Maj. Richard I. Bong, USAAF
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40 |
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5th FC 5th AF
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PACIFIC |
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LOCKHEED P-38 LIGHTNING |
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MOH |
Dick Bong
made his flying debut with Gen. Kenney, the future head of the
5th Air Force in the Pacific Theater, but the first impression
Bong made on his future boss was not made under the best of
circumstances. It seems that Bong was "joy-riding" in
his brand new P-38 Lightning over the city of San Francisco.
Motorists on the Golden Gate Bridge were thrilled as he did two
complete loops under and around the bridge center span and then
proceeded to fly sideways between the hi-rise office buildings on
Market Street, disrupting an otherwise boring day for many.
When a lady
who had her laundry blown off her clothesline by Bong's
low-flying plane, complained to Gen. Kenney in person, the
General had no choice but to reprimand the spirited Lieutenant
and send him to the offended woman's home to help her sort out
her wash. But Gen. Kenney did not forget Lt. Bong when he was
asked what he wanted to take to the Pacific with him. The General
simply wanted two things - the Lockheed P-38 Lightning and plenty of pilots like Lieutenant Bong to fly them.
Ironically,
Bong, who had endeared the P-38 to General Kenney and himself was
not to start his career as a fighter pilot in Lockheed's
twin-engined fighter plane. Supply shortages and the desperate
expediencies of the Pacific theater, dictated that all USAAF
fighter pilots fly whatever was available - and that meant flying
the Curtiss P-40. Bong was at first assigned to the 49th Fighter
Group and he quickly established a reputation as an aggressive
fighter and a skilled pilot.
Quiet and
unassuming on the ground, Dick Bong was a different person in the
air. His radio language was sometimes so raw that it was said by
many to make the most jaded listeners blush. But nothing Bong did
in the air was without a purpose and that purpose was to destroy
the enemy whenever and wherever he saw them. His method of attack
was methodical, graceful, well-planned, and deadly. Much of his
skill, he perfected while flying with Major Thomas Lynch -
another multiple P-38 Ace - and both Bong and Lynch learned from
each other while flying in a two-plane "hunting" party.
The victories and the self-improvement continued until Lynch was
killed before Bong's own eyes when his aircraft burned and
exploded as a result of enemy ground fire.
Standard
practice was soon becoming that of removing a fighter pilot from
combat as soon as he met or exceeded Capt. Edward Rickenbacker's
First World War record of 26 enemy aircraft destroyed. Dick Bong,
shortly after scoring his 26th and 27th victories, was flown back
to the states to do a war bond tour. Many thought that Bong - now
a Major - would not return to combat and rest on the satisfaction
that he had "done his part" as others had opted. But
Bong was determined to get back into the action. He soon wrangled
an assignment as a gunnery instructor and arranged his new
"job" to include instruction and advisement in the war
zone. He quickly found himself back in the Pacific, as a
"gunnery advisor" attached to the 5th Fighter Command -
and shooting down more Japanese aircraft.
During late
1944 and early 1945, Bong would attach himself to any squadron
with a mission to fly and anyone who would allow him to "tag
along." He flew missions, either in borrowed aircraft or in
his own mount, with the 8th, 49th, and 475th Fighter Groups. His
victory tally continued to climb and his colorful career would
climax when Gen. Douglas MacArthur awarded him
the Medal of Honor.
At this
time Dick Bong's victories totalled 40 and he was quickly shipped
home. This time, there would be no further "action" for
him, administrative wrangling or not. The Army Air Force was not
going to take any further chances with losing its highest scoring
fighter ace. Ironically it was the USAAF's efforts to safeguard
Major Bong that would place him in harm's way again and lead to
his eventual loss.
Assigned as
a test pilot, Major Richard I. Bong, highest scoring American Ace
of World War II and recipient of the Medal of Honor, died in a
crash of a Lockheed YP-80 Shooting Star jet on 6 August 1945.
America lost its greatest ace on the very day she entered the
nuclear age with
the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
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Maj. Richard I. Bong, USAAF