Dick Bong: Ace of Aces

this episode of the history guy brought to you by magellan tv [Music] it has often been said that war is the most dramatic of human endeavors and of the millions of people who served throughout the globe in the second world war they're countless stories of those who went above and beyond to serve their country to protect their comrades and to do their part to try to bring an end to the most destructive war in human history and among those stories is the story of richard ira bong a us army fighter pilot in the pacific who was so successful that he became america's ace of aces the story of the top fighter ace of the us army air force deserves to be remembered in speaking of the air force there's a new series on magellan tv that you really want to see it's called plane resurrection if you are a fan of classic aircraft like i am it is a must-see show magellan tv is a new kind of streaming service it's run by documentary filmmakers it's got more than 3 000 documentaries every single one is worth watching if you have it signed up you really should and if you have you really want to go see plane resurrection it is an amazing show and i'm completely addicted to it and right now my viewers can sign up and get 30 off an annual membership if you use the link in the description that will give you an entire year of magellan tv for just around 3.50 a month and heck that's worth it if you only watch one documentary a month plane resurrection is a 12 episode series that covers the restoration of historic aircraft including some of the most iconic aircraft of the second world war each episode details not just the restoration of an incredible machine but also delves into the flight technology of the day and the incredible history and glory of the type of aircraft that's being restored it is frankly a can't miss series for aviation history buffs like me i'm a big fan of history documentaries of course but you might also enjoy science or space or nature all of which magellan tv offers and magellan tv has the richest and most varied history content available anywhere ancient modern current early modern war biography and even non-historical genres of course like science and crime are historical in nature you can watch plane resurrection anywhere on your television laptop or mobile device magellan is compatible with roku amazon fire tv apple tv google play and ios and you can even cast from your phone to your television and of course the best part is that special deal where our viewers get 30 percent off an annual membership but all you have to do to get this is sign up with the link in the description you'll be glad you did richard ira bong was born september 24th 1920 in superior wisconsin the oldest of nine children born to carl bong a swedish immigrant in american adorab rice he was known as dick and grew up on a farm near the small town of poplar wisconsin he had an interest in planes from a young age and saw air mail planes fly over the farm when president calvin coolidge was at his summer white house in superior he recalled that the mail plane flew right over our house and i knew that i wanted to be a pilot he attended the superior state teachers college beginning in 1938 where he enrolled in the civilian pilot training program started just that year to train pilots both for civilian roles and the possibility of war on may 29 1941 bong enlisted in the army air corps aviation cadet program the cadet program had been accelerated in 1940 reducing training time to meet a potential demand for pilots the us army air corps tripled between july of 1940 and july of 41 from 51 000 over 152 000 men bong was one of the many trained in this period he was trained at tulare in gardner fields in california as well as luke fields in arizona he trained in a bt-13 and later in an 86 texan his gunnery instructor in arizona was barry goldwater later a senator and presidential nominee who said that bong was a very bright student and was already showing his talent as a pilot bong earned his pilot wings and was commissioned to second lieutenant in the army air force reserves on january 9 1942 just a month after the japanese attack on pearl harbor bong was kept at luke field for several months where he worked as a gunnery instructor until he was transferred to hamilton field near san francisco where he trained to fly the lockheed p-38 lightning the p-38 was designed in response to a 1937 specification for the us army air corps seeking a twin-engined interceptor having the tactical mission of interception and attack of hostile aircraft at high altitude the p-38 was the first american military plane to reach speeds over 400 miles per hour in level flight it would become a staple of american forces especially in the pacific where it was the primary long-range fighter for most of the war according to general george kenney the p-38 had twice the range of any other fighter in the air force these are lethal weapons they're one purpose the sole reason for their existence is to knock enemy planes out of the sky a number of stories have come out of bong's time at hamilton on june 12 1942 we cited for buzzing the house of a pilot who had just gotten married the same day several other pilots were cited for flying a loop around the center span of the golden gate bridge bong has also been accused of looping the bridge though he always denied it later however he did apparently fly low down market street in san francisco so low that he knocked some laundry off a line and waved at people in the lower floors of some of the buildings general george kinney commander of the fourth air force remembers dressing bong down for the stunt saying now i don't need to tell you again how serious this matter is if you didn't want to fly down market street i wouldn't want you in my air force but you're not to do it anymore and i mean what i say kenny made bong help the woman with her laundry douglas macarthur supreme alley commander of the southwest pacific area chose kenny over general james doolittle to command the fifth air force who were flying out of australia bong was hand-picked by kenny as one of 50 p-38 pilots brought to australia in september bong was assigned to the ninth fighter squadron of the 49th fighter group nicknamed the flying knight although he served briefly with the 35th fighter group in new guinea waiting for p-38s to be delivered to the 49th the situation of the time was serious with american units low on supplies spare parts and planes we never seem to have more than two or three days supply of gasoline ammunition and bombs on hand general kenny remembered in a p-38 he and several others engaged a larger force of japanese planes near buna new guinea on december 27th 1942. bong scored his first aerial victory here shooting down two japanese planes himself he was awarded the silver star for the action on january 7th his squadron attacked a convoy bringing reinforcements to new guinea and he shot down two more planes the very next day he was escorting a bomber formation when he and seven accompanying pilots attacked approximately 20 enemy fighters the citation for his distinguished flying cross said that lieutenant bong shot down an enemy aircraft with a long burst at a distance of 200 yards a difficult shot and already his fifth confirmed kill lieutenant dick bong had become a fighter ace not two weeks after his first engagement meanwhile actions in the southwest pacific theater were continuing at speed as the allies took the initiative and went on the offensive by february 9th the last japanese withdrawn from guadalcanal and allied troops were engaging in the arduous campaign to retake new guinea hmong participated in the battle of the bismarck sea where american planes attacked transports and destroyers carrying nearly 7000 reinforcements to new guinea he shot down a mitsubishi a6m 0 known as a formidable fighter aircraft in the combat and eight transports were destroyed in a significant defeat for the japanese and a major propaganda victory for the army air force said general macarthur we have achieved a victory of such completeness as to assume the proportions of a major disaster to the enemy by april he shot down five more planes becoming a double ace and was promoted to first lieutenant on july 26 leading a flight of 10 p-38s over new guinea he spotted the formation of 20 japanese planes he led three attacks on the formation shooting down two of the aircraft himself when 15 more japanese planes arrived bong disregarding the greatly superior numbers of the enemy attacked the new planes taking down another to himself in all outnumbered three to one bong's team shot down 11 planes without a loss long himself taking four he was awarded the distinguished service cross for the action first lieutenant bong's unquestionable valor in aero combat is in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service the citation reads in august he was promoted again to captain an engagement later that year the early costume is live according to general kenny bong saw a japanese fighter chasing down an injured p-38 which was flying towards a nearby cloud bank for cover bong turned off one of his engines and drew the attention of the enemy once the other plane was clear he flipped his engine back on and outraced the japanese pilot back to base unfortunately on his return he noticed that the plane was damaged worse than he thought half of his tail was gone and as he prepared to land he found that his ailerons were also damaged when he finally touched down he discovered that he had no brakes and one of the wheels was punctured he ended up in a ditch alive but his plane was a total loss the plate shield behind his head was pitted with dance and the plane had 50 bullet holes in it both fuel tanks were punctured but a self-sealing rubber system had kept them from leaking in another engagement he was circling above the jungle where a pilot had ditched below him soldiers had gotten in a rubber boat to cross a lake to get to the pilot and long-sided a crocodile following them he dipped low to the water sighted and blasted the encroaching crocodile with a 20 millimeter round captain bong was granted leave stateside when he reached 21 confirmed kills he was able to spend the holidays in 1943 at home in wisconsin where he met marjorie vattendal and began dating her he also participated in a ship launching where the welderettes named him their number one pin-up boy when asked how he was so good at what he did he modestly answered oh i'm just lucky i guess a lot of japanese happen to get in my way i keep shooting plenty of lead and finally some of them get hit when he returned to the pacific in 1944 he christened his plane marge and had his girl's face painted on the nose he was reassigned to the fifth air force hq but allowed to freelance during this period two of the other aces in the region were lost in combat neil kirby with 22 victories who was shot down on march 5th thomas lynch a lieutenant colonel with 20 kills was flying with captain bong on march 8 when they spotted and strafed a barge on a second pass lynch was hit and his pun exploded before he could ditch lynch bailed out but he was too close to the ground for his parachute to deploy bong stayed in the area long enough to confirm that he hadn't survived the deaths of the other aces made an impact back in the states kenny received a radio communication that expressed concern over the high loss rate of pilots who shut down many enemy aircraft the case in point is captain bong the radio wondered if the captain shouldn't be sent home for a time for his own safety bong had on april 12 been credited with three more victories which brought his total to 28 officially beating eddie rickenbacker's 26 during world war one kenny made bong a major and took the chance to send him home rickenbacker and kenny had earlier promised cases of scotch to ever beat rickenbacker's record first and both of them sent along a case for three months she was on leave in the united states doing publicity tours urging civilians to buy bonds and generally supporting the war effort in addition to his tours he had requested to take a gunnery course by his own admission he wasn't a good shot and got his victories by flying as close as possible to his target so he'd be sure to hit them when he got back he was put in charge of gunnery training and told not to engage except in self-defense on october 10th he accompanied his trainees shot down two more planes only in self-defense of course bung still officially gunner instructor and not required to fly combat missions continued to find ways to do so and between october 10th and november 15th he engaged in unusually hazardous ortiz and shot down eight more planes he was recommended for and received the medal of honor for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty macarthur gave it to him personally with a short congratulations major richard irabong who has ruled the air from new guinea to the philippines i now induct you into the society of the bravest of the brave the wearers of the congressional medal of honor of the united states by december 17th bond got his 40th victory and kenny ordered him home in fact kenny was convinced that bong actually had many more victories than that stories abounded that he had given away kills to wingmen when he had really done the shooting he had flown 146 combat missions and had 400 hours of combat time richard irabong married marjorie battendahl on february 10 1945 he participated in war bond drives and pr activities and having already given so much in the services country took on one of the most dangerous jobs a nation could ask becoming a test pilot for lockheed testing their new p80 shooting star jet the p80 testing program had proven extremely dangerous and veteran test pilot milo burcham had died in a crash of the third production prototype in october 1944. on august 6th 1945 bong took off in his 12th flight in the plane a lockheed service mechanic later reported we knew something was wrong when we saw a puff of black smoke come out just as he leveled off in flight within four minutes of takeoff the plane exploded just some 50 feet off the ground over north hollywood a witness quoted in the los angeles times saw a bong eject from the plane but it was too low for his parachute to open and was caught in the explosion america's ace of aces died the same day the first atomic bomb was detonated over hiroshima his death shared front page news with the first reports general kenny wrote that we not only loved him we boasted about him we were proud of him that's why we each of us got a lump in our throats when we read that telegram about his death his country and the air force must never forget their number one fighter pilot eddie rickenbacher said that bong made his final contribution to aviation in the dangerous role of test pilot of an untried experimental plane a deed that places him among the stout heart of pioneers who gave their lives in the conquest of sky and space in his 2020 book race of aces veteran combat correspondent dick bruning notes that of among american fighter pilots in the second world war only five percent became aces and yet those five percent accounted for half of all enemy aircraft claimed in air-to-air combat and simply put that means that a huge burden was placed on the shoulders of a very few a burden we can barely even comprehend today when major dick bong died he was just 24 years old in his brief life he became one of the most decorated pilots in american history having earned the medal of honor the distinguished service cross two silver stars seven distinguished flying crosses and fifteen air medals i hope you enjoyed this episode of the history guide short snippets of forgotten history if you did enjoy feed the algorithm by making a comment or clicking that like button if you have 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Channel: The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered

Views: 295,109

Keywords: history, history guy, the history guy, wwii, p-38 lightning, us army air force, ace, richard Bong, world war ii, us history

Id: C7NBU_3IZWM

Length: 15min 58sec (958 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 16 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/Moldy_Teapot]

We even have a bong recreation area and weed still isn't legal yet 🙄

[u/JolietJake1976]

Bong Recreation Area was originally intended to be a US Air Force base. In fact, if you look at a sat image, you can easily see where the USAF had started construction on the runway. Before construction was completed, the base was already considered obsolete and redundant, and ordered closed.

[u/leroynewhope]

good ole Dick Bong!