In August 1943, a group of twenty-seven young men under the leadership of Major Gregory "Pappy" Boyington (who was later awarded the Medal of Honor) were joined together to form the original "Black Sheep" of VMF-214. Major Boyington had just returned from a year's tour in China as a member of the American Volunteer Group, "The Flying Tigers." In China, he had downed six enemy planes and became, through actual experience, one of the originators of American fighter tactics against the Japanese. The call sign "Black Sheep" was chosen by the squadron to commemorate the unusual way in which the Squadron had been formed. 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. They were very successful.
F4U-1 Corsair of 1st Lt Rolland N. Rinabarger of VMF-214. They chose for their badge to carry into battle the black shield of illegitimacy, the bar sinister, a black sheep superimposed, surrounded by a circle of twelve stars, and crowned with the image of their aircraft, the F4U Corsair. What these men accomplished has become Marine Corps history. The Black Sheep squadron fought for eighty-four days. They met the Japanese over their own fields and territories and piled up a record of 203 planes destroyed or damaged, produced eight fighter aces with 97 confirmed air-to-air kills, sunk several troop transports and supply ships, destroyed many installations, in addition to numerous other victories. For their actions, the original Black Sheep were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for extraordinary heroism in action.
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 in Marine Aircraft Group 11. Exploits of this incarnation of the unit were loosely fictionalized in the 1970s television series Baa Baa Black Sheep (later renamed The Black Sheep Squadron), starring Robert Conrad as Boyington.
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