World War II hero Richard Ira Bong was born on September 24, 1920 in Superior, Wisconsin, the son of Carl and Dora Bong. He grew up on a farm near Poplar, attended local schools, and graduated from Superior Central High School. Later he attended Superior State Teachers College, where he received civil aeronautics training and earned his private pilots license.
In 1941 Bong left school to volunteer for military service, and on May 29, 1941 he joined the Army Air Corps. He received his flight training in the western and southern states, primarily at Tex Rankin's Aeronautical Academy in Tular, California; Gardner Field in Taft, California; and Luke Field, Arizona. Following his commissioning as a second lieutenant on January 9, 1942, Bong was personally selected by General George C. Kenney as a fighter pilot. Bong reported for duty in November 1942 with the Fifth Air Force in the South Pacific and the Philippines, under the command of General Kenney. He was assigned to the Ninth Fighter Squadron of the Forty-ninth Fighter Group.
Bong quickly became squadron leader. By August 1943, when he was promoted to the rank of captain, he had shot down a record twenty-eight Japanese planes. In 1944 he was assigned to noncombat work in New Guinea as a gunnery instructor, but he insisted on flying additional combat missions. In this capacity Bong shot down an additional twelve enemy planes to become the leading American air ace of all time.
In April 1944, while still stationed in the Philippines, Bong was promoted to the rank of major. During his Army career, Bong won twenty-six decorations to become one of America's most decorated war heroes. General Douglas MacArthur personally decorated Bong with the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Early in 1945 Major Bong was withdrawn from flight duty and reassigned to Burbank, California as a test pilot for Lockheed Aircraft. Shortly thereafter Bong returned home to Poplar, Wisconsin and married Marjorie Vattendahl. On August 6, 1945, the same day the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Major Bong was killed in an explosion during take-off. Richard Bong was buried in Poplar, Wisconsin.
