Sat down to buy a new shotgun today

[Stepmac]

Originally Posted by Stan Hillis

Thank you for your service, Steve. One of the best friends I ever had flew F4-U Corsairs in the latter part of WWII (briefly with Pappy Boyington) and also Korea. He flew off carriers as well. I'd love to be able to sit down with you and hear some of your stories the way I used to do with Maj. Jerome Wilson, USMC.

Good luck with your "hunt".

I never did meet "Pappy" Boyington, but I was a member of VMA-214. I was the intelligence officer (S-2) in the early 70s. When Pappy was the CO of 214 it was VMF (heavier than air, Marine fighter) It was a fighter/attack squadron when I was a member. The Blacksheep. I always loved contacting Center saying, "This is Blacksheep so and so". I also read "Ba Ba Blacksheep" when I was a high school kid and I became a member of the squadron. GREAT! Really a dream. When I was there we received brand new A-4Ms which replaced our older A4Fs. A neat jet plane. Now just think for a moment. You are strapped into a single seat fighter at the end of the runway. You pour the coal to it and blast down the runway to take off...the g's throw you back into the seat. At 150 knots you pull the stick back into the pit of your stomach. The nose eases up and you leave the ground. Your rate of climb gauge pegs at 6,000 feet per minute. You raise the gear and climb like a homesick angle. The ground falls away. Now folks doing that is just amazing. Life doesn't get much better than that.