Avenging the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Richard Bong always said that he was just doing his part. Quiet and shy in person, in the air, Bong was anything but. Nicknamed the “Ace of Aces,” the modest pilot went on to become WWII’s leading American fighter pilot ace at only 24 years old.
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Newsreels and radio programs throughout the country followed his record-breaking journey of downing 40 enemy planes in the Pacific Theater, almost doubling World War I ace Eddie Rickenbacker’s record. But Bong’s story came to a sudden halt when he was involved in a crash while test flying America’s first turbojet, the Lockheed P-80. This is his story.