U. of Washington votes down Pappy Boyington Monument

[watermock]

Yeah, he drank too much...he never knew when it would be his last drink...

He was the all time ACE and held an airfield that by all rights should of been blasted away. He's the all time ACE fighter pilot and he didn't even have a decent plane. Oh well...he laid his life on the line countless times and he's being called "too violent" for a memorial. It wasn't some slumber party with coeds throwing pillows around for Christ sake.

[DomCasual]

I had been wondering which way this was going to go.

When you say the name "Pappy Boyington," every person seems to have an opinion!

[watermock]

There were millions of heros, don't get me wrong, but this is the typical liberal tripe of the Northwest.

Voted down for "too violent"? Maybe the would of prefered to be under japanese occupation in the Northwest US. China had a real happy time under their occupation which was well...more than violent.

[watermock]

He spent a year and a half as a Japanese POW, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, was recognized as the Marine Corps top ace.

http://www.acepilots.com/boyington.jpg

This wasn't a jet pilot in a SuperHornet...this was seat of the pants with a gun..no rockets...no laser or GPS bombs...and hell..he never saw a Mustang 51...he flew in obsolete crap.

[Billy Clyde Puckett]

I don't know the story behind this award, but Pappy was a hero. Taught the USA how to fight in the air.

[watermock]

The constant stress of the tropical climate and combat took its toll however, and suffering from exhaustion and skin disease Boyington flew his last combat mission on 3 January 1944 during a mission in which he and his wingman, George Ashmun, attacked a flight of 10 Japanese Zero's. After shooting 3 down, the Marine pilots were attacked by 20 more zeros from above. Boyington managed to down another zero trying to defend his wingman but Ashmun crashed and "Pappy" bailed out of his burning F4U with just inches to spare. Four Zeros strafed Boyington in the water for almost 20 minutes before a Japanese submarine picked him up. He was subsequently captured and spent the duration of World War II (over 20 months) as a prisoner of war in Japanese prison camps.

The Black Sheep scoured the skies seeking vengeance for their fallen leader, strafing barges and land targets and checking out any rumors about downed airmen sighted at sea. Nothing turned up, however, and on January 6, the Black Sheep carried out their final mission as a unit. In two six-week combat tours, VMF-214 accumulated a stellar squadron record of 1,776 missions and 168 planes destroyed or damaged, earning eight pilots ace status and the squadron a Presidential Unit Citation.

A few days after the cease fire in 1945 some of his POW mates painted "PAPPY BOYINGTON HERE!" on top of the little tin shack that they were living in. Boyington was rediscovered and in a few days on his way back to the states. Even after enduring near starvation, beatings and dysentary at the hands of his captors he gave the Japanese credit for keeping him sober for 20 months.

[Hogan11]

It's Clinton's fault.

[24champ]

Just goes to show there is some anti-military elements here in the country.

[Orange4ever]

Liberals, man do they have their senses in their arse or what?

[clean]

This wasn't a jet pilot in a SuperHornet...this was seat of the pants with a gun..no rockets...no laser or GPS bombs...and hell..he never saw a Mustang 51...he flew in obsolete crap.
Corsairs were not obsolete.

"The XF4U-1 first went aloft on May 1, 1940 and five months later flew the 45 miles (73 km) between Stratford and Hartford, Connecticut at a speed of 405 miles per hour (651.8 kph), becoming the first production aircraft to exceed 400 mph in level flight. The US Navy was very pleased with the performance of the Corsair and, in June 1941, ordered 584 copies. Over the next 11 years that figure would grow to over 12,500 F4Us."

http://www.aviation-history.com/vought/f4u.html


"In conclusion, it would be hard, no, impossible to dismiss the F4U-4 as the leading candidate for the "best fighter/bomber of WWII". Furthermore, there is strong evidence that it very well may be the best piston engine fighter (to see combat) period. Certainly, everyone can agree on this: The F4U-4 Corsair was at the pinnacle of WWII piston engine technology and performance. When people debate the relative merits of the great fighter aircraft of WWII, they would be remiss in not acknowledging the F4U-4 as one of the very best, and in the educated opinion of many, "the best" fighter aircraft to fly into combat in World War II."

http://home.att.net/~historyzone/F4U-4.html (http://home.att.net/%7Ehistoryzone/F4U-4.html)

[watermock]

I disagree. but I stand corrected...I thought they were flying in crap...Nothing like a Mustang...but I thought they were in older aircraft...

[TomServo]

typical military f-up. just like the mustang. both aircraft could have been in service like 18 months earlier than then were.
just like the idiots that voted the battleship iowa out of san fransisco. they interviewed them both this week. both have this naive veiw that war is obsolete and all we have to do is talk our way out of everything. and that all the vets who fought for them before were just racist bastards.
yah just show them your copy of the constitution when the fascists or commies or muslim fundamentalist come to your door. that'll work instead of a gun or battleship backing it up.

[watermock]

Teddy Roosevelt had it right. Walk softly but carry a big stick. There are always screw ups in war...we should of just gone right for the throat instead of letting McAurther make a fool of himself for something that cut off the vine would of been ours anyway.

Little known fact: We never took the Phillipines completely...

[TomServo]

i blame the parents on the UW thing. either your kid watched cartoons 24/7 with NO history channel to balance it out, or you believe the crap that his professors feed them w/out question.--i made my 3rd grade twins explain Blackhawk Down to me B4 i let them watch it. with me pausing,explaining and answering questions along the way. i have no idea why anyone couldnt see boyington as anything but a patriot and a hero.

thank god the germans were even worse than us embracing new technology. damn. they could have had superior jet fighters in '43 or '44.

[watermock]

Saddam's favorite movie....

There were awesome heros in that rescue...Clinton turning tail and running away was pathetic...I would of laid waste to wherever and whoever even blinked at us...same in Lebanon...I am the Curtis Lemay of the Mane...we try to keep the peace and are attacked? scuse me while I wipe you off the planet.

Hell, you probably couldn't get over half of kids to even know what Iwo Jima was, yet alone most of those raising the flag died in action...or what the Tet Offensive was in the propoganda war in Viet...

It's kinda sad...this is an enemy just as tenatious as those creepy viet cong...

Korea and Vietnam were cold war postures...this war is for real with as much at stake as anything since WW2. Noone said Pappy was an angel...he was a hard drinkin' cussin' cigar smokin' prick...but he killed the enemy, and we had to fight like cornered animals in that war.

I was under the impression he had obsolete planes...probably from the TV show. I'm sure Pappy didn't confuse the Japanese POW camp for the Betty Ford Clinic either.

[clean]

The Student Senate of the University of Washington voted against the resolution, not the Board of Regents. The following links include the original resolution and minutes from the ASUW debate.

http://senate.asuw.org/legislation/12/R/R-12-18.html

http://senate.asuw.org/secretary/minutes/senate/12/02-07-2006.pdf

http://secure.gifts.washington.edu/uw_foundation/gift.asp?source_typ=3&source=PAPPYB

http://www.washington.edu/faculty/facsenate/handbook/01-01-00.html

[clean]

http://depts.washington.edu/uwhonors/invited/view_peer_bio.php?id=202

http://depts.washington.edu/asuwvote/vp.html