Talk:VMFA-214

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Better descrition of the show[edit]

From the article "The squadron is most well known as the Black Sheep of World War II fame and for one of its commanding officers, Colonel Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, whose memoirs also inspired the 1970s television show Baa Baa Black Sheep, which dramatized the squadron's exploits during the war."

Would it be more accurate to say "1970s television show Baa Baa Black Sheep, which fictionalized the squadron's exploits during the war."? There was very little in that show, other than the names used, that was accurate.

—Preceding unsigned comment added by Slipdigit (talk • contribs) 19:54, 6 November 2007

Boyington's kills[edit]

I think there is some question about Boyington's 6 kills as part of the flying tigers. I think it is officially 4.5 because they devide the total kills among all the pilots at the battle, but Boyington insists that this is unfair because two planes flew top cover and never engaged so he calculates his kills as 5.5 and rounds up to 6.

Boyington has officially been creditted with 3 1/2 victories in China according to AVG records. This has been laid out pretty well in the book by Bruce Gamble, "The Black Sheep: The definitive account of Marine Fighting Squadron 214 in World War II". The six AVG victories can best be described as Boyington's personal fantasy.

Wukovits' Black Sheep also debunks Boyington's claim of six kills with AVG. Since the Boyington article also uses the lower numbers, I am changing this article to be less specific about the number of kills, leaving the discussion to his own article. --137.200.1.106 (talk) 20:12, 22 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Squadron Classification[edit]

Is it really appropriate to call VMA-214 a fighter squadron in the first sentence? There isn't an "F" in the squadron name, nor in their current aircraft (AV-8B, which possesses sub-par fighter capabilities). They were certainly a fighter squadron in World War II, flying fighter sorties as well as flying fighter aircraft and even being titled a Fighter Squadron, but today they are an attack squadron. If no one objects, I'm going to change it to read "... is a United States Marine Corps attack squadron consisting..." to be more accurate and more in line with other Marine Attack Squadrons. 19:42, 29 November 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Conorchurch (talk • contribs)

VMA and VMF[edit]

What is the difference between VMA-214 and VMF-214? I don't see it explained in the article, or what each stands for. -65.26.194.87 (talk) 17:55, 18 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]