We all know that Hollywood gets excited about patriotic stories in the same way most of us get excited about going to the dentist to get a cavity filled. Therefore, it helps to look outside of tinsel town to find a story about a real American hero.
First time filmmaker Kevin Gonzalez set out to shed light on the kind of story that is not told often enough, which is that about a war hero. Gonzalez wrote, Produced, and directed this film. He served a four-year enlistment in the U. S. Marine Corps, and then graduated from the University of Southern California.
Pappy Boyington Field focuses on the effort to rename the airfield in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho after the highly decorated World War II fighter pilot Gregory “Pappy” Boyington. Born in Coeur d’Alene, Pappy joined the ROTC at the University of Washington in 1930 and eventually graduated with a B.S. in aeronautical engineering. During World War II, he was shot down and spent twenty months in a Japanese prison camp (i.e. he was a “guest of the emperor”). He was awarded both the Medal of Honor as well as the Navy Cross.
The film chronicles the process of naming the airfield after Pappy and also gives us a lot of biographical information via stories of people who knew him. There are also appearances from former LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman, host of War Stories Oliver North, Pappy’s son Greg Boyington Jr., as well as Robert Conrad who played Pappy in the television series Baa, Baa Black Sheep.
We learn a lot about Pappy, the picture painted shows us both the good and not so good things about the man. The film reminds us that even larger than life war heroes are not without flaws. We are all human, but those like Pappy went above and beyond to fight for our freedom. The least we could do is memorialize them in some way.
Local politicians in Coeur d’Alene opposed the efforts to name the airfield after Pappy. Their reasons were absurd with excuses such as the fear of a “safety threat” following the renaming. Some people did not think that Pappy was a good role model and highlighted his history as a drinker and womanizer. No one denies his flaws, but that cannot take away the sacrifices he has made to our country in time of need. Renaming the airport only focuses on his tours of duty, not his personal life.
Eventually naming Pappy Boyington Field became a reality, and a ceremony was held in Pappy’s honor. Kevin Gonzalez’s film is a grassroots project to get the word out about Pappy’s story as well as the fight to get Pappy’s home town airfield named after him. It is a tribute to those who really care about supporting our troops and their legacy after they are gone.
While the story remains inspirational, we should also not forget the effort from those independent filmmakers outside of Hollywood who have the courage to take on such projects. Film’s like this set a good example that hopefully grows into a larger trend in filmmaking in the future.
For more information, please visit pappyboyingtonfield.com
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Author’s note: Director Kevin Gonzalez will be hosting a special screening event at 7:00pm on Thursday, March 25th, at The Flicks Theater in downtown Boise, Idaho.
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