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Medal of Honor Recipient

Richard Ira Bong

U.S. Army Air Corps · World War II

MOH-RC-000036Source-based record

The award

Representative medal image: Army design with a neck ribbon. Not a portrait or a photograph of this recipient’s own medal.
Army Medal of HonorRecorded presentation: 1944

Portrait not yet available. Representative medal shown.

About this image

Representative form selected from the recorded presentation year (1944), not authenticated medal-object provenance. This is a design-transition year; selection by year does not establish the exact presentation-day form.

Medal imagery and historical designs →

Medal of Honor

October 10–November 15, 1944

over Borneo and Leyte, Philippine Islands

Rank at action
Major
Service
U.S. Army Air Corps
Conflict
World War II
Unit or command
49th Fighter Group, 5th Fighter Command, 5th Air Force
Presentation date
December 12, 1944

The Citation

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

Sources & record notes

General Order comparison: pending. Current-profile review does not mean that the underlying original order has been examined.

  1. Richard Ira Bong — current recipient profile ↗Congressional Medal of Honor Society · Checked 2026-08-21

    current identity, service, unit, action metadata, award status, and recipient-profile match

Transcription, metadata & provenance notes
Award ID
MOH-AW-000039
Transcription status
Legacy full text · source matched
Last source check
2026-08-21
Recorded order reference (not verified against the original)
90
Archive transcription SHA-256
761951e385811ead52a08bec5515a40c5f6c11cd93139b833a73c37756832d62

Legacy transcription retained; line wrapping and repeated whitespace normalized.

Current reference profile used to reconcile identity, service, unit, action date, action place, posthumous status, and presentation metadata. Complete legacy citation retained pending signed General Order comparison.