| Major Gregory Boyington‘s VMF-214 Black Sheep Squadron on Turtle Bay fighter strip on Esperitu Santo. VMF-214 poses for a group picture before leaving for their operations in the Russell Islands. An F4U-1 is in the background. In their two tours of combat, the Black Sheep shot down 94 Japanese aircraft and counted nine aces (5 or more enemy aircraft shot down.) Gregory Boyington was shot down on January 3, 1944 and spent the remainder of the war in Omori Prison Camp. The Black Sheep were disbanded after their second tour. Boyington won the Medal of Honor and promotion to Colonel was he was released in September 1945. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1041.jpg |
| Image Size | 1.46 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 2844 x 2209 |
| Photographer | Unknown |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | September 07, 1943 |
| Location | Turtle Bay Fighter Strip |
| City | Turtle Bay Fighter Strip |
| State or Province | Espiritu Santo |
| Country | Vanuatu |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2007, ©2024 MFA Productions LLC Image in the Public Domain |
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