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Richard Ira Bong

 

TAPS

Fading light dims the sight,
And a star gems the sky,
    Gleaming bright.
From afar drawing nigh,    
    Falls the night.


Day is done, gone the sun,
From the lake, From the hills,
    From the sky.
All is well, safel
y rest,
    God is nigh.


Then good night, Peaceful night,
Till the light of the dawn
    Shineth bright,
God is near, do not fear,
  Friend, good night.

Poplar Cemetery

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Hometown Signage and Memorial Tributes in Poplar, WI
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Born:  September 24, 1920 at Superior, WI

Entered Service in the US Army Air Corps from Poplar, WI

Earned The Medal of Honor During World War II For heroism October 10 - November 15, 1944 at Borneo and Leyte, Philippine Islands

Died:  August 06, 1945 at the age of 24

Major Bong, though assigned to duty as a gunnery instructor and neither required nor expected to perform combat duty, voluntarily, and at his own urgent request, engaged in repeated combat missions in a P-38. These included unusually hazardous sorties over Balikpapan, Borneo and the Leyte area of the Philippines between October 10 and November 15, 1944. During this period Major Bong shot down eight enemy planes.
(NOTES: In all, Major Bong shot down a total of 40 enemy airplanes, becoming for a time America's leading ace of World War II. On August 6, 1945 while piloting a P-80 experimental aircraft back in the United States near Burbank, California, Major Bong crashed and was killed.)

 

 

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