Flyover Will Honor World War II Hero "Pappy" Boyington

[Boats]

Flyover Will Honor World War II Hero "Pappy" Boyington
By: DEBBIE CAFAZZO ON MAY 19, 2017 - SOURCE: MCCLATCHY
RE: http://www.aviationpros.com/news/123...appy-boyington

May 19--A World War II aircraft will fly over Tacoma's Lincoln High School on Friday to mark the placement of a memorial to one of the school's most famous alumni: Medal of Honor recipient Col. Gregory "Pappy" Boyington.

Boyington, a 1930 Lincoln graduate who joined the Marine Corps during World War II, led a famous band of misfit pilots, dubbed the Black Sheep Squadron.

The got the nickname because many were inexperienced or had been rejected by other units. Boyington was older than most of his men, so they called him "Pappy."

Boyington's Corsair fighter, named Lulubelle, was shot down over the Pacific. He was captured by the Japanese and held prisoner for more than 18 months before he was released to a hero's welcome at home.

He died in 1988 at age 75 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

On Thursday, a Corsair F4U -- owned by the Erickson Aircraft Collection museum in Madras, Oregon -- swooped into the Tacoma Narrows Airport in Gig Harbor in preparation for Friday's ceremony.

For the occasion, the plane's owner painted on the name of Boyington's aircraft, along with 20 small emblems to represent the Japanese planes Boyington downed while flying a similar aircraft in combat.

A group of Army Junior ROTC students from Lincoln and Mount Tahoma high schools greeted the aircraft. They posed for selfies with the plane and its pilot, Jim Martinelli.

Students had learned about Boyington's wartime exploits, and JROTC students from both schools joined Lincoln alumni, veterans groups and others to help raise the estimated $15,000 to support the installation of the memorial at Lincoln.

The students had done their homework on Boyington, who was a star athlete and a top student at Lincoln, where he was known as Greg Hallenbeck. He abandoned his stepfather's surname in later life, adopting his birth father's name of Boyington