This week the readers pick is Major Richard Ira ‘Dick’ Bong, USAAF, the highest scoring US ace of WW2. He also hails from my home state of Wisconsin, so I may have been a tad prejudiced in this feature as well. While there is a lot concerning Dick Bong on the web, here is a great site that presents a good look at the man from the home front perspective.

Keep your requests coming in!

Make the most of your day!

–RJL

Richard I. Bong

Rank and organization: Major, U.S. Army Air Corps.

Place and date: Over Borneo and Leyte, October 10, to November 15, 1944.

Entered service at: Poplar, Wis.

Birth: Poplar, Wis.

G.O. No.: 90, December 8, 1944.

Citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty in the Southwest Pacific area from October 10, to November 15, 1944. Though assigned to duty as gunnery instructor and neither required nor expected to perform combat duty, Maj. Bong voluntarily and at his own urgent request engaged in repeated combat missions, including unusually hazardous sorties over Balikpapan, Borneo, and in the Leyte area of the Philippines. His aggressiveness and daring resulted in his shooting down 8 enemy airplanes during this period.