Explorers find what they think is Richard Bong’s downed plane in a jungle ravine

SUPERIOR, Wisconsin — A Superior, Wisconsin family is celebrating a major World War II discovery.

A few months ago, the Richard I. Bong Veterans History Center hired a crew to find a plane which crashed in a Pacific jungle during the war.

“It’s been a very long saga, shall we say, for a lot of us growing up,” said Terry Lundberg, president of the Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center.

Bong was known as an elite pilot during World War II. He loved planes and his girlfriend Marge. So much so that he painted his face on his P-38. But 80 years ago, the plane crashed in the jungle of Papua New Guinea.

“From that point on, its existence remained a mystery,” Lundberg said.

Lieutenant Thomas Malone was the pilot that day. He jumped and survived and from that point on there was a mission to find Marge. A few months ago, the Bong Center contacted Pacific Wrecks, a group working to solve the mysteries of World War II.

“It’s been an incredible journey. An incredible expedition,” said Justin Taylan of Pacific Wrecks.

From Madang province, Taylan and his team spoke about their work with locals and their jungle treks before finally taking a break.

“When we located the accident site, it was an incredible experience,” Taylan said.

The plane was found in a jungle ravine. It hit the ground so violently that most of its engines were buried underground. But they saw red paint which was a color on the P38 Marge plane. And digging deeper, they finally found the serial number, leaving no doubt about Bong’s plane.

“At the base was a stencil. A United States Air Force stencil, with the last 3 digits of the serial numbers,” Taylan explained. “The emotion I felt was not only my own joy, but also the idea of ​​what this means for the Bong family.”

In the audience for the Zoom press conference was Gerry Fechtelkotter, Richard Bong’s 99-year-old sister. Even though the expedition’s mission is accomplished, she would love to bring a part of Marge home.

“We know it’s been found. We’ve seen pictures of it so we know it’s the right one,” Fechtelkotter said. “It’s great to know that this has been discovered.”

Bong has been considered by many historians of World War II to be America’s finest ace. He is credited with shooting down 40 Japanese planes during the war.