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Mr. Guttman

I remember reading somewhere that General George Kenney wrote in his book about Richard “Dick” Bong, America’s top Fighter Ace, that easily Bong shot down twice the number of his official and confirmed 40 kills.

Most of Dick Bong’s battles as per General Kenney ended up with enemy airplanes on fire or trailing smoke with no confirmation possible.

I would like your opinion on whether that us a fair assessment that Dick Bong’s score could have reached into the 70 or 80 kills area.

I think he was credited with 8 probables only.

Thank you.

John

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Dear John,

Ace of Aces, possibly the only biography of an ace penned by his commanding general, is a valuable document both for its personal nature—Lt. Gen. George C. Kenney genuinely liked Dick Bong—and as a study of the tail wagging the dog, as Kenney promoted Bong as a factor in promoting and glorifying his commands, the relatively overlooked Fifth Air Force and later the Far East Air Force. Under such circumstances, one has to be prepared for some hagiography and exaggeration in the narrative. Bong did have eight probables and could have cared less whether they were ever confirmed, since that was about par for the course in any fighter pilot’s career, if he was lucky to last long enough to accumulate such an outstanding record. As it is, just about every air arm involved in World War II except Finland’s overclaimed to some extent, and even among Bong’s confirmed victories there is the occasional discrepancy with Japanese losses. It is therefore no more appropriate to speculate on how many Bong really got than it is for any other ace—he was content enough with 40 and so was Marge; after all, it still stands as the most victories scored by any American airman.

Sincerely,

 

Jon Guttman
Research Director
World History Group
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