A RECOVERED section of World War II fighter aircraft has been flown back to the United States from Papua New Guinea, where it remained in the rainforest since 1944.
The P-38 Lightning was flown by Wisconsin war ace Major Richard I. Bong.
Members of the Wisconsin Air National Guard transported the aircraft section aboard a KC-135 Stratotanker last week as part of a mission reflecting its long-running partnership with the Papua New Guinea Defence Force.
“We are honored to bring a piece of Richard Bong’s legacy home,” Brigadier General Adria Zuccaro, Wisconsin Air National Guard chief of staff, said in a statement.
“The Wisconsin National Guard has a unique relationship with Papua New Guinea, and this mission is another example of how that partnership continues to grow. Today’s Airmen are building on the legacy of those who fought here during World War II, strengthening bonds that began more than 80 years ago.”
Bong, a native of Poplar, Wisconsin, became America’s highest-scoring fighter ace with 40 aerial victories in World War II. The P-38 he flew in Papua New Guinea was named “Marge” after his future wife, Marjorie Vattendahl.
The recovery also highlights the wartime ties between Wisconsin and Papua New Guinea. During World War II, soldiers from Wisconsin and Michigan’s 32nd Infantry Division fought in some of the Pacific theatre’s hardest campaigns in New Guinea, where months of combat forged a history that the states still commemorate.
Wisconsin and Papua New Guinea became partners in the State Partnership Program in 2020.
Since then, the two forces have expanded cooperation in disaster response, engineering, medical readiness, leadership development and regional security in the Indo-Pacific.
The aircraft section will go to the Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Centre in Superior, Wisconsin, where it will be displayed as part of efforts to preserve Bong’s legacy and the broader history of the Pacific war.
The return of the aircraft section underscores how a wartime connection has evolved into a modern military partnership, linking preservation, remembrance and ongoing cooperation more than eight decades after World War II.
