The Richard I. Bong Papers cover the period 1941 to 1986 and consist of correspondence (1941-1946), official records of his career, scrapbooks, and videotapes. Of these, the Society holds only the original Bong correspondence; the remainder of the collection was lent to the Society for copying and return.
The CORRESPONDENCE, which consists of letters written by Bong to his family, especially his mother (1941-1945), is a rich source for studying life during World War II. In these letters Bong writes in detail about conditions at various military bases, frequently making mention of drills, practice flying routines, and personal experiences with bureaucracy. Bong also mentions people he met and their abilities as pilots. His correspondence is personally very revealing, as the letters are always cheerful, and generally reflective of Bong's good nature and his enthusiasm for military life. The correspondence that covers the latter half of 1945 and 1946 primarily consists of sympathy letters written to the Bong family after his death.
The newspaper clippings SCRAPBOOKS, 1943-1986, were compiled by several members of the Bong family to document his career and his memory, and by Bong's widow to document her marriage and her short-lived career (1945-1947) as a model after his death. Because of this provenance, there is considerable duplication within the scrapbooks, and the order of the contents is frequently not precise. The scrapbooks have been arranged chronologically by starting date.
The remainder of the collection consists of OFFICIAL RECORDS of Major Bong's military career. Included are certificates, award notifications, special orders and combat reports (1943-1945), income tax returns, photographs of his fatal crash, miscellany, two income tax returns, routine government bulletins, and military ephemera. The certificates and award notifications consist of training certificates and notifications for awards such as the Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, and twenty-four other decorations Major Bong received. The special orders and combat reports (1943-1945) consist of various types of military documents that record mission orders and combat action. The combat reports were filled out by Bong, and in most cases are quite detailed. In these combat reports, Bong notes his squadron's flight formation, the number of enemy planes in the area, the positions of both enemy and U.S. aircraft, the flight patterns used to pursue the enemy aircraft, where the enemy aircraft was shot, and where the enemy aircraft crashed. In some cases Bong's combat reports are accompanied by reports filed by his fellow squadron pilots. The individual flight records (1941-1945) and the log and flight records (1941-1943) span Bong's flying career, beginning with his training as a flight cadet and ending with his career as a test pilot for Lockheed Aircraft. These records document the types of planes Bong flew and the duration of each flight. Photographs (actually photocopies of photographs) document the scene after Bong's fatal crash on August 6, 1945.
Videotapes complete the collection.
