Title: Richard I. Bong Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1941-1986 (bulk 1941-1945)

Creator:

• Bong, Richard I.

Call Number: Wis Mss RH; Micro 1152; VBA 938; VBA 939; VHB 572

Quantity: 0.2 c.f. (1 archives box), 2 reels of microfilm (35 mm), and 3 videorecordings

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Papers, mainly 1941-1945, of Richard I. Bong, a World War II hero from Poplar, Wisconsin, who was noted as America's World War II “Ace of Aces.” Included are microfilmed awards and certificates, flight records and logs, income tax returns, photographs of his fatal plane crash, special orders and combat reports, and other official military records; microfilmed clippings scrapbooks documenting his career and various memorial projects; original wartime letters written to his family; and several World War II newsreels, home movie clips, and televised biographies concerning his life and career.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-wis000rh

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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.

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.

Acquisition Information

Portions presented by Mrs. Carl Bong, Poplar, Wisconsin, 1955-1956; portions loaned for copying by Mrs. Joyce Erickson, Poplar, Wisconsin, 1971-1988. Accession Number: M71-203, M88-254

Wis Mss RH Box   1 Folder   1-2	Correspondence, 1941-1946
Micro 1152	Official Records
Reel   1 Frame   1-12	Certificates
Reel   1 Frame   13-159	Awards, special orders, and combat reports, 1943-1945
Reel   1 Frame   160-171	Income tax returns, 1943, 1944
Reel   1 Frame   172-273	Individual flight records, 1941-1945
Reel   1 Frame   274-352	Log and flight records, 1941-1943
Reel   1 Frame   353-368	Photographs, 1945 August 6
Reel   1 Frame   369-378	Miscellany
Reel   1 Frame   379-418	Bulletins, Headquarters Air Service Command, 1943-1945
	Scrapbooks Note: Filmed without a counter
Reel   1	1943
Reel   1	1943-1944
Reel   1	1943-1944
Reel   1	1943-1945
Reel   1	1943-1945
Reel   1	1943-1946, 1951
Reel   2	1944
Reel   2	1944-1983
Reel   2	1945-1955
Reel   2	1945-1984
Reel   2	1946-1975
Reel   2	1955-1984
Reel   2	1981-1983
Reel   2	1984
Reel   2	1985-1986
Reel   2	1985-1986
Reel   2	Miscellaneous clippings and articles
	Videotapes
VBA 939	[Richard Ira Bong - Film and Newsreel Segments], 1943-1955
VBA 938	The Richard Ira Bong Story, WDIO-Duluth/WIRT, Hibbing, 1985
VHB 572	[Richard Bong receiving the Medal of Honor]