WEBVTT - Dick Bong: America’s Greatest Fighter Pilot

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<v Speaker 1>And we continue with our American stories. Up next comes

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<v Speaker 1>a man who's simply known as the History Guy. His

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<v Speaker 1>videos are watched by hundreds of thousands of people of

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<v Speaker 1>all ages over on YouTube. The History Guy has also

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<v Speaker 1>heard here regularly at our American Stories. Richard Bong was

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<v Speaker 1>a hero in an era of heroes. Here's the History

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<v Speaker 1>Guy with the story.

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<v Speaker 2>It has often been said that war is the most

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<v Speaker 2>dramatic of human endeavors. Of the millions of people who

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<v Speaker 2>served throughout the globe in the Second World War, they're

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<v Speaker 2>countless stories of those who went above and beyond to

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<v Speaker 2>serve their country, to protect their comrades, and to do

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<v Speaker 2>their part to try to bring an end to the

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<v Speaker 2>most destructive war in human history. And among those stories

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<v Speaker 2>is the story of Richard Ira Bong, a US Army

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<v Speaker 2>fighter pilot and the Pacific who was so success that

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<v Speaker 2>he became America's Ace of Aces. Richard Ira Bong was

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<v Speaker 2>born September twenty fourth, nineteen twenty in Superior, Wisconsin, the

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<v Speaker 2>oldest of nine children born to Carl Bong, a Swedish

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<v Speaker 2>immigrant and American door bryce. He had an interest in

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<v Speaker 2>planes from a young age and saw air mail planes

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<v Speaker 2>fly over the farm. When President Calvin Coolidge was at

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<v Speaker 2>his summer white house in Superior, he recalled that the

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<v Speaker 2>mail plane flew right over our house, and I knew

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<v Speaker 2>that I wanted to be a pilot. He attended the

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<v Speaker 2>Superior State Teachers College beginning in nineteen thirty eight, where

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<v Speaker 2>he enrolled in the civilian pilot training program started just

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<v Speaker 2>that year to train pilots both for civilian roles and

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<v Speaker 2>the possibility of war. On May twenty ninth, nineteen forty one,

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<v Speaker 2>Bong enlisted in the Army Air Corps Aviation Cadet program.

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<v Speaker 2>His gunnery instructor in Arizona was Barry Goldwater, later a

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<v Speaker 2>Senator in presidential nominee, who said that Bong was a

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<v Speaker 2>very bright student and was already showing his talent as

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<v Speaker 2>a pilot. Earned his pilot wings and was commissioned a

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<v Speaker 2>second lieutenant in the Army Air Force Reserves on January ninth,

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen forty two, just a month after the Japanese attack

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<v Speaker 2>on Pearl Harbor. Bong was kept at Luke Field for

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<v Speaker 2>several months, where he worked as a gunnery instructor until

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<v Speaker 2>he was transferred to Hamilton Field near San Francisco. Where

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<v Speaker 2>he trained to fly the Lockheed P thirty eight lightning.

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<v Speaker 2>A number of stories have come out of Bong's time

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<v Speaker 2>at Hamilton. On June twelfth, nineteen forty two, we cited

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<v Speaker 2>for buzzing the house of a pilot who had just

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<v Speaker 2>gotten married. The same day, several other pilots were cited

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<v Speaker 2>for a flying a loop around the center span of

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<v Speaker 2>the Golden Gate Bridge. Bong has awesome been accused of

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<v Speaker 2>looping the bridge, though he always denied it. Later, however,

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<v Speaker 2>he did apparently fly low down Market Street in San Francisco,

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<v Speaker 2>so low that he knocked some laundry off a line

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<v Speaker 2>and waved at people in the lower floors of some

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<v Speaker 2>of the buildings. General George Kinney, commander of the Fourth

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<v Speaker 2>Air Force, remembers dressing Bong down for the stunts, saying, now,

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<v Speaker 2>I don't need to tell you again how serious this

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<v Speaker 2>matter is. If you didn't want to fly down Market Street,

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<v Speaker 2>wouldn't want to in my Air Force. But you're not

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<v Speaker 2>to do it anymore. And I mean what I say.

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<v Speaker 2>Kenny made Bong help the woman with her laundry. Douglas MacArthur,

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<v Speaker 2>Supreme Alleyed Commander of the Southwest Pacific Area chose Kenny

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<v Speaker 2>over General James Doolittle to command the Fifth Air Force

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<v Speaker 2>who were flying out of Australia. Bong was hand picked

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<v Speaker 2>by Kenny as one of fifty P thirty eight pilots

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<v Speaker 2>brought to Australia in September, Bong was assigned to the

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<v Speaker 2>ninth Fighter Squadron of the forty ninth Fighter Group, nicknamed

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<v Speaker 2>the Flying Knights. In a P thirty eight, he and

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<v Speaker 2>several others engaged a larger force of Japanese planes near Buna,

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<v Speaker 2>New Guinea on December twenty seventh, nineteen forty two. Bank

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<v Speaker 2>scored his first aerial victory here, shooting down two Japanese

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<v Speaker 2>planes himself. He was awarded the Silber Star for the action.

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<v Speaker 2>On January seventh, he squadron attacked to convoy bringing reinforcements

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<v Speaker 2>to New Guinea and he shot down two more planes.

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<v Speaker 2>The very next day, he was escorting a bomber formation

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<v Speaker 2>when he and seven accompanying pilots attacked approximately twenty enemy fighters.

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<v Speaker 2>The citation for his distinguished Flying Crows said that Lieutenant

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<v Speaker 2>Bong shot down at enemy aircraft with a long burst

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<v Speaker 2>at a distance of two hundred yards. A difficult shot

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<v Speaker 2>and already his fifth confirmed kill, Lieutenant Dick Bong had

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<v Speaker 2>become a fighter ace. Not two weeks after his first engagement,

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<v Speaker 2>Bong participated in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, where

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<v Speaker 2>American planes attacked transports and destroyers carrying nearly seven thousand

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<v Speaker 2>reinforcements to New Guinea. He shot down a Mitsubishi A

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<v Speaker 2>six M zero, known as a formidable fighter aircraft in

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<v Speaker 2>the combat, and eight transports were destroyed in a significant

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<v Speaker 2>defeat for the Japanese and a major propaganda victory for

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<v Speaker 2>the Army Air Force. By April, he shot down five

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<v Speaker 2>more planes, becoming a double ace and was promoted to

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<v Speaker 2>first lieutenant. On July twenty sixth, leading a flight of

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<v Speaker 2>ten P thirty eighth over New Guinea, he spotted a

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<v Speaker 2>formation of twenty Japanese planes. He led three attacks on

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<v Speaker 2>the formation, shooting down two of the aircraft himself. When

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<v Speaker 2>fifteen more Japanese planes arrived, Bong, disregarding the greatly superior

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<v Speaker 2>numbers of the enemy, attacked the new planes, taking down

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<v Speaker 2>another to himself. In all, outnumbered three to one, Bong's

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<v Speaker 2>team shot down eleven planes without a loss. Bong himself

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<v Speaker 2>taking four. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for

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<v Speaker 2>the action. In August, he was promoted again to captain.

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<v Speaker 2>An engagement later that year nearly cost him his life.

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<v Speaker 2>According to General Kenney, Bong saw a Japanese fighter chasing

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<v Speaker 2>down an injured P thirty eight, which was flying towards

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<v Speaker 2>a nearby cloud bank. For cover, Bong turned off one

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<v Speaker 2>of his engines and drew the attention of the enemy.

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<v Speaker 2>Once the other plane was clear, he flipped his engine

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<v Speaker 2>back on and outraced the Japanese pilot back to base. Unfortunately,

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<v Speaker 2>on his return he noticed that the plane was damaged

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<v Speaker 2>worse than he thought. Half of his tail was gone,

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<v Speaker 2>and as he prepared to land, he found that his

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<v Speaker 2>ailerons were also damaged. When he finally touched down, he

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<v Speaker 2>discovered that he had no brakes and one of the

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<v Speaker 2>wheels was punctured. He ended up in a ditch alive,

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<v Speaker 2>but his plane was a total loss. The plate behind

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<v Speaker 2>his head was pitted with dance, and the plane had

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<v Speaker 2>fifty bullet holes in it. Both fuel tanks were punctured,

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<v Speaker 2>but a self sealing rubber system that kept them from leaking.

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<v Speaker 2>In another engagement, he was circling above the jungle, where

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<v Speaker 2>a pilot had ditched below him. Soldiers had gotten in

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<v Speaker 2>a rubber boat across a lake to get to the pilot,

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<v Speaker 2>and Bong sided a crocodile following them. He dipped load

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<v Speaker 2>to the water, sided and blasted the encroaching crocodile with

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<v Speaker 2>twenty millimeters a round. Captain Bong was granted leaf stateside

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<v Speaker 2>when he reached twenty one confirmed kills. He was able

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<v Speaker 2>to spend the holidays nineteen forty three at home in Wisconsin,

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<v Speaker 2>where he met Marjorie Vtendahl and began dating her. He

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<v Speaker 2>also participated in a ship launching where the Welderettes named

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<v Speaker 2>him their number one pinnock boy. When asked how he

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<v Speaker 2>was so good at what he did, he modestly answered, Oh,

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<v Speaker 2>I'm just lucky. I guess a lot of Japanese happened

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<v Speaker 2>to get in my way. I keep shooting plenty of

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<v Speaker 2>lead and finally some of them get hit. When he

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<v Speaker 2>returned to the Pacific in nineteen forty four, he christened

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<v Speaker 2>his plane March and had his girl's face painted on

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<v Speaker 2>the nose. He was reassigned to the Fifth Air Force HQ,

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<v Speaker 2>but allowed to freelance Bong had on April twelfth, been

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<v Speaker 2>credited with three more victories, which brought his total to

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<v Speaker 2>twenty eight, officially beating Eddie Rickenbacker's twenty six. During World

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<v Speaker 2>War One, Kenny made Bong a major and took the

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<v Speaker 2>chance to send him home. Rickenbacker and Kenny had earlier

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<v Speaker 2>promise cases of Scotts to ever beat Rickenbacker's record first,

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<v Speaker 2>and both of them sent along a case. For three months,

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<v Speaker 2>he was on leave in the United States, doing publicity tours,

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<v Speaker 2>surging civilians to buy bonds and generally supporting the war effort.

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<v Speaker 2>When he got back, he was put in charge of

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<v Speaker 2>gunnery training and told not to engage except in self defense.

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<v Speaker 2>On October tenth, he accompanied his trainees shotdown two more

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<v Speaker 2>planes solely in self defense. Of course, Bong, still officially

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<v Speaker 2>gunnery instructor and not required to fly combat missions, continued

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<v Speaker 2>to find ways to do so, and between October tenth

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<v Speaker 2>and November fifteenth, he engaged in unusually hazardous orties and

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<v Speaker 2>shot down eight more planes. He was recommended for and

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<v Speaker 2>received the Medal of Honor. MacArthur gave it to him

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<v Speaker 2>personally with a short congratulations. Major Richard Ira Baung, who

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<v Speaker 2>has ruled the heir from New Guinea to the Philippines.

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<v Speaker 2>I now inducted you into the Society of the Bravest

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<v Speaker 2>of the Brave, the wearers of the Congressional Medal of

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<v Speaker 2>Honor of the United States. But December seventeenth, Bong got

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<v Speaker 2>his fortieth victory and Kenny ordered him home. In fact,

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<v Speaker 2>Kenny was convinced that Bong actually had many more victories

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<v Speaker 2>than that. Stories abounded that he had given away kills

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<v Speaker 2>to wing men when he had really done the shooting.

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<v Speaker 2>He had flown one hundred and forty six combat missions

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<v Speaker 2>and had four hundred hours of combat time. Richard Ira

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<v Speaker 2>Bong married Marjorie Battendahl on February tenth, nineteen forty five,

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<v Speaker 2>having already given so much in the services country, to

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<v Speaker 2>come one of the most dangerous jobs a nation could ask,

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<v Speaker 2>becoming a test pilot for Lockheed testing their new P

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<v Speaker 2>eighty Shooting star jet. On August sixth, nineteen forty five,

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<v Speaker 2>Bong took off and his twelve flight in the plane.

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<v Speaker 2>A Lockheed service mechanic later reported, we knew something was

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<v Speaker 2>wrong when we saw puff of black smoke come out

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<v Speaker 2>just as he level off in flight. Within four minutes

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<v Speaker 2>of takeoff, the plane exploded just some fifty feet off

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<v Speaker 2>the ground over North Hollywood. A witness quoted in the

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<v Speaker 2>Los Angeles Times saw Bong eject from the plane, but

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<v Speaker 2>he was too low for his parachute to open and

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<v Speaker 2>it was caught in the explosion. America's Ace of Aces

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<v Speaker 2>died the same day the first atomic bomb was detonated

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<v Speaker 2>over Hiroshima. His death shared front page news with the

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<v Speaker 2>first reports. Among American fighter pilots in the Second World War,

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<v Speaker 2>only five percent became aces, and yet those five percent

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<v Speaker 2>accounted for half of all enemy aircraft claimed in air

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<v Speaker 2>to air combat. And simply put that means that a

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<v Speaker 2>huge burden was placed on the shoulders of a very few.

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<v Speaker 2>When Major Dick Bong died, he was just twenty four.

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<v Speaker 2>In his brief life, he became one of the most

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<v Speaker 2>decorated pilots in American history, having earned the Medal of Honor,

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<v Speaker 2>the Distinguished Service Cross, two Silver Stars, seven Distinguished Flying Crosses,

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<v Speaker 2>and fifteen Air Medals.

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<v Speaker 1>And a special thanks to Greg Hangler for the terrific

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<v Speaker 1>production into The History Guy, who you can find at

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<v Speaker 1>his YouTube channel, The History Guy. History deserves to be remembered.

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<v Speaker 1>And my goodness, what a story. One hundred and forty

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<v Speaker 1>six missions. That's crazy. The story of Richard Dick boung

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<v Speaker 1>Here on our American Stories