Richard Ira Bong (September 24, 1920 – August 6, 1945) was a
United States Army Air Forces major and
Medal of Honor recipient in
World War II. 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 died in California while testing a
Lockheed P-80 jet fighter shortly before the war ended.
On September 10, 1942, Lt. Bong was assigned to the
9th Fighter Squadron, which was flying
P-40 Warhawks, based at
Darwin, Australia. In November, while the squadron waited for delivery of the scarce P-38s, Bong and other 9th FS pilots were reassigned temporarily to fly missions and gain combat experience with the 39th Fighter Squadron,
35th Fighter Group, based in
Port Moresby,
New Guinea. On December 27, Bong claimed his initial aerial victory, shooting down a
Mitsubishi A6M "Zero", and a
Nakajima Ki-43 "Oscar" over Buna (during the
Battle of Buna-Gona). For this action, Bong was awarded the
Silver Star.
Bong rejoined the 9th FS, by then equipped with P-38s, in January 1943; the 49th FG was based at
Schwimmer Field near Port Moresby. In April, he was promoted to first lieutenant. On July 26, Bong claimed four Japanese fighters over
Lae, in an action that earned him the
Distinguished Service Cross. In August, he was promoted to captain.
While on leave to the United States the following November and December, Bong met Marjorie Vattendahl at a Superior State Teachers' College homecoming event and began dating her.
After returning to the southwest Pacific in January 1944, he named his P-38 "Marge" and adorned the nose with her photo. On April 12, Captain Bong shot down his 26th and 27th Japanese aircraft, surpassing
Eddie Rickenbacker's American record of 26 credited victories in
World War I. Soon afterwards, he was promoted to major by General Kenney and dispatched to the United States to see
General "Hap" Arnold, who gave him a leave. After visiting training bases and going on a 15-state bond promotion tour, Bong returned to New Guinea in September. He was assigned to the
V Fighter Command staff as an advanced gunnery instructor with permission to go on missions but not to seek combat. Bong continued flying from
Tacloban,
Leyte, during the
Philippines campaign; by December 17, he had increased his air-to-air victory claims to 40.
Bong considered his gunnery accuracy to be poor, so he compensated by getting as close to his targets as possible to make sure he hit them. In some cases he flew through the debris of exploding enemy aircraft, and on one occasion collided with his target, which he claimed as a "probable" victory.
On the recommendation of General Kenney, the
Far East Air Force commander, Bong received the
Medal of Honor from General
Douglas MacArthur in a special ceremony in December 1944. Bong's Medal of Honor citation says that he flew combat missions despite his status as an instructor, which was one of his duties as standardization officer for V Fighter Command. 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, Kenney sent America's
ace of aces home for good. Bong married Vattendahl on February 10, 1945. He participated in numerous
PR activities, such as promoting the sale of
war bonds.
Bong then became a
test pilot assigned to
Lockheed's plant in
Burbank, California, where he flew
P-80 Shooting Star jet fighters at the
Lockheed Air Terminal. On August 6, 1945, he took off to perform the acceptance flight of P-80A 44-85048. It was his 12th flight in the P-80; he had a total of four hours and fifteen minutes of flight time in the jet.
The plane's primary fuel pump malfunctioned during takeoff. Bong either forgot to switch to the auxiliary fuel pump, or for some reason was unable to do so. Bong cleared away from the aircraft, but was too low for his parachute to deploy. The plane crashed into a narrow field at Oxnard St & Satsuma Ave, North Hollywood. His death was front-page news across the country, sharing space with the first news of the
bombing of Hiroshima.
The I-16 fuel pump had been added to P-80s after an earlier fatal crash. Captain Ray Crawford, a fellow P-80 test/acceptance flight pilot who flew on August 6, later said Bong had told him that he had forgotten to turn on the I-16 pump on an earlier flight.
In his autobiography,
Chuck Yeager writes that part of the culture of test flying at the time, due to its fearsome mortality rates, was anger toward pilots who died in test flights, to avoid being overcome by sorrow for lost comrades.
Major Richard Bong with his fighter-P-38 Lightning named "Marge"(his girlfriend and later wife) and decorated with her picture
