Richard Bong
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Richard Ira Bong | |
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September 24, 1920 - August 6, 1945 | |
Maj. Richard Bong, USAAF; the Ace of Aces |
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Nickname | Dick Chong "Ace of Aces" "Bing" Bong |
Place of birth | Wisconsin |
Place of death | near Burbank, California |
Allegiance | USAAF |
Years of service | 1941-1945 |
Rank | Major |
Battles/wars | World War II |
Awards | Medal of Honor Distinguished Service Cross Silver Star (2) Distinguished Flying Crosses (7) |
Richard "Dick" Ira Bong (September 24, 1920 – August 6, 1945), a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF), is a recipient of the Medal of Honor and the United States' highest-scoring ace, having shot down 40 Japanese aircraft during World War II.
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[edit] Biography
Bong grew up on a farm near Poplar, Wisconsin. In May 1941, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps where one of his flight instructors was Barry Goldwater, the unsuccessful 1964 presidential candidate against Lyndon Johnson.
Lieutenant Bong received his wings and commission in January 1942. He gained a swashbuckling reputation with stunts such as "looping the loop" around the center span of the Golden Gate Bridge in his P-38, and waving to stenographers in office buildings as he flew along Market Street. In October he was flying combat missions in the Southwest Pacific Theater. Flying the Lockheed P-38 (later named "Marge" after his girlfriend) with the 49th Fighter Group, he scored his first "kills" in late December.
By April 1944, Captain Bong had shot down 27 aircraft, surpassing Eddie Rickenbacker's American record of 26 credited victories during World War I. After extended leave in the U.S. Major Bong returned to New Guinea in September 1944 and continued flying during the Philippine campaign. There he ran his string to 40 victories in December 1944, the same month he received the Medal of Honor.
Bong's Medal of Honor citation stated that he flew combat missions despite his status as an "instructor". In fact, he was the P-38 standardization officer for 5th Fighter Command, there being no position for instructors in a war zone. His rank of major would have qualified him for a squadron command but he always flew as a flight (four-plane) or element (two-plane) leader.
In January 1945, the Allied air commander in the South West Pacific Area, General George Kenney sent the ace of aces home for good. Bong married his fiance' and participated in numerous PR activities, such as promoting the sale of war bonds. He then became a test pilot for jet fighters. On August 6, 1945, the same day the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Bong was killed in the crash of a P-80 Shooting Star during takeoff from Lockheed Burbank airport on the acceptance flight of P-80A 44-85048, when the aircraft's primary fuel pump sheared. Due to Bong's failure to read the aircraft's manual, he did not know how to switch to the auxiliary fuel pump.[1] Bong successfully escaped the aircraft but was too low for his parachute to successfully deploy. Ironically, Bong's death, which would likely have been front-page news, was greatly overshadowed by the atomic bomb's use in the very theater he fought in.
[edit] Awards and decorations
- Silver Star with oak leaf cluster
- Distinguished Flying Crosses with six oak leaf clusters
- Air Medal with 14 oak leaf clusters
[edit] Marjorie Bong
Major Bong's widow, Marjorie Bong, remarried two more times, but her last and most successful marriage to Murray Drucker, allowed her to become a successful publisher of a magazine devoted to boxer dogs. After the death of her last husband, she sold her home in Hollywood, California and had a new one built in Poplar, Wisconsin, where she was the driving force in creating the Bong WWII Heritage Center. During that time she also authored the book titled Memories (1995 Drucker publications) that documented her life. She died of cancer in September 2003 and had her ashes interred next to her first husband Richard Bong; she is survived by two daughters.
[edit] World War II Historical center
On September 24, 2002, which would have been Dick Bong's 82nd birthday, the Richard I. Bong WWII Heritage Center opened to the public in Superior, Wisconsin. The converted aircraft hangar contains a museum, a film screening room, and a P-38 Lightning restored to duplicate Bong's plane, which was lost by another pilot during the war. The work on the aircraft, begun in 1994 and coordinated by volunteers from the Duluth, Minnesota Air National Guard, required more than 16,000 hours of labor.
[edit] Namesakes
Namesake of the Richard Bong State Recreation Area on the site of what was to be Bong Air Force Base in southeastern Wisconsin, the Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge in the Twin Ports of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin, The Bong Barracks of the Aviation Challenge program, the Richard I. Bong Bridge in Townsville, Australia, and the Richard Bong Theatre in Misawa, Japan.
[edit] Full list of victory credits
Date | Kills | Location/Comment |
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December 27, 1942 | 2 | over Buna |
January 7, 1943 | 2 | Oscars over Lae |
January 8 | 1 | over Lae Harbor, made 'ace' |
February 3 | back with 9th FS, at Schwimmer | |
March 3 | 1 | Zero during Battle of the Bismarck Sea |
March 11 | 2 | Zeroes |
March 29 | 1 | Betty? bomber; promoted to 1st Lt. |
April 14 | 1 | bomber, defending against Japanese attack on Milne Bay. 'Double Ace'. Awarded Air Medal |
June 12 | 1 | Zero, over Bena Bena |
July 26 | 4 | fighters, on escort over Lae; awarded DSC |
July 28 | 1 | Oscar, on B-25 escort over New Britain. Bong's plane damaged. |
August 24 | promoted to Captain, R&R in Australia | |
September 6 | 0 | claimed two bombers, but credits were not confirmed; crash-landed at Mailinan airstrip |
October 2 | 1 | Dinah, while leading Green Flight over Gasmata |
October 29 | 2 | Zeros, over enemy airfield at Rabaul |
November 5 | 2 | Zeros, over enemy airfield at Rabaul; total of 21 credits |
Dec. 1943 - Jan. 1944 - On leave at home in Wisconsin, met Marge Vattendahl | ||
Feb. 1944 - assigned to V Fighter Command HQ, allowed to 'free-lance' | ||
February 15 | 1 | Tony off Cape Hoskins, New Britain, first victory in Marge |
February 28 | 0 | destroyed a Japanese transport full of officers on the runway at Wewak |
March 3 | 2 | Sally bombers, over Tadji, New Guinea |
March 8 | Friend & mentor Tom Lynch killed | |
April 3 | 1 | fighter over Hollandia, 25th credit |
April 12 | 3 | surpassed Rickenbacker's WWI record of 26 |
May-July, 1944 - On leave in U.S., made publicity tours | ||
October 27 | 1 | The 9th FS had set up at Tacloban, in support of the Leyte landings. Bong successfully lobbied to get back in action for this crucial phase. During this time, the other high-scoring P-38 ace, Thomas McGuire began to approach Bong's combat record. |
October 28 | 2 | Oscars off Leyte, total of 33 |
November 10 | 1 | Oscar over Ormoc Bay |
November 11 | 2 | Bong recommended for Medal of Honor. |
December 7 | 2 | Sally and Tojo, while covering American landings at Ormoc |
December 15 | 1 | Oscar |
December 16? | 1 | Oscar over Mindoro. Total of 40 credits; grounded and sent home by General Kenney. |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Yeager, Chuck and Janos, Leo. Yeager: An Autobiography. Pages 227-228 (paperback). New York: Bantam Books, 1986. ISBN 0-553-25674-2.
[edit] External links
- Short Bongography with color pix
- Richard Bong Historical Center
- AcePilots.com: USAF Bong
- 248th Hiko Sentai: A Japanese "Hard Luck" Fighter unit {Copyrighted-for reference only}
Categories: 1920 births | 1945 deaths | American World War II flying aces | Air Force Medal of Honor recipients | Aviators killed in aircraft crashes | National Aviation Hall of Fame | People from Wisconsin | Recipients of the Silver Star | Recipients of US Distinguished Flying Cross | Recipients of US Distinguished Service Cross | United States Army officers