Marge P38

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1. Roger   •  

   Could you tell me where this picture was taken? If you don’t know, the original P-38J “Marge” and its two Marge predecessors, were flown in the Pacific in WWII by Richard Ira Bong, America’s Ace of Aces. A Congressional Medal of Honor winner, he is credited with shooting down 40 Japanese aircraft. No US pilot will ever come close to that number.

   A recreation of the last Marge (using a P-38L) is housed at the Richard I. Bong Memorial Veterans Center in Superior, WI. Bong hailed from nearby Poplar, WI. Marge was his fiancé, and when he was returned to the US in early 1945 (after his wing mate Tommy McGuire (38 victories, Congressional Medal of Honor) was killed in action that January), Richard and Marge were married shortly thereafter. Richard Bong died on August 6, 1945 when the P-80 he was testing crashed in Burbank, CA.

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   • Cap'n Aux   •     Author

     Hello, Roger, great to hear from you. What an excellent summary of the rich history of Marge. Thank you for sharing!

     As I say in the post (http://capnaux.com/oshkosh-all-good-things/), these photos were taken at the EAA AirVenture in OshKosh, WI. This was from 2014. I do not know the history of this particular “Marge,” but it very well could be the one you are talking about.

     Feel free to share more with us, and thanks for your comment!

     Eric

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