Well....That didn't take long!

 Internet access has been pretty sketchy over the past few days.  But I think I've figured out why.  The past several days have had very gusty winds.  Yesterday, I happened to look out the bathroom window and because I was putting my iPad down on the sill, happened to be looking down below the window outside.

This is what I saw.

 Well, that would explain the intermittent wireless internet connection.  Surprisingly, it is only up and down... but more down than up.  

So...juvat what's the house look like?

About like this.  And it ain't even a month old!  So...Today will be a bit of phone calling to get the antenna put back up and to get the soffit fixed.   

If you'll notice, you can see how I'm publishing this.  Knowing (Biblically) the CEO of a major travel company has its privileges, pirating a little bandwidth off her internet connection being one.

Shortly thereafter, Mrs J and I decided to go on a little walk.  As we exited the main gate and are walking down our lane toward the county road, I notice a mound of something on the road.  Kind of a grayish brown color.  I think that our neighbor's cattle might have gotten out, come down our lane to graze on Ol' juvat's grass and left us a present.

We're about 20' away when the mound uncoils and starts slithering off the road.  THAT, children, is why you should always be looking downward when you're walking.

 Yes, it's a rat snake and mostly harmless, but there was a period there where it was still uncoiling that I couldn't see the tail to see if it had baby toys attached or not. 

Ahh...Life in the country!

So, juvat, now that your pocket book is empty and your heart rate checked, what will we be discussing today?

Well, I thought I'd follow up last week's post about Tom McGuire with a "compare and contrast" post on the first half of the Race of Aces.  That would be America's Top Ace with 40 confirmed kills, Major Richard I. Bong.

Source

 

Major Bong was born and raised in Wisconsin, joined the Army Aviation Cadet program just before America's entry into WWII.  Interestingly, one of his IPs was Barry Goldwater.  I guess great men congregate doing great things.  In any case, he received his wings and was assigned to Hamilton Field California to learn to fly the P-38. (I am intimately familiar with Hamilton Field as my mother and I had a short stay in the hospital there about 65 years ago.)

He was quickly identified as an exceptionally skilled pilot.  He demonstrated this by flying his P-38 at clothesline height down streets in San Francisco.  Apparently this distressed a woman who was hanging her laundry at the time.  She reported the situation to General Kenney who hauled him into his office and read him the riot act.

"Monday morning you check this address out in Oakland and if the woman has any washing to be hung out on the line, you do it for her. Then you hang around being useful - mowing the lawn or something - and when the clothes are dry, take them off the line and bring them into the house. And don't drop any of them on the ground or you will have to wash them all over again. I want this woman to think we are good for something else besides annoying people. Now get out of here before I get mad and change my mind. That's all!"

  He also was "supposedly" in a four ship of P-38's that did a loop around the Golden Gate bridge, although he never admitted that.

Source

Through it all, he developed a reputation as a very talented pilot although he considered himself a poor shot.  As a result, he tended to get very close to his targets before opening fire.  On one occasion, he got so close, he actually collided with it. claiming it as a "probable" only.  Assigned to the Southwest Pacific, he got his first two kills on December 27, 1942 and by April of 1944, had passed Eddie Rickenbacker's WWI record with his 26th and 27th kills.

Major Bong was also a cautious pilot.  He rarely attacked when the odds were not in his favor, and would exit a fight if things started going against him.  As we read about Major McGuire last week, this was a significant difference between the two.

After passing Rickenbacker's record, he was sent home to rest and sell War Bonds.  While there, he met Marjorie Vattendahl and dated her.  Upon return to the War, he painted her picture on the nose of his aircraft and named them "Marge".  He was also assigned to V Fighter Command Headquarters as a staff officer, but was allowed to fly.  He was also told to "avoid combat".

While "avoiding combat", he manages to shoot down an additional 13 aircraft, bringing his total to 40 confirmed.  At this point, General Kenney nominates him for the Medal of Honor which is presented to him by General MacArthur.  He is then sent home permanently.

Major Bong marries Marge and is assigned as a test pilot at Lockheed's assembly plant in Burbank California.  On August 6, 1945 (aka the Day we nuked Hiroshima), he is scheduled to test fly a P-80A.  On takeoff, the fuel pump fails,  he aims the aircraft away from populated areas and jumps out.  Unfortunately, he does not have enough altitude for his parachute to open and is killed on impact.

Source

 

Rest in Peace, Warrior!

Presented without comment, his Citation to accompany The Medal of Honor:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty in the Southwest Pacific area from October 10, to November 15, 1944.

Though assigned to duty as gunnery instructor and neither required nor expected to perform combat duty, Maj. Bong voluntarily and at his own urgent request engaged in repeated combat missions, including unusually hazardous sorties over Balikpapan, Borneo, and in the Leyte area of the Philippines.

His aggressiveness and daring resulted in his shooting down 8 enemy airplanes during this period.