Major Richard Ira Bong is known as the “Ace of Aces” for his rank as the top American flying ace during World War II with a confirmed total of 40 enemy aircraft shot down with his initial aerial victory occurring on December 27, 1942.
While back home in Wisconsin on leave, Richard met his future wife, Marjorie Vattendahl, and when he returned to the Pacific, he changed the name of his P-38 plane to Marge and included a large photo of her as the plane’s nose art. A replica of his plane can be found in the Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center, located in Superior, Wisconsin.
In January 1945, Richard returned home and married Marge on February 10, 1945. Moving to California, Bong started a new career as a test pilot for the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, and on August 6th, 1945, while testing the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star, the fuel pump malfunctioned and Richard Bong was killed. His death was front page news, right under the lead story of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
Remembering Veteran Richard Bong
