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Polo "Pappy Boyington" - Pacific War
DELIVERY SCHEDULED FROM MAY 30, 2025
100% Airtex cotton - Blue petrol
Polo "Pappy Boyington" - Pacific War
$89.00
Polo "Pappy Boyington" - Pacific War
DELIVERY SCHEDULED FROM MAY 30, 2025
100% Airtex cotton - Blue petrol
Delivery and return
Size Guide
During the Second World War, Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, famous American fighter pilot and leader of the VMF-214 “Black Sheep Squadron”, was fighting the Japanese in the Pacific. This group of U.S. Marine Corps pilots had built up a reputation fighting the Japanese army's formidable Zero fighters.
In 1943, while VMF-214 was operating from the island of Vella Lavella, “Pappy” Boyington decided to make a bet : he promised to shoot down a Japanese plane for every baseball cap sent by Major League Baseball (MLB) players to his squadron.
The St. Louis Cardinals, who had just won the 1943 World Series against the New York Yankees, took up the challenge and sent the pilots around 20 caps, along with bats and baseballs.
True to their word, the VMF-214 pilots far exceeded their target. Instead of the promised 20 enemy aircraft, they managed to shoot down 48 !
The objects sent by the Cardinals were much more than souvenirs: they represented powerful moral support for the pilots who risked their lives every day over the Pacific.
Pappy Boyington continued to distinguish himself in combat, becoming a flying ace with 28 confirmed victories. He was shot down in January 1944, captured by the Japanese and held as a prisoner of war until the end of the conflict. On his return, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his courage and leadership.
In the 1970s, the story of VMF-214 and Pappy Boyington was brought to the screen in the TV series Baa Baa Black Sheep. Broadcast between 1976 and 1978, the series featured a squadron of rebel pilots led by Boyington, played by Robert Conrad. Although romanticized and sometimes fanciful, the series helped bring the story of the “Black Sheep” to the attention of the general public, while at the same time paying tribute to it.
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