Major Boyington had just returned from a year's tour in China as a member of the American Volunteer Group, 'The Flying Tigers.' In China, he had downed six enemy planes and became, through actual experience, one of the originators of American fighter tactics against the Japanese. In August 1943, a group of twenty-seven young men under the leadership of Major Gregory 'Pappy' Boyington joined together to form the original 'Black Sheep' of VMF-214. Initially called the 'Swashbucklers,' they successfully completed two combat tours before the designation was given to the Marine command on Espiritu Santo. Marine Fighter Squadron (VMF) 214 was originally commissioned on 1 July 1942 at Ewa, on the island of Oahu, in the Hawaiian group.