Baa Baa Blacksheep and Pappy Boyington

What is really true?

More AI Slop Docs

In this newsletter, once again, I am attempting to counter some false AI "history" narratives that are being perpetuated at a massive scale. And this one is perhaps even more disgusting than the last. In addition, we have some more HUGE shows to announce with 10 Good Men! Let's dive into it.

Many of you know the name Gregory "Pappy" Boyington. He was one of the most famous American aces of the Second World War, leading the popular "Blacksheep" squadron, officially known as Marine Fighter Squadron 214.

He became famous for his, shall we say, "unique" personality and atypical style of leadership. But their results cannot be debated. The squadron found itself on the covers of newspapers across the country in 1943 as it became one of the most successful units of the war.

Unfortunately, however, their legacy is being spat on by the wonders of AI "history" content on YouTube. In my most recent video, I break down two different AI videos on Pappy Boyington and how historically inaccurate they are. Tragically, they each have over 200,000 views. In case you missed it, here is my video.

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By the end of this experience making this film, I had a mixture of anger and also hope. I was upset that so many people are being deceived by such absolute nonsense. And even more disappointed that this deception comes at the cost of the legacy of such great men. This is infuriating. But also, it gave me hope for my own job security and for the future of historical productions. If AI "history" productions are this atrocious with so much money being pumped into them, I think it is abundantly clear that they will never be able to truly craft quality documentaries. Although AI can certainly help these efforts in many ways, at the end of the day, historically truthful and compelling stories feel as if they must always be crafted by human hands.

In case you want a summary of just how bad this was - I found a claim in this AI video that Gregory "Pappy" Boyington shot down and killed Japanese ace Hiroyoshi Nishizawa on December 17th of 1943. Unfortunately, I found that this was far from the truth. In fact, very far.

Upon reading into Nishizawa and investigating the actual combat reports from VMF-214, I found that on Dec. 17, 1943:

Pappy Boyington claimed zero kills on this date.

Hiroyoshi Nishizawa was in Tokyo at the time on rest

Hiroyoshi Nishizawa was not even killed in a dogfight, but in a transport plane.

This is not a simple type or error. This is blatantly making up false history. And it is disgusting. If you want to see more about it, watch my video above.

One thing people are asking is, "What can we do to stop this?" Well, one thing is to refuse to watch it. And refuse to let anyone you know watch it. Continue to refuse it. Eventually, YouTube and these other platforms will be forced to reckon with the fact that it is pushing their audience away and that they have to make rules against it.

Then, support real history creators (like your good friend TJ on his Patreon here). This helps us continue to craft real documentaries and videos, telling real history.

Fortunately, you guys probably know that I have a production that is precisely the opposite of this AI slop! That would be 10 Good Men: The Final Story of the B-17, our new film that is making waves across the country. And we are proud to announce that we have some HUGE new showings coming!

The first on the list is going to be in Sarasota, Florida at the Burns Court Cinema! I (TJ) will be in attendance at this event this Friday evening and look forward to seeing many of you there. This event is also brought to you by the Commemorative Air Force Tampa Bay Wing, which is a community partner for the showing. Please come out if you are in southern Florida!

After that, there are some great showings coming up all over the US.

​UPCOMING 10 GOOD MEN SHOWINGS:​

August 26th - SAN DIEGO, CA - Digital Gym Theater

August 28th - SARASOTA, FL - Burns Court Cinema (With TJ)

August 28th - PERRY, UT - Walker Cinemas 8 Perry

August 29th - NORTH OGDEN, UT - Walker Cinemas 6 N. Ogden

August 30th - AUSTIN, TX - Texas Military Forces Museum

September 23rd - CHICAGO, IL - Classic Cinemas York (With TJ)

Nov. 4th - GLENDALE, CA - The Alex Theatre (With TJ)

Nov. 11th - SEATTLE, WA - Seattle Museum of Flight (With TJ)

Dec. 4th - PALM SPRINGS, CA - Palm Springs Air Museum (With TJ)

(Tickets not yet live on the last three events.)

Get tickets to any of these showings, or learn more about them on the Where to Watch page on the 10 Good Men website! If you cannot make it to a theater or are located outside of the United States, remember that 10 Good Men will be streaming everywhere Veterans Day 2026 (November 11th!).

Now, I try to make this point frequently as well. I do not think all AI is bad. In fact, I use AI for my videos in certain ways. I use it to help speed up time-consuming tasks—for example, typing out a combat report from an archive scan word for word is very time consuming. But not for AI! Obviously, I check for accuracy, but these sorts of tasks are greatly aided by AI. And I think it is silly to ignore those beneficial aspects because of the poor use cases some other people choose to undertake.

And if you guys want to check out somewhere that is offering quality information on AI news (both good and bad), you can check out the sponsor of this newsletter, Superhuman. Hopefully, some people can grab some good uses from AI with information hubs like this. If you guys take 5 seconds and give it a quick click, it supports my content greatly. In fact, if all of you simply clicked, it would fully fund our next veteran interview trip. So what are you waiting for!?

But let's move on from AI!

Here is a quick sneak peek at an upcoming video! If you are a fan of German "Wonder Weapons"—I will be covering a very unique aspect of one of these soon! Perhaps the most powerful fighter armament of World War II - the MK 108 30mm autocannon. Don't miss it! It will be released on the TJ3 History YouTube chan...—actually, on second thought, it will already have been released by the time this email is sent out to all of you. So what are you waiting on!? Go watch it right now!

Also - here is a new thing I think I am going to do. A supporter shoutout! This newsletter is dedicated to Keith C. Keith is currently my longest-tenured Patreon supporter, supporting my work since 2023. Unbelievable. Thank you so much for your support, brother—it means the world!

If you want to get a shoutout and tons of bonus content, join the TJ3 History Patreon. Love you guys.

-Your grateful friend, TJ

Please reply with your thoughts or feedback here! Here's to saving more history together.

-TJ

TJ3Business@gmail.com
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