Aaron Semm

Based on the 1959 Cornelius Ryan book of the same name, THE LONGEST DAY, premiered on this day in France in 1962. The book and film focus on D-Day: 6 June 1944. The film features a cast that includes John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Richard Burton, Henry Fonda, Eddie Albert, Red Buttons, Sean Connery, Curd Jürgens, Roddy McDowall, Rod Steiger, George Segal, Robert Wagner, Gert Fröbe, Richard Todd, Leo Genn, and a host of others. Many of the actors had actually fought in World War II. I would watch this film over and over as a kid on our RCA Video Disc Player - not laser discs, but the analog video discs for those who remember. I have been fortunate enough to watch it more recently with my daughter on the buses taking us to D-Day commemoration events volunteering with theBest Defense Foundation @bestdefense_ battlefield return program, helping escort World War II veterans back to the beaches, fields and towns where they fought to preserve freedom for us all. To watch this film with those who were there on June 6, 1944 is an experience we will never forget.

BLACK SHEEP SQUADRON (originally airing as BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP) premiered on this day in 1976.  Starring Robert Conrad as Greg “Pappy” Boyington, I watched it in syndication on Saturday afternoons in the 80s and read Boyington’s autobiography titled BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP around the same time. The influence of the show and book at that stage of my life was significant, their lessons following me into military service and into the pages of my novels. Boyington flew the F4U Corsair which had special significance to me as my grandfather flew the same plane in WW II. My grandfather didn’t make it home from the war, so I think the show offered a connection to a man I would never know. I was fortunate enough to meet Colonel Boyington and Robert Conrad when I was young – both larger than life figures to a ten-year-old.  “Pappy” Boyington was a fighter. A Marine Corps aviator, he resigned his commission to join the American Volunteer Group, flying the P-40 Warhawk under Claire Lee Chennault out of Burma and China with the Flying Tigers in 1941 and 1942 against Imperial Japan. He then returned to the U.S. Marine Corps as a major to command the Black Sheep Squadron in the Pacific Theater. Officially VMF-214, the Black Sheep would go on to destroy 203 Japanese planes with 97 air-to-air kills. Nine of the pilots would become aces, including Greg Boyington. He was shot down on January 3rd 1944 after downing his 26th Japanese plane. He was captured by a Japanese submarine and spent the next 20 months in POW camps. During his time in captivity, his health actually improved because he couldn’t drink. He was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Harry Truman in 1945.  I was able to meet him shortly before his death. The encounter is seared into my memory. Less than a year later I would cut his obituary from the paper and pin it to the wall of my room. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery close to legendary boxer Joe Lewis. It is rumored that at his funeral a friend looked at the boxer’s headstone and remarked, “Ol’ Pappy wouldn’t have to go far to find a good fight.”