About the book (from Goodreads):
The World War II air war in the Pacific needed tough men like Colonel Pappy Boyington and his Black Sheep Squadron. The legendary Marine Corps officer and his bunch of misfits, outcasts, and daredevils gave new definition to “hell-raising” – on the ground and in the skies.
Pappy himself was a living legend – he personally shot down 28 Japanese planes, and won the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross. He broke every rule in the book in doing so, but when he fell into the hands of the vengeful Japanese his real ordeal began.
Here, in his own words, is the true story of America’s wildest flying hero, of his extraordinary heroism, and of his greatest battle of all – the fight to survive.
About the author (from Wikipedia):
Gregory “Pappy” Boyington (December 4, 1912 – January 11, 1988) was an American combat pilot who was a United States Marine Corps fighter ace during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross. A Marine aviator with the Pacific fleet in 1941, Boyington joined the “Flying Tigers” (1st American Volunteer Group) of the Republic of China Air Force and saw combat in Burma in late 1941 and 1942 during the military conflict between China and Japan.
In September 1942, Boyington rejoined the Marine Corps. In early 1943, he deployed to the South Pacific and began flying combat missions in the F4U Corsair fighter. In September 1943, he took command of Marine fighter squadron VMF-214 (“Black Sheep”). In January 1944, Boyington, outnumbered by Japanese “Zero” planes, was shot down into the Pacific Ocean after downing one of the enemy planes. He was captured by a Japanese submarine crew and was held as a prisoner of war for more than a year and a half. He was released shortly after the surrender of Japan. The television series Baa Baa Black Sheep was inspired by Boyington and his men in the “Black Sheep” squadron. It ran for two seasons in the late 1970s.