Dick Bong: Ace Of Aces
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4.5 • 13 Ratings
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- $2.99
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- $2.99
Publisher Description
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.
Customer Reviews
Race of Aces review. After flying for the USAF for 20 y why the War effort ETO slanted .
There are so many facets to the Pacific Theater. I thought it was the navy and Marines who won the war! God forbid the AAF had any part except for Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
So as a young pilot who got into flying as A “mole man”,
Titan II DMCCC , I thought only Europe was where the action was…
I was taught T37 by a Vietnam “Thud” driver. He was the best but never read the instructors guide so I wasn’t the sharpest ATC student. Not his fault!!! After 100 missions MPC gives him a”tweet”. Next was an F4 driver who was always on the stick so I wasn’t sure if I was scaring him in formation since I wasn’t getting comfortable in trail,escelon, or rejoins. I moved away from him in one assinine debrief on afreeby low level mission he was giving me a marginal grade. I was frustrated so I was going to smack the SOAB if I didn’t move away, fell out of my seat and he claimed I passed out. Long story after I got a psyc eval , a new instructor who knew how to instructI passed all my checks but couldn’t fly in single seat airplanes.
I flew 10000 plus hours in trainers, T37,T 39, C21,C7A,and short tour inC5A. Flew in MCAS A4,
VC135, VC140, VC137AF1 ,KC10 as Berlin Corridor Evaluator. Typed in CL 601/4, Lear jet,N265,CE550.
I really enjoyed getting to know about RIBong and Tom McGuire. Pappy Gunn and the innovations he was personally responsible for and working for a boss who let pilots fly.
This book, Pappy Gunn and Pappy Boyington books also give facets of the Pacific that I never got in any history classes while in HS or College.
Thank you for helping me understand how these actions tragic as they turned out for many individuals fit in WWII