[MoMo]

Oh, I just thought, does anyone out there in cyberspace think that " Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" would translate well on to the Big Screen?

MoMo

[STARMAN 352ND]

Geez....MoMo...Stop Yelling with them big words....
Big screen movie would be good if they stick with the facts about the real pilots of the VMF-214 Blacksheep and have a great story to it too.
But you know Hollywood can't seem to do that very well.
JP

[bsmith13]

If they do "Baa Baa Blacksheep", I would like to see all of the nonsense from the television show thrown out. I love the TV show, but as one Blacksheep alum says, "The only thing that show had in common with reality is that there was a squadron called VMF-214, it was commanded by a guy named 'Boyington', and they flew Corsairs."

belleandblade.com has "Reach for the Sky" in VHS and DVD, but the DVD is PAL Region 2, for anyone interested...

[mustangdriver]

I know you guys always say that, but I don't think that is the case. I have seen documentaries about the black sheep and they mentioned stuff like how they would get drunk and drive Jeeps down side walk while on leave, and how they always used to wrestle with Boyington, they always drank, and they really did steal the unit number 214. I know the show shows a littl emore than that, but how can you sat that is all made up. If it is, then why are they called the Blacksheep Squadron? I have talked to many 214 vets that said that the show was not bad as far as accurarcy went until they brought the nurses in.

[MoMo]

Well, the consensus seems to be YES!

Just leave the nurses out and leave the wrestling in and we have a GO project.

Do we have voluteers to fly those Corsairs?

MoMo

[mustangdriver]

You got me I will do it. ANd if they need someone to hang out with the nurses, well I guess I can do that as well.

[STARMAN 352ND]

I'll fly the F4U anyday ......
JP

[MoMo]

Any more volunteers to fly the nurses?

I couldn't fly a Corsair. The only one I have is a Dragon F 4U ID marked 64 on the hull and 164 on the tail. It is VBF-83, USS Essex. I don't like the all black camo much.

We'll keep the nurses after all and agree to keep their appearances short and sweet onscreen.

MoMo

[bsmith13]

Nurses, drinking and wrestling aside, there are plenty of inaccuracies with the TV show. If you'd like a broader perspective on VMF-214, I suggesot reading Frank Walton's 'Once the were Lions'.

Here are the main things I have problems with:

1. Boyington stole the "VMF=214" designation. Not true. The Marine Corps needed squadrons in the pacific; Boyington was asking for a command. The powers that be decided to take a bunch of pilots from the replacement pool, put Boyington in charge, and give them the number of a squadron that had just been rotated home.

2. The Black Sheep were screw-ups. Not true. They drank a lot, but no more than any other marine or AAF squadron in WWII. The pilots were simply from the replacement pool. No one had been in jail, no one was dodging the MPs.

The simple fact of that matter is that the Blacksheep gained notoriety because the Intel Officer (Walton) kept files on each of the pilots, and when war correspondents happened to be in the area, he talked up the boys and their accomplishments, and rightfully so. The squadron was uncommon, with a very high degree of Esprit, and they made headlines. What actually happened is far more interesting to me now than the fabricated plots of the TV Show.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the TV show, and I still get a nostalgic feeling when I watch it now. It is just that if they are going to remake it, I feel they ought to honor the memories of the pilots who died with VMF-214, and do it correctly.

[mustangdriver]

The event that I told you about with the Jeeps had three of them arrested until Boyington found a way to get them out. That was on the Discovery Channel documenary I saw. I am not saying that the show was 100% correct, but I think there is more truth in it than just there was a 214, and a Boyington.