Honoring Lt. Col. "Pappy" Boyington

The University of Washington is making a huge mistake by not honoring the courage and service of Gregory "Pappy" Boyington. I had never heard of this man prior to all this hoopla that is beginning to spread across the country, but the mans story has really intrigued me. Boyington was a war hero during the Second World War. He was a Marine Corps pilot who shot down 28 Japanese aircraft, who then himself was shot down and spent 20 months as a prisoner of war while most people thought he was dead. He is the most successful pilot ever to fly a Marine Corps aircraft. Upon his return the to the US, he was awared the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross as was obviously received by the public as a war hero. Well, times have changed and Boyington is no longer looked at as a war hero by his own alma matter who wont even memorialize him because he was a soldier. A student senator at the U of Washington tried to get him a memorial, but a vast majority of his fellow senators rejected this because of their pacifist anti-war and anti-military stance. Once student said that they should honor his service, but not the fact that he shot down and killed others because killing people is wrong. Another student said something along the lines of that members of the Marine Corps are not the kind of people they want to glorify at U of W. Needless to say this has caused some controversy among WWII vets, regular citizens like myself, and especially other Marines. A famous saying of the Marines is "Semper Fidelis" which means always faithful, so you can bet there are plenty of ticket off Marines at the fact this man is being spit on the way he is. Men like Pappy Boyington are exactly who we need to glorify in our culture, especially today when our country is once again at war. If it wasnt for people like Boyington, we would never have been victorious in World War II, which gives these dumb kids at U of W the opportunity to say the rediculous things they did in denying this man his due respect. This story is starting to get nationwide attention, as well it should. Im sick of these anti-war people denying the fact that brave men fight wars and kill people for the right reasons. If Americans didnt kill people in war there wouldnt be an America, but some on the left are incapable of comprehending this fact. So it is up to the rest of us to make sure the right thing is done, and in this case it is getting Gregory "Pappy" Boyington the recognition he deserves as a war hero to the United States of America. If you or anyone you know would like to contact the President of the University of Washington to show your support, his name is Dr. Mark Emmert and he can be e-mailed at pres@u.washington.edu.

-Brad