"Ace of Aces": Shy on the Ground, Relentless in the Sky: The Story of Richard Bong

Quick answer: Who was Richard Bong?

Major Richard Bong of Poplar, Wisconsin, was America's top fighter ace, with 40 aerial victories flying the P-38 Lightning in the Southwest Pacific. He received the Medal of Honor in December 1944 and was killed testing a P-80 jet in California on August 6, 1945, at 24.

Richard Bong was a quiet farm boy from Wisconsin, born in 1920, who joined the Army Air Corps aviation cadet program in 1941 and found he had a gift for flying. Assigned to the twin-engine P-38 Lightning, he scored his first victory over the Southwest Pacific in December 1942. On July 26, 1943, he shot down four Japanese aircraft near Lae and earned the Distinguished Service Cross. He named his P-38 "Marge" after his girlfriend, Marjorie Vattendahl, and painted her photo on the nose. On April 12, 1944, his 26th and 27th victories passed Eddie Rickenbacker's World War I record. By December 17, 1944, he had 40, more than any American before or since. Douglas MacArthur presented his Medal of Honor at Tacloban on Leyte, and General George Kenney sent him home for good. He married Marge in February 1945 and became a test pilot for Lockheed's new P-80 Shooting Star. On August 6, 1945, on his twelfth flight in the jet, the engine failed after takeoff from Burbank. He was 24. John closes with a question for the rest of us: who are we flying for?

Why it matters for leaders: The most capable people on a team are often the least interested in credit, and leaders have to make the effort to notice them.

Q: How many aerial victories did Bong have?

A: Forty, all in the Pacific, the most of any American pilot in history.

Q: How did Bong die?

A: His P-80A jet's fuel pump failed shortly after takeoff from Lockheed's Burbank plant on August 6, 1945, the day Hiroshima was bombed.

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By John Fenzel, founder and CEO of Heroes' Path Foundation