Customer Reviews

Black Sheep One: The Life of Gregory "Pappy" Boyington

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Pappy Boyington is one of the most memorable pilots of World War II. But as he famously said: "Show me a hero, and I'll show you a bum." He did the best to prove his own maxim.

As a member of the Flying Tigers of Burma and China, he was credited with two Japanese aircraft shot down, but left early and in such disfavor that he got a "dishonorable discharge" from its commander, Claire Chennault. He then re-joined the Marines and proceeded to build an unorthodox fighter squadron--the Black Sheep--with many similarities to the Tigers, with himself playing the role of Chennault. Shot down, he was awarded the Medal of Honor while serving time in two of Japan's most notorious prisons. He emerged alive at the end of the war, claiming to have accounted for enough Japanese planes on his final day to make him the leading USMC ace of World War II.

It's a fascinating story, but Bruce Gamble goes beyond the war record to show us the boy growing up in a troubled family and following his seemingly doomed path to alcoholism and brawling and a troubled marriage of his own. Boyington's checkered career postwar is equally compelling. You feel sorry for him, angry at him, and in awe of him as one of the great shooters of all time.

This is a brilliant book and an important one, and it belongs on the shelf of anyone with an interest in World War II aviation.

Gamble's biography of Boyington begins with his dysfunctional upbringing in the Pacific Northwest. Raised by a troubled mother and a ...stepfather, the deck was stacked early against this man of great potential. This good time Charlie, devil-may-care college boy became one of the leading Aces of WWII, with twenty-nine kills, if he is to be believed. And Gamble apparently does not believe all that Boyington has to say on this subject. Never drinking until his twenties, Boyington became the cliched drunk. Often he flew loaded or badly hung over.

In this frank look at the life of the Black Sheep Squadrons leader, Gamble strips away much of the lies, myths and Hollywood trappings to present the man as he was; the tragic hero.

From his brief time spent with Claire Chennaults Flying Tigers to his rejoining the Maine Aviators to his being awarded the Medal of Honor, the bottle was never far from arms reach. After spending almost two years as a POW and upon his triumphant return to the states at wars end, he is told by his intelligence officer, Frank Walton, he could be anything he chose but he had to leave booze alone or it would kill him. Needless to say, his life spiraled out of control until it was much too late. From a series of failed relationships and marriages, to repeated job changes and financial ruin he became a mere curiosity hustling his former valor for a few dollars. In Waltons own book, "Once They Were Eagles", he compares him unkindly to a dancing circus bear pushing his autographs at air shows and conventions.

Throughout the book there are more than a few glimmers of the man beneath the booze and the greatness that awaited Boyington were it not for his illness. A college wrestling champion, a fine college student, a natural leader and above all, a bold and fearless fighter pilot. If Gamble destroys some myths, he also lets Boyingtons greatness stand without the tinsel. And in 1943 he was a giant.

I hate biographies with their authoritarian tones, time lines, dates and obscure facts, and get bored before finishing them. I do, however, prefer to be historically accurate rather than politically correct, so when my children started watching Black Sheep Squadron on the History Channel, I figured I had better learn more about Greg Boyington.

Having seen Mr. Gamble's commentaries during breaks from the show, I expected the typical pompous biography with a military cadence to match the author and subject. When I began to read it, I was floored: I couldn't put it down and I finished it. Mr. Gamble's prose was lyrical, and his treatment of Boyington was fair and meticulously researched.

Heroes aren't necessarily bums, and biographies aren't necessarily dull, boring and omnipresent.

While preparing for my senior seminar in History, I chose a topic that my WWII Marine grandfather introduced me to, the Black Sheep. I was disappointed in the way the world remembered the history of Pappy Boyington and the Black Sheep Squadron, seeing them as the misfits that they were portrayed to be by a 70s television show. These were American heroes and yet they were better remembered as renegade troublemakers. This was not the situation. I was at a loss of where I would come by all the detail and depth that I would need to review activities of fifty years ago. That's when I discovered Bruce Gamble's books. Loaded with facts and with extreme attention to detail, these books gave me more than I ever needed and were more than just required reading on this subject, the books were intriguing. As I read them, I felt as if I had been there. Without these books, my project would have been a wreck. Thanks Bruce, great books, waiting for more...

In this bio. of Greg 'Pappy' Boyington, the author adds so much to previous books. Through painstaking research, he covers aspects of Boyington's youth, early USMC career, and later life that I hadn't read before. Certainly not in Boyington's self-serving (but fascinating & enjoyable) Baa Baa Black Sheep, not in Gamble's previous book on the Black Sheep squadron.

I found persuasive the author's analysis of Boyington claims for aerial credits. (Wonder if the USMC would? I doubt it, debunking Medal of Honor winners probably isn't real high on the Corps' list of priorities.)

But this book equally conveys Boyington's combat leadership, and the reverence his men felt for him

Being a military history buff and a Boyington fan, this book was a "must read" for me. This book shows the human side of Boyington. While Boyington may have seemed a larger-than-life war hero (which in many ways he was) he was an ordinary man with his own demons. His worst enemy was himself.. and his addiction to alcohol...an addiction he never totally defeated. One wonders what Boyington may have accomplished had he not have been an alcoholic. His alcohalism cost him a lot.. several divorces, alienation from his family, and quite possibly a polital career.

Boyington was way ahead of his time in the area of air combat tactics. Sometimes his propensity to deviate from regulation got him into trouble with superiors, but no one can deny the combat victories the Blacksheep attained under his leadership. No Marine Squadron has ever attained the success VMF 214 had in those two combat tours then or since. His military combat record speaks for itself. Boyington's tactics were unconventional, in the sense he never employed the same tactics for long. He was constantly evolving, a theory that never allowed the Japanese to catch on to his tactics.

This is an excellent book to learn about Boyington the man, how he thought, and what made him tick. In spite of his faults, he will forever be remembered as the greatest Marine Ace of all time. This book does him justice. I highly recommend it.

As an avid reader of WWII combat aviation participants, I can certainly recommend this book. As a long-time fan of the WWII Marine Corps squadron VMF-214, I consider it mandatory. Many writings have been penned about the man, but none come close to this brutally honest, but respectful depiction of what made him what he was. As a history buff, it appeals to my understanding of what life was like during the times. The author has obviously done painstaking research of each period of the pilots life. As a reader of WWII aerial combat, I now understand more of what happened behind the scenes of a combat pilots career, not just the high points. As a person, reading of Boyingtons struggles, both personal and professional, made me take a closer look at myself. Some call him a hero, some call him a failure. For the first time, enough information has been written for the reader to decide for themselves. I myself consider the man to be just that...a man...who fought for his country for his own reasons. And for that he will always have my respect. Thanks Bruce.

Bruce Gamble deserves great credit for dealing with a mythic and controversial hero who laid claim to be the leading USMC ace in World War II and won the highest award in the country. His introduction to combat and first claims came from his stint as a member of the famed American Volunteer Group (AVG) known to most as the "Flying Tigers". He was summarily dismissed from the AVG for his abuse of alcohol and disrepect for authority (both of had which led him to abandon his USMC flying career to join the AVG along with chronic financial woes). World War II offered him an opportunity for another chance to fly and serve his country that he might not have gotten in peacetime. Arriving in the Solomon Islands, he continued to abuse alcohol and raise a ruckus, but he eventually got his own squadron, the "Black Sheep" which he led to great success against the Japanese. There is no doubt that he was a gifted aviator despite flying under the influence or at least hung over. Some of the aerial victory claims may be disputed (certainly his AVG claims are), but these type claims have been controversial by antagonists in all conflicts since aerial combat began. Gamble deals with all of this in great detail particularly the virtual clinical examination of Boyington's alcoholism so many years after the event. Gamble's research could have yielded a good book, among the best written, on the Black Sheep and Boyington, but he superbly wrote the Black Sheep story as its own subject and then dealt with Boyington as a biography andproduced a truly unique study of a tragic hero, flawed on several levels, but just as laudable on others. The author deserves great credit for deep research, sensitive and accurate writing and weaving a very readable treatment of Boyington, truly the best on any shelf.

I got through about 2/3rds of this book, wondering why the author seemed to be looking for every negative incident in Greg Boyington's life when I realized that the author was Bruce Gamble and of course he would be reducing a hero: I reviewed Fortress Rabaul and was struck by his incessant negativity about other pilots too. For some reason that I can't fathom, Mr. Gamble has made a writing career of cutting heroes "down to size".

In this book, there are many well-researched details about Greg Boyington's life and it was good to hear about his rambunctious childhood and the details of the air battles he fought. Mr. Gamble is a talented writer and some of the scenes he constructed were very evocative. Unfortunately, most of the book - nearly every page - was about Boyington's drinking and smoking and womanizing and we are treated to long pitiful portions about his failed jobs and marriages. I was shocked, shocked that a fighter pilot in WW II drank to excess, smoked and womanized. I am sure that if the author looked into many other veteran's lives during and after that war, he would have seen a lot of similar patterns. He seems to have no knowledge at all of the stresses of combat and its after effects.

In the author's pursuit of every single scandalous detail and embarassing moment, he missed the most important point: how did Greg Boyington take a disparate group of airmen - many completely new to the F4U Corsair - and in a matter of weeks, turn them into an efficient and effective weapon to defeat Japanese air power over one of the strongest bastions in the Pacific? There were times when Boyington's Marines attacked massively larger formations of the enemy, yet they won against them. Greg Boyington didn't have much time or much support from his immediate commander yet he pulled it off. Boyington also was an outstanding innovator and came up with new tactics and techniques faster than the Japanese could adapt to the last set. Why didn't the author develop that point further?

The author doesn't seem to understand or seem to have any affection for heroism. Heroism is sometimes only a moment or sometimes several moments, where a human being does something extraordinary, usually risking his whole existence in the process. That doesn't mean that a hero is always a hero all of his life or perfect in everything he does - it only means that that man (or lately woman) does what they must do and risks all they have in the process.

Greg Boyington was a hero and he was a hero over and over. He wasn't perfect but for those moments in time when his nation and his Marines needed him, he was there and he was a powerhouse.

I have two hopes - one, that we can always find more Boyingtons when we need them and two, that this book isn't considered the definitive measure of Greg Boyington. He deserved better than this.

I was pleasantly surprised that the author took the time to talk about his childhood and family. I just don't think over 100 pages at the beginning was necessary. Yawn! It read like a reader's digest story. The author spends a great deal of time linking every little mishap in Boyington's life to his drinking. Yes, discussion of his drinking is necessary and important, just don't make it the theme of the book. The details and discussion of his missions were dry and almost surgical in nature. If I wanted that I would read a military report. No passion or flavor. However, the Boyington quote at the end of the prologue or intro to the book could make a grown man cry. For people who did not like Boyington's Black Sheep book because of it is bragging and strecthed stories you would really like this book. The author does cut threw alot of the B.S. tall tales and backs his conclusions up. However, I can not recommend this book due to its over-emphasis on the drinking, the dry writing style and lack of passion.