Richard Ira Bong of Superior, Wisconsin, a Major in the U.S. Army Air Forces, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary actions on October 10, 1944, over Borneo and Leyte, in the Philippines.
Bong enlisted in the Army Air Corps Aviation Cadet Program in May 1941, was commissioned as a second lieutenant, and was awarded his pilot wings in January 1942. By October 10, 1944, he was serving as a major in the 49th Fighter Group. From October 10 to November 15, Bong was assigned to duty as a gunnery instructor and not required to perform combat duty.
However, he voluntarily engaged in repeated combat missions. He was one of the most decorated American fighter pilots and the country's top flying ace in the war, credited with shooting down 40 Japanese aircraft, all with the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter.
He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions from October 10-November 15, 1944. Bong then became a test pilot and flew P-80 Shooting Star jet fighters out of Lockheed Air Terminal in California.
On August 6, 1945, the plane’s primary fuel pump malfunctioned during takeoff. Bong was able to clear the aircraft but was too low for his parachute to deploy. The plane crashed into a narrow field at Oxnard Street and Satsuma Avenue, North Hollywood. His death was front-page news across the country, sharing space with the first news of the bombing of Hiroshima.
Bong was posthumously inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1986 and has several commemorative monuments named in his honor around the world, including an airport, two bridges, a theater, a veterans historical center, a recreation area, a neighborhood terrace, and several avenues and streets, including the street leading to the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. He is buried at Poplar Cemetery in Poplar, Wisconsin.
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