Major Richard I. Bong was born here, received his education, and grew to manhood. After attending Superior State College, where he received his first pilot training, he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps on May 29, 1941. Assigned to the New Guinea combat theater of operations on September 5, 1942, he quickly proved his mastery in the air by shooting down two enemy aircraft in his first air battle. By destroying a total of forty enemy aircraft in air combat, he became America's leading air ace of all time. Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and many other military decorations, he lost his life testing a jet plane in August 1945 and lies buried nearby.