Major Richard “Dick” Ira Bong died at the tender age of 24 on the 6th August 1945 in a flight accident during testing of the P-80 Shooting Star Fighter. His fame was such that news of his death vied with the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima in the US press, his legendary exploits at the helm of his P-38 Lightning had made him a household name. Bong had only recently received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his exploits of downing 40 enemy Japanese planes in the Southwestern Pacific. His tally of 40 victories made him the highest scoring American ace of all time, a record that is unlikely to ever be broken.
In this biography his former commanding officer General George C. Kenney recounts his life; from his early life in Wisconsin, his sweetheart Marge, and his aerial exploits. Kenney enriches the narrative with personal anecdotes that illuminate the modest unassuming but determinedly heroic, Ace of Aces.
Highly recommended.
