Richard â€œDickâ€ Bong was one of the most decorated American fighter pilots.Between December 27, 1942, and December 17, 1944, he shot down forty Japanese aircraft.

Dick Bong: Ace of Aces

Richard â€œDickâ€ Bong was one of the most decorated American fighter pilots.

Between December 27, 1942, and December 17, 1944, he shot down forty Japanese aircraft.

This achievement meant that he was the U.S.A.â€™s top flying ace through the course of the Second World War.

George C. Kenney, commanding officer of the Fourth Air Force, knew Bong well and his biography of the young hero brings Bongâ€™s short career in the air force to life.

One of Kenney and Bongâ€™s first encounters had been when Bong had been cited and temporarily grounded for looping the Golden Gate bridge, flying at low level down Market Street in San Francisco, and blowing the clothes off an Oakland womanâ€™s clothesline. Kenney reprimanded him saying â€œâ€œthere is no need for me to tell you again that this is a serious matter. If you didnâ€™t want to loop around that bridge or fly down Market Street I wouldnâ€™t have you in my Air Force, but you are not going to do it any more and I mean what I say.â€

Yet, Kenney was also aware of Bongâ€™s flying skill and although he might have been a bit of a daredevil he acknowledged that for the U. S. Air Force to pose a serious threat to the Japanese â€œWe needed kids like this lad.â€

Dick Bong: America's Ace of Aces is a remarkable book that uncovers the short, but fascinating, career of Americaâ€™s greatest fighter pilot. It is full of brilliant insights provided by Kenney who was able to watch this young man develop before his life was cruelly cut short testing a jet aircraft shortly before the war ended.

â€œBoth flight enthusiasts and students of the second world war will read with considerable interest of the events of Dick Bong's life in a book which sticks close to its subjectâ€ Kirkus Reviews

George C. Kenney was a United States Army Air Forces general during World War II. He is best known as the commander of the Allied Air Forces in the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA), a position he held from August 1942 until 1945. Kenney wrote three books about the SWPA air campaigns he led during World War II. He also wrote The Saga of Pappy Gunn in 1959 and Dick Bong: Ace of Aces in 1960, which described the careers of Paul Gunn and Richard Bong, two of the most prominent airmen under his command. He passed away in 1977.

Country	USA
Author	George C. Kenney
Binding	Kindle Edition
Format	Kindle eBook
IsAdultProduct
Label	Tarpan Publications
Manufacturer	Tarpan Publications
NumberOfPages	92
PublicationDate	2019-03-31
Publisher	Tarpan Publications
ReleaseDate	2019-03-31
Studio	Tarpan Publications

Dick Bong: Ace of Aces

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