America’s top ace’s plane crashed in 1944. A wingtip has finally made it home

Krdo · 🇺🇸 public United States · Aug 08, 2026 · 826 words · By CNN Newssource

Military heroism International Cooperation Historical Preservation

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A wingtip has finally made it home By Alexandra Skores, CNN (CNN) — A piece of a World War II fighter plane that crashed 80 years ago and belonged to the country’s top ace has been found and returned to his home state of Wisconsin.

Claims checked 18

Techniques found 1

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center100%

Right0%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

The P-38 Lockheed Lighting was flown by United States Army Air Corps Maj.

Common ground

Richard Bong, who holds the record for the most shoot-downs with 40 confirmed combat victories in the air.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Military heroism story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that The P-38 Lockheed Lighting was flown by United States Army Air Corps Maj. Richard Bong, who holds the record for the most shoot-downs with 40 confirmed combat victories in the air?
How does this story connect Military heroism with International Cooperation over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://krdo.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2026/08/08/americas-top-aces-p…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 70% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 18 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 8

check_circle Corroborated 6

verified Verified By Reference 2

info Single Source 2

verified

Claim 1: “The P-38 Lockheed Lighting was flown by United States Army Air Corps Maj. Richard Bong, who holds the record for the most shoot-downs with 40 confirmed combat victories in the air.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia and the National Air and Space Museum confirm Richard Bong flew the P-38 Lockheed Lightning and was the top US ace with 40 victories.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Richard Ira "Dick" Bong (September 24, 1920 – August 6, 1945) was a United States Army Air Forces officer and Medal of Honor recipient in World War II. He was one of the most decorated American fighte…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Bong

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Robin Olds (born Robert Oldys Jr.; July 14, 1922 – June 14, 2007) was an American fighter pilot and general officer in the United States Air Force (USAF). He was a "triple ace", with a combined total …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Olds

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Thomas Buchanan McGuire Jr. (August 1, 1920 – January 7, 1945) was an American United States Army major who was killed in action while serving as a member of the United States Army Air Forces during W…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_McGuire

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 2: “A piece of a World War II fighter plane that crashed 80 years ago and belonged to the country’s top ace has been found and returned to his home state of Wisconsin.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm that a piece of Richard Bong's P-38 (specifically a wingtip) was recovered from Papua New Guinea and returned to Wisconsin. This is reported by AP and Vintage Aviation News.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Aviation in Wisconsin refers to the aviation industry of the American Midwestern state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin's first aeronautical event was a flight of a Curtiss aircraft by Arthur Pratt Warner on N…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_in_Wisconsin

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This list of museums in Wisconsin encompasses museums defined for this context as institutions (including nonprofit organizations, government entities, and private businesses) that collect and care fo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_museums_in_Wisconsin

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 3: “Bong was awarded the medal of honor for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty,” according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Although the 'Evidence gathered' section for claim 8 says 'No evidence found', the Wikipedia entry for Richard Bong provided in evidence for claim 0 and 1 explicitly states he was a 'Medal of Honor recipient'.

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Claim 4: “Six months after he married, Bong was killed at the age of 24 while test piloting the first Lockheed jet fighter, the P-80 Shooting Star, in California.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 5: “The plane was named after his future wife, Marjorie “Marge” Vattendahl, according to the Wisconsin National Guard.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources (AP, WD, and others) confirm the plane was named 'Marge' after his girlfriend/future wife Marjorie Vattendahl.

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web search NEUTRAL — Richard I Bong with a picture of his girlfriend Marge Vattendahl, from whom the plane took its name, in this 1944 picture. Photograph: AP.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/04/wingtip-rich…

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web search NEUTRAL — “Marge” was named after Bong’s girlfriend Marjorie Vattendahl and was decorated with her portrait. The aircraft was lost in 1944 when another pilot, Lt. Tom Malone, was piloting “Marge” during a weath…
https://www.wdio.com/top-stories/richard-bongs-p-38-fighter-…

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 6: “The relic was loaded into a KC-135 Stratotanker that happened to be in the area on an unrelated mission and on July 15 it arrived back in Bong’s home state.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 7: “Marge later remarried and died in Wisconsin in 2003 at 79 years old.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 8: “Radiator data plates were for P-38J. The wing tips are painted red”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 9: “The wingtip is now part of the collection at the Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center in Superior, Wisconsin. A second piece went to the national museum in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 10: “In 2020, Wisconsin’s National Guard and Papua New Guinea entered into a military agreement though the State Partnership Program”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 11: “He joined the Army Air Forces before the war and learned how to fly. He was eventually sent to the Pacific Theater with the Fifth Air Force”

CORROBORATED

Evidence from George C. Kenney and MacArthur Memorial confirms Bong served in the Fifth Air Force in the Southwest Pacific Theater.

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web search NEUTRAL — Bong served in the Fifth Air Force, which was a part of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, operating primarily in the Southwest Pacific Theater. The intense experiences shared duri…
https://www.shortform.com/pdf/dick-bong-pdf-george-c-kenney

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web search NEUTRAL — Four US Air Army Forces pilots in Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighters looped around the Golden Gate Bridge. Then one of them “buzzed” – made a low-level pass – over the house of a newly married pilot in …
https://homage.tc/blogs/news/americas-ace-of-aces-richard-bo…

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web search NEUTRAL — • Far East Air Force.He then became an Army Air Force test pilot, flying the new Lockhead F-80 Shooting Star jet. On August 6, 1945 – the date of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima – Bong’s …
https://web.archive.org/web/20100820085904/http://www.macart…

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Claim 12: “A team from Pacific Wrecks located the crash site and conducted a non-invasive site survey and investigation”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 13: “Bong was later ordered back to the United States for his own safety.”

CORROBORATED

Evidence for claim 1 and 6 confirms Bong was 'rotated off of combat duty in the Pacific' and reassigned to Wright-Patterson Air Base in Ohio, which aligns with being ordered back to the US.

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Claim 14: “another pilot flying it was forced to bail out in March 1944, sending it crashing into the rainforest.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources (WPR, The Horn News, WD) confirm the plane crashed in a rainforest/ravine in March 1944 after pilot Tom Malone bailed out.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 49th Fighter Group was a fighter aircraft unit of the Fifth Air Force that was located in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater during World War II.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/49th_Fighter_Group

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) by the Lockheed Corporat…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_P-38_Lightning

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 15: “Bong, originally from Poplar, Wisconsin”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for claim 5 consists of irrelevant search results about a Hong Kong fund (Tracker Fund of Hong Kong) and does not mention Poplar, Wisconsin.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — 盈富基金（英文：Tracker Fund of Hong Kong，港交所： 2800 、港交所： 82800 （人民幣結算））是在香港股票交易所買賣的交易所買賣基金 (ETF)，是香港交易所上市的一種投資信託，其買賣方式像股票一樣，以500股為一手 [1]，股價大約是當日恆指的點數除以1,000。
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/盈富基金

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Jul 12, 2025 · 行業比重界別2800.HK 金融服務34.35% 消費週期性股票18.74% 通訊服務14.55% 科技7.02% 能源5.57% 工業4.55% 地產4.46% 醫療保健3.62% 公用事業2.61% 基本資料2.42% 防守性消費2.11% 更多內容
https://hk.finance.yahoo.com/quote/2800.HK/

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web search NEUTRAL — 用富途牛牛查看盈富基金 (02800)的股票價格、即時報價、最新新聞、歷史走勢圖、財務信息和行情。盈富基金 (02800) 最新新聞快訊 | 恒生指數公司：恒生指數成份股數目將由93只增加至95只，加入華虹宏力、濰柴動力恒生指數公司今天宣佈，截至2026年6月30日之恒生指數系列季度檢討結果。恒生指數 ...
https://www.futunn.com/hk/etfs/02800-HK

schedule

Claim 16: “Bong “quickly married” Marge at the cathedral in Superior, Wisconsin”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 17: “The Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center worked with the organization, Pacific Wrecks, to find what was left of the plane scattered on a remote hill.”

SINGLE SOURCE

While the recovery of the plane is corroborated, the specific collaboration between the 'Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center' and 'Pacific Wrecks' is not explicitly detailed in the provided evidence snippets, though the event itself is confirmed.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American two-engine fighter used by the United States Army Air Forces and other Allied air forces during World War II. Of the 10,037 planes built, 26 survive today, 2…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_surviving_Lockheed_P-3…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge, also known as the Bong Bridge, connects Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin, via U.S. Highway 2 (US 2). Opened on October 25, 1984, it is roughly 11,800 fee…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_I._Bong_Memorial_Bridg…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 18: “He shot down 40 planes during World War II, setting the record for the most confirmed victories in the air, not just for the conflict, but in all of US history. The record still holds today.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources (George C. Kenney, Vintage Aviation News) confirm his 40 victories remain the record for the US.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — David McCampbell ended World War 2 with 34 confirmed aerial victories, the all-time leading ace of the United States Navy and the highest-scoring American fighter pilot to survive the war. He became a…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RcOEix4Jq0

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web search NEUTRAL — Richard Bong was a highly decorated American fighter pilot during World War II, known for being the United States' highest-scoring air ace with 40 confirmed aerial victories.
https://www.shortform.com/pdf/dick-bong-pdf-george-c-kenney

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web search NEUTRAL — Richard Bong remains one of the most celebrated public figures in military history, and as America’s ace of aces, his 40 confirmed aerial victories remain unbroken to this day.
https://vintageaviationnews.com/aviation-museum-news/wingtip…

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.