crsutton -> RE: OT (slightly) Pappy Boyington on To Tell the Truth (7/30/2017 4:04:27 PM)
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ORIGINAL: Canoerebel I guess he wasn't all that famous compared to Audie Murphy, Douglas McArthur, Dwight Eisenhower, James Doolittle, Chester Nimitz, Jimmy Stewart, John F. Kennedy, etc. He was one among many. The nation was filled with war heroes in the '50s, so the reception he got was respectful but not effusive. Imagine how the audience would've reacted had this been filmed in the '90s, when Brokaw's The Greatest Generation captured the reverence with which a nation was looking back on the '40s (Boyington died in the '80s, though, I think). By then "Baa, Baa Black Sheep" would've made Boyington far more widely known and appreciated. Thanks, Ross, for sharing this. Also, Boyington was a bit controversial for the American political and PR machine to get behind. He was an alcoholic and a bit too unpredictable to shove in front public eye. In addition, there were gossip that he exaggerated his China air victory claims. Plenty of other "clean" war heroes to promote. Warts and all, there was no doubt that he was a first class pilot.
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