WWII Heritage Center opens

Army, Dec 2002

WWII Heritage Center Opens. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the Richard I. Bong Heritage Center on September 24, the same day as its namesake's birthday. Bong was America's "ace of aces" who shot down 40 Japanese planes in World War II. Located in Superior, Wis., Bong's hometown, the center includes a P-38 Lightning fighter plane, exhibits about World War II, a library and a theater. Marge Bong Drucker, who married Bong during the war, attended the ceremony.

Bong served two tours of duty in the Pacific, where he earned the Medal of Honor. He shot down more enemy planes than any other American pilot during the war and flew 200 combat missions. He died in a crash during a test flight of the P-80 jet aircraft in California on August 6, 1945.