“Pappy” Boyington Protest Creates Medal of Honor Memorial Resolution
By Thomas D. Segel (04/07/06)
Harlingen, Texas, April 6, 2006: A headline in the Seattle Post Intelligencer on April 5, 2006 read "UW Students Vote for Medal of Honor Memorial". The story below that banner announced that a vote had been taken and the student government had approved a resolution to honor all University of Washington alumni who had received the Medal of Honor. It also recounted an event in mid February that was the forerunner of the successful resolution. That was an attempt "by a UW student to create a memorial in recognition of Gregory 'Pappy' Boyington, a pilot with the Flying Tigers and later with the Marines in World War II."
For those whose recall of history is becoming foggy, Colonel Boyington was awarded both the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross. In part, his military biography reads, “He was the total victor in many more than twenty-six aerial combats during World War II in the Pacific and Asia. “Pappy” Boyington was finally shot down and captured. As a prisoner of war he suffered brutal and horrible prolonged torture at the hands of the Japanese before being released at war’s end. Colonel Boyington died of cancer on January 12, 1988.”
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