My name is Mitchell Trantow, I am a student at the University of Minnesota, Duluth and I served in the United States Navy from 2017-2023. I interned at the Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center due to my general love of history and the opportunity it has provided me to see for myself the vast historical material in the archives. The timeline of Richard Bong’s life and military career was one of the projects I worked on and proved to be one of the most engaging experiences I have had here.
Putting together a cradle-to-grave timeline of someone’s life, especially someone as significant as Major Bong, is no easy feat. I had to learn how to navigate the extensive collection of personal documents, letters, certificates, personnel files, photographs and a generally vast array of material. Of all that material I needed to find a way to condense all this information in a way that is coherent for anyone to peruse and dive into the life of Richard Bong. This meant that sometimes I had to omit some aspects of Major Bong’s life in favor of others, and sometimes I made mistakes in placing documentation within the wrong date or wrong place. Thankfully, the staff of the BVHC helped ensure that these were corrected and supported/improved my choices so that I wouldn’t lose track of the overall goal, telling Richard’s story.
He had a profound sense of humor and was rather lighthearted, this I gathered from reading the personal letters and observing some of his handbooks which he had written in. I also found it rather funny that in his early instruction of aviation, some of his flight instructors gave him poor marks for flight, even America’s Ace of Aces had to start somewhere it seems. He was humble; he preferred to be alone with his friends and family yet understood that the publicity his success had brought him could be used for the benefit of the war effort (hence the war bond tours). He was also, obviously, an incredible pilot and fighter who downed at least 40 Japanese pilots and always tried to improve America’s chances in the air. One book in his files I had the opportunity to inspect was an aviation training guide compiling Bong’s observations of different types of Japanese planes, their capabilities, doctrines, and how to engage them. This was a document that Richard put together, and it signifies that he was ultimately there to help the greater Allied effort. He wasn’t there for personal glory; like millions of men and women in America’s history he answered the call and served his nation faithfully and to the best of his ability. It was truly an honor and a great opportunity to help document this man’s life and touch history for myself.