PAPPY BOYINGTON GETS HIS RESPECT HERE!

http://www.cdapress.com/articles/2007/09/23/news/news02.txt Flyover welcomes Boyington name to Cd'A airport ceremony =Hey! Just got back from one of thee most awesome events EVER! Ourn town finaly caved and allowed the small field a native Sons Proud American Kick ass Marine name.Showing respect 4 Pappy and our families right ow. I will post pics of the event asap (when film comes in!LOL) and hope you all remembver pappy' and I KNOW most of us grew up watching BaaBaaBlack Sheep atring Robert Conrad! grrrlll....So take pride our Marines showed from 18-100! I mcantn wait 4 pics! I had such and awesome time hanging w/ some heros that I a m still high! And it maybe to the Jets! Man, I love the military and was soooo proud to hang w/the past and future of the Marines! HOOO-RAH! =^.^= The family of Gregory "Pappy" Boyington was in town Saturday to celebrate the renaming of the Coeur d'Alene Air Terminal to Coeur d'Alene Airport/Pappy Boyington Field. From left: June Colgan of Alameda, Calif. (Gregory Jr's girlfriend), Gregory Boyington Jr. of Oakland, Calif. (son), Amanda Boyington of Newbury Park, Calif. (middle granddaughter), Tiffany Boyington Bailey of Arbuckle, Calif. (firstborn granddaughter), Gregory Boyington III of Alameda, Calif. (youngest grandson). COEUR d'ALENE -- Airplanes landing on the tarmac of the Coeur d'Alene Airport will now touch down on the freshly christened Pappy Boyington Field. A ceremony to rename the airport after World War II fighter ace Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, was held Saturday at the airfield. Two Marine pilots stationed in Yuma, Ariz., treated Boyington's son, Gregory Boyington Jr., and a crowd of about 300 people, including guest speakers U.S. Rep. Bill Sali and Kootenai County Commissioners Rich Piazza and Todd Tondee, to a flyover before the start of the ceremony. Several members of the Boyington family traveled from their homes in California to attend. "This proves they never leave their men behind. Semper Fi," Boyington Jr. said addressing the Pappy Boyington Detachment 966 of the Marine Corps League. "It's quite an honor to have something named after your father, and it's magnificent for the family, but I think it's a symbol, too," he said. It was a sentiment echoed by Sali, who agreed that renaming the airfield was "holding (Boyington) up as a person who is deserving of esteem." But the new name represents more than the heroism of one ace pilot, "It represents that those who fought with him are also deserving of esteem," he said. The Kootenai County Board of County Commissioners voted in August to rename the airport, prompted in large part by the Pappy Boyington Detachment 966 of the Marine Corps League, many of whom attended the ceremony. The detachment spurred the movement to rename the field because of Boyington's extensive war record. Boyington was born in Coeur d'Alene in 1912, but did not grow up in the area, as he moved to Tacoma while he was still young. A daring pilot, Boyington earned many distinctions during his service. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for leading a formation of 24 Corsairs over an enemy base on Kahili Island. Circling the base, his pilots lured 60 enemy planes into the sky, which were all destroyed in the ensuing battle without a single allied casualty. He was also awarded the Navy Cross and the World War II Victory Medal, as well as the Prisoner of War Medal, for spending 20 months in an Japanese prison camp. "He always wanted to come back here," Boyington Jr. said. "He just never got a chance. The clock ran out." Boyington died in Fresno at the age of 76. "He was a great hero," Piazza said. "He worked hard and fought hard, and did a great duty for our country." Piazza said he hopes the new name bestowed upon the airfield will prompt future generations to look to history books for Boyington and other war heroes. PLEASE RESPECT,THANK,HONOR,SUPPORT & PRAY FOR OUR TROOPS,VETS,FIRST RESPONDERS and THEIR FAMILIES ;-)