Major Richard Ira Bong

Major Richard I. Bong, a native of Poplar, became "America's Ace of Aces" after being credited with destroying 40 Japanese aircraft in aerial combat while flying Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighters in the Southwest Pacific during World War II. In December 1944 he received the nation's highest award, the Congressional Medal of Honor, for his exploits, and General Douglas MacArthur cited the young Wisconsin ace as entering the "society of the bravest of the brave." On August 6, 1945, Bong was killed while testing a Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star jet.

Poplar, Wisconsin · United States