MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Searchers introduced Thursday they’ve found what they imagine is the wreckage of World Warfare II ace Richard Bong’s airplane within the South Pacific.
The Richard I. Bong Veterans Historic Middle in Superior, Wisconsin, and the nonprofit World Warfare II historic preservation group Pacific Wrecks introduced in March they have been launching a joint seek for Bong’s Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter. Bong nicknamed the airplane “Marge” after his girlfriend, Marge Vattendahl.
One other pilot, Thomas Malone, was flying the airplane in March 1944 over what’s now often called Papua New Guinea when engine failure despatched it right into a spin. Malone bailed out earlier than the airplane crashed within the jungle.
The expedition’s chief, Pacific Wrecks Director Justin Taylan, mentioned that the search staff found the wreckage within the jungles of Papua New Guinea’s Madang Province on Might 15.
He launched pictures of himself within the jungle with chunks of steel on the bottom. In a single picture he factors to what the caption calls a wing tip from the airplane stamped with “993,” the final three numbers of the airplane’s serial quantity. Enlarging the picture exhibits markings that may very well be two “9s” however they’re obscured by what is likely to be filth or rust and tough to make out. One other picture exhibits a chunk of steel stamped with “Mannequin P-38 JK.”
Taylan mentioned throughout a video information convention from Papua New Guinea on Thursday afternoon that the serial quantity and mannequin identification show the airplane is Marge “undoubtedly, past a doubt.”
“I feel it’s secure to say mission achieved,” Taylan mentioned. “Marge has been recognized. It’s a fantastic day for the middle, a fantastic day for Pacific Wrecks, a fantastic day for historical past.”
Taylan has been researching the placement of the crash web site for years. He mentioned that historic data steered it went down on the grounds of a 150-year previous plantation. Native residents initially confirmed the expedition the wreck of a Japanese fighter airplane earlier than telling the searchers about wreckage deeper within the jungle.
The explorers hiked by way of the jungle till they found wreckage in a ravine, Taylan mentioned. On the prime of the ravine they discovered two plane engines protruding of the bottom, indicating the airplane went in nose-first and buried itself within the floor. Taylan mentioned Bong painted the wing suggestions pink and the paint was nonetheless on them.
Bong, who grew up in Poplar, Wisconsin, is credited with capturing down 40 Japanese plane throughout World Warfare II. He plastered a blow-up of Vattendahl’s portrait on the nostril of his airplane, in keeping with a Pacific Wrecks abstract of the airplane’s service.
Bong shot down extra planes than every other American pilot. Gen. Douglas MacArthur awarded him the Medal of Honor, the U.S. army’s highest ornament, in 1944. Taylan mentioned that Bong shot down three planes whereas flying Marge.
Bong and Vattendahl finally married in 1945. Bong was assigned to obligation as a check pilot in Burbank, California, after three fight excursions within the South Pacific. He was killed on Aug. 6, 1945, when a P-80 jet fighter he was testing crashed. He died on the identical day the US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
Vattendahl was 21 on the time of Bong’s loss of life. She went on to turn into a mannequin and {a magazine} writer in Los Angeles. She died in September 2003 in Superior.
A bridge connecting Superior and Duluth, Minnesota, is called for Bong. A state recreation space in southeastern Wisconsin additionally is called for him.
“The Bong household may be very enthusiastic about this discovery,” James Bong, Richard Bong’s nephew, mentioned within the information launch. “It’s superb and unbelievable that ‘Marge’ has been discovered and recognized.”