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| Major Richard Bong, Medal of Honor winner, the "Ace of Aces" (acesofwwII.com) |
On
this date in 1950 – March 13 – The Chicago Tribune reported that the Cook
county council of the American Legion adopted a resolution proposing that the
proposed northwest super-highway – now the Kennedy Expressway, heading toward
the northwestern suburbs and O’Hare Field – be named in honor of Major Richard
L. Bong, a Medal of Honor winner, the “Ace of Aces,” responsible for downing 40
enemy aircraft during World War II, a record that stands to this date.
The
American Legion’s resolution read –
Whereas,
many cities and towns have erected or otherwise established suitable memorials
honoring heroes of the army, navy, marine corps, and air force.
And
whereas, the city of Chicago has in like manner honored certain heroes of the
armed services but has failed to honor any hero of the air forces,
And
whereas, a superhighway from Chicago’s loop to the northwest sections of the
city is presently under construction, partly completed, or contemplated, and is
known as the northwest superhighway,
Now
therefore, be it resolved that the northwest superhighway be dedicated and
named in honor Maj. Richard I. Bong, hero of the army air forces, in
recognition and remembrance of his outstanding services during World War II. [Chicago
Tribune, March 14, 1950]
Major
Bong grew up on a farm outside the small Wisconsin town of Poplar. At the age of 22 he earned his Army Air Corps
commission and the chance to fly the new Lockheed fighter, the P-38 Lightning. In San Francisco as he flew under bridges in
San Francisco, buzzed Market Street, and blew wash off clothes lines, he
attracted the attention of General George Kenney. When one housewife complained, General Kenney
called the young pilot in and told him:
Monday
morning you check this address out in Oakland and if the woman has any washing
to be hung out on the line, you do it for her.
Then you hang around being useful – mowing the lawn or something – and
when the clothes are dry, take them off the line and bring them into the
house. And don’t drop any of them on the
ground or you have to wash them all over again.
I want this woman to think we are good for something else besides
annoying people. Now get out of her
before I get mad and change my mind.
That’s all.” [acepilots.com]
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| Major Bong |
In
December, 1944 Major Bong was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. The citation read:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in
action above and beyond the call of duty in the Southwest Pacific area from 10
October to 15 November 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.
He
was relieved of wartime duty and sent home on a public relations tour in early
1945, and married his wife, Marge, on February 10 of that year. After their honeymoon Major Bong went to work
as a test pilot at Wright Field in Ohio.
Just six months after his marriage on August 6, 1945, the same day that
the Enola Gay dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of
Hiroshima. Bong died when his P-38 malfunctioned during take-off.
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| Major Bong and Marge (acesof2wwII.com) |
Illinois
could have been first. We could have
honored the Medal of Honor winner, who grew up in a small farm in Wisconsin,
the first of nine children, and played clarinet in the high school band.
We could have said WITH PRIDE, “I’m on the Bong, stuck in traffic on my way to O’Hare.”
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