Biography

Medal of Honor Citation: For extraordinary heroism and valiant devotion to duty as commanding officer of Marine Fighting Squadron 214 in action against enemy Japanese forces in the Central Solomons area from 12 September 1943 to 3 January 1944. Consistently outnumbered throughout successive hazardous flights over heavily defended hostile territory, Maj. Boyington struck at the enemy with daring and courageous persistence, leading his squadron into combat with devastating results to Japanese shipping, shore installations, and aerial forces. Resolute in his efforts to inflict crippling damage on the enemy, Maj. Boyington led a formation of 24 fighters over Kahili on 17 October and, persistently circling the airdrome where 60 hostile aircraft were grounded, boldly challenged the Japanese to send up planes. Under his brilliant command, our fighters shot down 20 enemy craft in the ensuing action without the loss of a single ship. A superb airman and determined fighter against overwhelming odds, Maj. Boyington personally destroyed 26 of the many Japanese planes shot down by his squadron and, by his forceful leadership, developed the combat readiness in his command which was a distinctive factor in the Allied aerial achievements in this vitally strategic area.

In The Fighting Lady (1944), the scene of a strafing mission against the Japanese-held island of Truk, one of the figures seen running for cover is an American POW. According to his autobiography, he was that prisoner, as Maj. Boyington, the highest-scoring U.S. Marine pilot of the war, who had been shot down a few months before in the Solomon Islands.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 121-123. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.