Revisiting Pappy

"Just name a hero, and I'll prove he's a bum."

I mentioned the University of Washington's snub of World War II ace and Medal of Honor recipient Greg "Pappy" Boyington early yesterday morning. The decision of the student government to reject building a memorial to the military hero is, in and of itself not the problem for me. What got me was the rhetoric.

--Student senator Jill Edwards, according to minutes of the student government's meeting last week, said she "didn't believe a member of the Marine Corps was an example of the sort of person UW wanted to produce."

--Senate member Karl Smith amended the resolution to eliminate a clause that said Boyington "was credited with destroying 26 enemy aircraft, tying the record for most aircraft destroyed by a pilot in American Uniform," for which he was awarded the Navy Cross.

Smith, according to the minutes, said "the resolution should commend Colonel Boyington's service, not his killing of others."

Such is clear evidence that the student leadership of UW has fallen victim to the mindset that afflicts many on the left; namely that killing, in any form in any context, is always wrong. Therefore any that kill in any way are not worthy of honor.

The picture above is a shot of Boyington in his later years, likely hawking his book there that you see in the box next to him as well as aviation photo's and drawings. My dad bought me a copy of Boyington's memoir as a Christmas gift in 1976.

He purchased it in a setting not dissimilar from the one pictured above, at the Camarillo airport one weekend. Like most young boys I knew of similar age I was a huge fan of the suped-up version of Pappy's story that was on TV every week so I gladly devoured the book.

The Gregory Boyington on the pages of the book bore little resemblance to Robert Conrad's hero. Pappy was a real hero, and like most real heroes he didn't start out to become one. In his own assessment of his fame, it rings loud and clear that he never thought of himself as any larger-than-life kind of figure.

He was just a guy who did what he had to do in the most difficult of situations. That's all.

The University of Washington's student government is well within their rights to approve memorials for whomever they like. They are not allowed, and should not however, dishonor heroes who sacrificed much for their country with stupidly-silly rhetoric like "a member of the Marine Corps was an example of the sort of person UW wanted to produce."