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 Black
Sheep Squadron - During WWII members of the Marine
Corps aviation fighter squadron VMF-214 stationed on the South
Pacific Island of Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides distinguished
themselves by flying 1766 individual missions (over 4200 hours in
84 days) which resulted in the shooting down of 48 Japanese
"Zeros." This illustrious group of 51 men (49 pilots, one flight
officer and one intelligence officer) was known as the "Black
Sheep Squadron," headed by Major Gregory "Pappy" Boyington whose
memoirs Baa Baa Black Sheep (1958) provided the title for the
military drama BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP/NBC/1976-78 starring Robert
Conrad as Boyington.
Set on the island of Vella La Cava (actually Vella La Vella) the
program depicted the men of the VMF-214 as a rowdy group of
misfits who were in constant need of supervision. In reality,
according to an eye witness Frank E. Walton, the intelligence
officer who kept records for the squadron, the young men were not
misfits as Boyington's memoirs suggested. "Not a single member of
the squadron was facing disciplinary action of any kind. And,
during the entire life of the squadron, not one of them was ever
the subject of any kind of disciplinary action" (TV Guide
4/23/77).
The original VMF-214 squadron (formed/trained in the USA) lost its
commander in combat. Its demoralized pilots were disbanded and
sent to Australia. Later, when a sufficient number of pilots
accumulated, a new VMF-214 unit was organized on September 7, 1943
calling themselves "Boyington's Bastards" (a name which a Marine
Corps public relations man saw fit to change to "Black Sheep
Squadron" to make it more acceptable to the newspapers).
See also - "Whistling
Death"
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