COLONEL GREG "PAPPY" BOYINGTON - AUTOGRAPHED SIGNED CHECK 06/15/1984 - HFSID 280396

COLONEL GREGORY "PAPPY" BOYINGTON
1984 check for $489.98 signed by Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, leader of the United States Marines' Black Sheep Squadron during World War II
Check signed "Gregory Boyington" in blue ink. 6x2¾ with perforated top edge and a printed graphic of a F4U Corsair, flown by Black Sheep Squadron during World War II. June 15, 1984. Check no. 2386 for $489.98, made out to "BANK OF AMERICA" (CustomLine Credit)" with CustomLine account number in top right corner and drawn from Boyington's account at the Sunnyside office of CentralBank in Frenso, California. WWII flying ace Boyington (1912-1988) downed 28 enemy aircraft as Commander of the VMF-214 "Black Sheep" Squadron. Having chronicled the squad's exploits in his 1958 autobiography, Baa Baa Black Sheep, he had been serving as technical advisor for the television show (1976-1978) that was based upon and named after the book. Boyington first achieved military ace status by downing six Japanese planes as a fighter pilot with the American Volunteer Group, known as the "Flying Tigers". He served with the AVG, which protected China against a Japanese invasion, from 1941 until it merged with the Army Air Corps in July 1942. The oldest active fighter pilot in the Marines, Boyington assumed command of the legendary "Black Sheep" Squadron in September 1943; four months and 28 kills later, the Major General was shot down (January 3, 1944). At the end of WWII, Americans learned that their hero was not dead but had been held by the Japanese as a special prisoner of war. Boyington was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross. Lightly toned. Normal bank stamps; show-through from pink ink stamp on verso touches signature and handwriting. Otherwise in fine condition.