The heroic true story of Major Richard Bong, America’s greatest fighter pilot of the Pacific War and the nation’s top flying ace of World War II
Arriving as a fresh US Army Air Forces pilot in New Guinea in late 1942, Richard Bong wasted no time taking on the Japanese, shooting down two planes in an early skirmish—an action that earned him a Silver Star. Over the next two years, Bong would amass the US armed forces’ most impressive record of aerial victories of the entire war, surpassing even the great Eddie Rickenbacker’s World War I tally and notching forty kills. In December 1944, he was personally awarded the Medal of Honor by General Douglas MacArthur. Now acclaimed author Don Keith recounts the remarkable saga of Bong’s war years as well as his tragic death while serving as a test pilot.
Don Keith is the critically acclaimed, award-winning author of more than thirty fiction and nonfiction books, including the national bestselling thriller Firing Point, the basis for the major motion picture Hunter Killer, starring Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman. In addition to writing, Keith sponsors the UNTOLD MILLIONS Project, an effort to encourage the capture and publication of eyewitness accounts of major historical events such as the Great Depression, World War II and other wars, the space program, the civil rights struggle, and more.
View titles by Don Keith
The heroic true story of Major Richard Bong, America’s greatest fighter pilot of the Pacific War and the nation’s top flying ace of World War II
Arriving as a fresh US Army Air Forces pilot in New Guinea in late 1942, Richard Bong wasted no time taking on the Japanese, shooting down two planes in an early skirmish—an action that earned him a Silver Star. Over the next two years, Bong would amass the US armed forces’ most impressive record of aerial victories of the entire war, surpassing even the great Eddie Rickenbacker’s World War I tally and notching forty kills. In December 1944, he was personally awarded the Medal of Honor by General Douglas MacArthur. Now acclaimed author Don Keith recounts the remarkable saga of Bong’s war years as well as his tragic death while serving as a test pilot.
Author
Don Keith is the critically acclaimed, award-winning author of more than thirty fiction and nonfiction books, including the national bestselling thriller Firing Point, the basis for the major motion picture Hunter Killer, starring Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman. In addition to writing, Keith sponsors the UNTOLD MILLIONS Project, an effort to encourage the capture and publication of eyewitness accounts of major historical events such as the Great Depression, World War II and other wars, the space program, the civil rights struggle, and more.
View titles by Don Keith
