The following snippet of information is about the early life of Gregory "Pappy" Boyington who was a tremendous fighter pilot in the Pacific during WW II.?ÿ The TV show "Baa Baa Black Sheep" was largely based on his experiences and starred Robert Conrad.?ÿ Another engineering graduate finding a different path to acclaim.
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Early life
Born on December 4, 1912, in?ÿCoeur d'Alene, Idaho,?ÿhe moved with his family to the logging town of?ÿSt. Maries?ÿat age three and lived there until age twelve. ?ÿHe then lived in?ÿTacoma, Washington, where he was a wrestler at?ÿLincoln High School. ?ÿHe took his first flight at St. Maries when he was six years old, with?ÿClyde Pangborn, ?ÿwho later became the first pilot to fly over the Pacific Ocean non-stop.?ÿ
After graduation from high school in 1930, Boyington attended the?ÿUniversity of Washington?ÿin?ÿSeattle, where he was a member of the?ÿArmy ROTC?ÿand joined the?ÿLambda Chi Alpha?ÿfraternity.?ÿ He was on the?ÿHusky?ÿwrestling and swimming teams, and for a time he held the Pacific Northwest Intercollegiate middleweight wrestling title. He spent his summers working in Washington in a mining camp and at a?ÿlogging camp?ÿand with the Coeur d'Alene Fire Protective Association in road construction. He graduated in 1934 with a bachelor's degree in?ÿaeronautical engineering. Boyington married shortly after graduation and worked as a draftsman and engineer for?ÿBoeing?ÿin Seattle.?ÿ
Military career
Boyington began his military training in college as a member of Army ROTC and became a cadet captain. He was?ÿcommissioned?ÿa?ÿsecond lieutenant?ÿin the?ÿU.S. Army?ÿCoast Artillery?ÿReserve in June 1934, and then served two months of active duty with the 630th Coast Artillery at?ÿFort Worden, Washington. ?ÿIn the spring of 1935, he applied for flight training under the?ÿAviation Cadet Act, but he discovered that it excluded married men.?ÿ Boyington had grown up as Gregory Hallenbeck, and assumed his stepfather, Ellsworth J. Hallenbeck, was his father. When he obtained a copy of his birth certificate, he learned that his father was actually Charles Boyington, a dentist, and that his parents had divorced when he was an infant. ?ÿAs there was no record of any Gregory Boyington ever being married, he enrolled as a?ÿU.S. Marine Corps?ÿaviation cadet?ÿusing that name.
