Richard Ira "Dick" Bong (September 24, 1920 – August 6, 1945) was the United States' highest-scoring air ace, having shot down at least 40 Japanese aircraft during World War II. He was a fighter pilot in the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) and a recipient of the Medal of Honor. All of his aerial victories were in the P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft. After the war he became a test pilot and  was killed in 1945 while testing a P-80A airplane.


Richard Ira Bong with the CMH

B-24 Crewman

An American fighter plane (Bell P-39D Airacobra) of the 35th Fighter Squadron, 8th Fighter Group, 5th Air Force takes off from an airfield in New Guinea.
Airacobras first fought Japanese Zeros on 30 April 1942 in a low level action near Lae, New Guinea. From May to August 1942 combat between Airacobras and Zeros took place on a regular basis over New Guinea. Compilation of combat reports indicates the Zero was either equal to or close to the P-39 in speed at the altitudes of the various low level encounters.