5References- 5.1Citations
- 6External links
Mission[edit]Provide offensive air support, armed reconnaissance, and air defense for Marine expeditionary forces.
History[edit]Vought F4U-1A Corsair, BuNo 17883, of Gregory \"Pappy\" Boyington, the commander of VMF-214, Vella Lavella end of 1943World War II[edit]Marine Fighter Squadron 214 was originally commissioned on July 1, 1942, atMarine Corps Air Station Ewa, on the Island ofOahu. Initially called the \"Swashbucklers,\" they participated in theSolomon Islands campaign, flying out ofHenderson FieldonGuadalcanal. They were disbanded following their combat tour and the squadron designation was given to the Marine command onEspiritu Santo.
In August 1943, a group of twenty-seven young men under the leadership ofMajor Gregory \"Pappy\" Boyington(who was later awarded theMedal of Honor) were joined together to form the original \"Blacksheep\" of VMF-214. Major Boyington had just returned from a year\'s tour inChinaas a member of the1st American Volunteer Group(nicknamed the Flying Tigers), and had been credited with multiple kills of Japanese aircraft.[1]The squadron was not assigned any aircraft or ancillary personnel at first and flew to Guadalcanal and later theRussell Islandsin borrowed planes that were in less than satisfactory condition.[2]
On the evening of September 13, 1943, the men of VMF-214 gathered in their commanding officer\'shootchduring which time it was suggested that they needed a nickname. Originally the squadron called itself \"Boyington\'s Bastards\" after its new commander, the fact that all of the pilots had been orphans and not attached to a squadron when they got together, and the fact they possessed few reliable planes and no mechanics. The following day, this new label was presented to the Marine Corps public information officer on the island at the time, Captain Jack DeChant, and found to be unacceptable because civilian newspapers would never print it. DeChant then suggested the call sign \"Black Sheep\" because the expression meant essentially the same thing.[3]The pilots ranged from experienced combat veterans, with several air-to-air victories to their credit, to new replacement pilots from the United States. Major Boyington and Major Stan Bailey were given permission to form the unassigned pilots into a squadron, with the understanding that they would have less than four weeks to have them fully trained and ready for combat. Although they dropped the moniker \"Boyington\'s Bastards,\" the squadron still retains the black bar of bastardy across its shield.[4]They chose for their badge the black shield of illegitimacy, thebar sinister, a black sheep superimposed, surrounded by a circle of twelve stars, and crowned with the image of their aircraft, theF4U Corsair.
F4U-1 Corsair of 1st Lt Rolland N. Rinabarger of VMF-214The Black Sheep squadron fought for eighty-four days. They met the Japanese over their own fields and territory and piled up a record of 203 planes destroyed or damaged, produced ninefighter aceswith 97 confirmedair-to-airkills, sank several troop transports and supply ships, destroyed many installations, in addition to numerous other victories. For their actions, the original Black Sheep were awarded thePresidential Unit Citationfor extraordinary heroism in action. Following their first combat tour, 26 pilots from the squadron left theairfieldatMundafor a week of rest and relaxation inSydney,Australiawhere they holed up in theAustralia Hotel.[5]
The Black Sheep ended their second combat tour on January 8, 1944, five days after Major Boyington was shot down and captured by the Japanese. The original Black Sheep were disbanded and the pilots were placed in the pilot pool inMarine Aircraft Group 11. Exploits of this incarnation of the unit were loosely fictionalized in the 1970stelevision seriesBaa Baa Black Sheep,later renamedBlack Sheep Squadron,starringRobert Conradas Boyington.
VMF-214 was reformed on January 29, 1944 atMarine Corps Air Station Santa BarbaranearGoleta, California. They deployed aboard theUSSFranklin(CV-13)on February 4, 1945 to join on-going operations onOkinawa. On March 19, a Japanese bomber hit the USSFranklin.The explosion and resulting fire caused 772 deaths aboard theFranklinincluding 32 Black Sheep members. Many Black Sheep aircraft were launching for a strike on mainland Japan at the time. One, First Lieutenant Ken Linder, was given half credit for shooting down the Japanese bomber that struck theFranklin.This ended VMF-214 involvement in World War II. During the course of the war, the squadron suffered 23 pilots killed in action or missing and lost 48 aircraft to accidents or enemy contact.[6]
In April 1945, the Black Sheep were relocated toMarine Corps Air Station El Centro,California, and then toMCAS El Toro, CA in October 1945. In the next few years, the Black Sheep deployed for operations on board theUSSRendova(CVE-114), theUSSBairoko(CVE-115), theUSSBadoeng Strait(CVE-116), and theUSSBoxer(CV-21).
On Oct-06-10 at 21:25:12 PDT, seller added the following information: ALL AUTOGRAPHED PHOTOS COME WITH A LIFETIME GUARANTEE CERTIFICATE FROM \"THE AUTOGRAPH HOUSE\"
On Oct-06-10 at 21:33:27 PDT, seller added the following information: ALL AUTOGRAPHED PHOTOS COME WITH A LIFETIME GUARANTEE CERTIFICATE FROM \"THE AUTOGRAPH HOUSE\"
