocean. His captivity was not reported back to the United States, and Boyington said that it was not until weeks after the war ended that it had been confirmed to anyone that he was still alive. He had spent the rest of the war –approximately 20 months in Japanese prison camps. His recollections about his capture were an enthralling read. At one of the camps, the former Olympic distance runner, Louis Zamperini was a fellow prisoner, but he doesn’t write much about him. Boyington was a survivor and stayed positive, despite beatings, painful injuries, hunger, and boredom. He eventually was given a position at one of the camps to work as a cook in the kitchen, and it was here that he learned to steal food to help himself to be stronger. He built a friendship with a kind 60-year-old Japanese woman who felt sorry for his struggles. He credits the Japanese for helping him to stop drinking, as he said absolutely no one in the military or in his personal life could keep him away from drinking. Finally, when the war ended, Boyington was returned to the United States. A party was held on his behalf at the St Francis Hotel in San Francisco and covered by Life Magazine. Although he was encouraged to drink and celebrate, Boyington said that after not drinking for almost two years in Japan, he just didn’t feel the urge anymore.
But this would not last. He received the Medal of Honor from President Harry S. Truman in Washington, D.C. He had also been awarded the honor of Navy Cross. He went on a tour to promote Victory Bonds. During the tour, he was often asked the same questions over and over again about his capture in Japanese. People were surprised that he was not full of hate for the Japanese and that he even predicted that the United States would become friends of the Japanese. He said that the Japanese were curious about the Americans and would want to know more. He did eventually return to his old habits of heavy drinking, especially since after the war, he had trouble finding work and mostly worked in sales. He said that he also had a hobby of wrestling and would participate in professional wrestling matches which would bring in income. He discusses how he met and then would marry his second wife on January 8, 1946. Boyington knew he wasn’t perfect, and often rough around the edges, but he is an interesting person, an unconventional, reluctant hero of World War II.
Boyinton's real life was fascinating and, in his book, he exposes his flaws, including his alcoholic problems. Without getting into too much detail, he mentions his failed first marriage and his three children. He mentions that he was born in Idaho (in 1912). He doesn't go into detail about his past military life, as in the beginning of his book, he mentions that he became a volunteer pilot for the Flying Tigers. The Flying Tigers was formed to help to oppose the Japanese invasion of China. When the Japanese invaded Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, it caused American’s involvement in WWII.
By September 1942, Boyington rejoined the Marine Corps, where he had originally been working as a pilot before the Flying Tigers, and was deployed to the South Pacific. A year later he became the commanding officer of what was to be nicknamed, the "Black Sheep Squadron." The other pilots referred to Boyington as "Gramps" since he was in his early 30s at this time, at least ten years older that most of the other Marines serving under him. He writes about boozing and women, when opportunity arose. He was a daring pilot who took many risks to shoot down the Japanese. He rarely flew the same aircraft more than a few times. During his time with the Black Sheep Squadron, he had reached his record of shooting down 25 Japanese fighter planes. He was almost ready to retire, but with encouragement from others, they urged him to shoot down at least one more plane and then on January 3, 1944, he had a record of 26 enemy planes shot down. But, then on that same day, although it was witnessed that Boyington shot down a Japanese Zero, he was himself shot down by the Japanese. Boyington's wingman was killed that same day and Boyington was not seen after his air battle with the Japanese, and declared Missing in Action (MIA).
The most fascinating part of Boyington’s story begins as he becomes a capture of the Japanese when one of their submarines finds him floating on the Pacific Ocean. His captivity was not reported back to the United States, and Boyington said that it was not until weeks after the war ended that it had been confirmed to anyone that he was still alive. He had spent the rest of the war –approximately 20 months in Japanese prison camps. His recollections about his capture were an enthralling read. At one of the camps, the former Olympic distance runner, Louis Zamperini was a fellow prisoner, but he doesn’t write much about him. Boyington was a survivor and stayed positive, despite beatings, painful injuries, hunger, and boredom. He eventually was given a position at one of the camps to work as a cook in the kitchen, and it was here that he learned to steal food to help himself to be stronger. He built a friendship with a kind 60-year-old Japanese woman who felt sorry for his struggles. He credits the Japanese for helping him to stop drinking, as he said absolutely no one in the military or in his personal life could keep him away from drinking. Finally, when the war ended, Boyington was returned to the United States. A party was held on his behalf at the St Francis Hotel in San Francisco and covered by Life Magazine. Although he was encouraged to drink and celebrate, Boyington said that after not drinking for almost two years in Japan, he just didn’t feel the urge anymore.
But this would not last. He received the Medal of Honor from President Harry S. Truman in Washington, D.C. He had also been awarded the honor of Navy Cross. He went on a tour to promote Victory Bonds. During the tour, he was often asked the same questions over and over again about his capture in Japanese. People were surprised that he was not full of hate for the Japanese and that he even predicted that the United States would become friends of the Japanese. He said that the Japanese were curious about the Americans and would want to know more. He did eventually return to his old habits of heavy drinking, especially since after the war, he had trouble finding work and mostly worked in sales. He said that he also had a hobby of wrestling and would participate in professional wrestling matches which would bring in income. He discusses how he met and then would marry his second wife on January 8, 1946. Boyington knew he wasn’t perfect, and often rough around the edges, but he is an interesting person, an unconventional, reluctant hero of World War II.
July 23, 2023
I watched the TV show based on this book with my dad when it aired in the late 70s. I've read that the show had little basis in reality, but I loved it, and I loved watching it with my dad. I read Colonel Greg "Pappy" Boyington's book at some point way back when, but I remembered little about it other than it really was nothing like the TV show. I found the book on Audible recently and was pretty sure that I would enjoy listening to it and would appreciate it much more than I did as a younger person. Both of those things turned out to be true. While I wouldn't say the book is particularly well written (it's more a stream of consciousness than a memoir), it is quite real. The colonel is honest about both his accomplishments and his failings. I was impressed with his willingness to call out his own bad decisions as many people, especially today, only want the world to see the good stuff. That's not the case here.
Written in 1957, the book begins when Pappy joins the Flying Tigers in 1941, goes through WW2, and ends shortly after he marries his second wife in 1946. Through approximately the last third of the book, he describes the nineteen months that he was held in various prison camps by the Japanese after being shot down. I found this section of the book to be the most interesting. While he spent all those months in a POW camp, Pappy and several other of his fellow prisoners were never officially listed as a prisoner of war, so the Red Cross was never notified, and their families all presumed that they had been killed. They didn't learn the truth until a few days after the war was over.
The narrator of the audiobook is Eric Martin, and his performance was very good.
Written in 1957, the book begins when Pappy joins the Flying Tigers in 1941, goes through WW2, and ends shortly after he marries his second wife in 1946. Through approximately the last third of the book, he describes the nineteen months that he was held in various prison camps by the Japanese after being shot down. I found this section of the book to be the most interesting. While he spent all those months in a POW camp, Pappy and several other of his fellow prisoners were never officially listed as a prisoner of war, so the Red Cross was never notified, and their families all presumed that they had been killed. They didn't learn the truth until a few days after the war was over.
The narrator of the audiobook is Eric Martin, and his performance was very good.
December 14, 2018
Fascinating story of courageous and troubled man.
Pappy Boyington tells a great story about his flying in the Flying Tigers in China and Marine Corps in the Solomon Islands. Because of his alcoholism he is a humble and broken man. Not what you expect from the leader of "the black sheep" and the most successful marine pilot in the history of the Corps (in terms of aerial kills). He provides a very honest assessment of his flying days in combat, his 20 months in a brutal Japanese POW camp and his struggles with alcohol after the war. Just a real humble and broken man. As a Naval Aviator during desert storm, his description of squadron life and dealing with non combatant senior officers is very authentic. He provides great descriptions and detail of many of his combat experiences. Highly recommended for military history enthusiasts. I would also have a loved one who is beginning to struggle with substance abuse read this book. Alcohol destroyed his career, his marriages, and his life.
Pappy Boyington tells a great story about his flying in the Flying Tigers in China and Marine Corps in the Solomon Islands. Because of his alcoholism he is a humble and broken man. Not what you expect from the leader of "the black sheep" and the most successful marine pilot in the history of the Corps (in terms of aerial kills). He provides a very honest assessment of his flying days in combat, his 20 months in a brutal Japanese POW camp and his struggles with alcohol after the war. Just a real humble and broken man. As a Naval Aviator during desert storm, his description of squadron life and dealing with non combatant senior officers is very authentic. He provides great descriptions and detail of many of his combat experiences. Highly recommended for military history enthusiasts. I would also have a loved one who is beginning to struggle with substance abuse read this book. Alcohol destroyed his career, his marriages, and his life.
October 22, 2018
I feel a little embarrassed saying this, but I really enjoyed this book. For a couple of reasons:
1. I enjoyed watching the TV show when I was growing up. It was not any Emmy award winner...not by a long shot. But it was a lot of fun for someone who was probably a pre-adolescent at the time. So this book is a bit of a flashback for me.
2. I enjoy the history. I knew very little about the "Flying Tigers" era. So though it wasn't exactly comprehensive, I appreciated the opportunity to read more about it.
3. I enjoyed Greg Boyington's "take" on the history. His perspective was micro rather than macro. And that was interesting. His experience especially as a POW was really interesting, especially when contrasted to the experience of Louis Zamperini, who wrote "Unbroken."
This book isn't going to win any awards, (it isn't that well-written) but especially for someone like me, who grew up watching the show, and interested in the history, I enjoyed reading it.
1. I enjoyed watching the TV show when I was growing up. It was not any Emmy award winner...not by a long shot. But it was a lot of fun for someone who was probably a pre-adolescent at the time. So this book is a bit of a flashback for me.
2. I enjoy the history. I knew very little about the "Flying Tigers" era. So though it wasn't exactly comprehensive, I appreciated the opportunity to read more about it.
3. I enjoyed Greg Boyington's "take" on the history. His perspective was micro rather than macro. And that was interesting. His experience especially as a POW was really interesting, especially when contrasted to the experience of Louis Zamperini, who wrote "Unbroken."
This book isn't going to win any awards, (it isn't that well-written) but especially for someone like me, who grew up watching the show, and interested in the history, I enjoyed reading it.
October 4, 2023
An interesting autobiography of one of World War II's great fighter pilots. Greg "Pappy" Boyington had the great good fortune to live at a time when his wild living and fighting spirit were of great value to his nation. His life after the war is a good indicator of how little he might have accomplished in life had the war not intervened.
Boyington doesn't pull punches. He's honest about his difficult childhood, his character, and his drinking problems both during and after the war. But he tells a good story of his experiences, both as a very successful Marine fighter pilot in a "black sheep" (always in trouble) squadron that is now one of the USMC's most famous, and as a long-time prisoner of war in Japan when the nation thought him to have perished. He also is honest about the difficulties he experienced in adjusting to life after the war, a very common tale for soldiers, sailors and airmen both famous and not.
Well worth a reader's time.
Boyington doesn't pull punches. He's honest about his difficult childhood, his character, and his drinking problems both during and after the war. But he tells a good story of his experiences, both as a very successful Marine fighter pilot in a "black sheep" (always in trouble) squadron that is now one of the USMC's most famous, and as a long-time prisoner of war in Japan when the nation thought him to have perished. He also is honest about the difficulties he experienced in adjusting to life after the war, a very common tale for soldiers, sailors and airmen both famous and not.
Well worth a reader's time.
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