CDR Butch O'Hare, Naval Ace

[ANDY M]

Frank, as Paul Harvey would say, "Now you know the rest of the story". BTW, I first heard this story on his radio show years ago. Somehow that last part was overlooked.
Thanks for the "real" rest of the story.
Andy

[TimG]

The good old Lexington is in Corpus Christi in fine form. I spent a night on it when my boys were is Scouts. It was an annual trip.

[Salvatore]

Frank M. that is a great story! I had to read it again. Thanks for the history lesson! Sam

[COPO 70 RS/Z28]

There's another place northwest of "The Numbers Guy" that gets some press because of the funny name

"Bong Recreational Area".

But what a lot of people dont know is where the name came from

Major Richard I. Bong
Top American Ace of World War Two
Shot down 40 Japanese Planes in the Pacific

After Bong scored his 40th victory, General Kenney sent him home, this time for good. He was America's "Ace of Aces," with 40 aerial victories, 200 combat missions, and over 500 combat hours behind him.

On August 6, 1945 (the day the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima) Dick Bong was killed when the P-80 he was testing stalled on takeoff and he bailed out at low altitude. His body, partially wrapped in the shrouds of his parachute, was found 100 feet from the plane's jet engine. On 8 August 1945 he was burried in the Poplar cemetary, Poplar, Wisconsin



Richard Bong's decorations included the Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star (with 1 OLC), the Distinguished Flying Cross (with 6 OLC's), the Air Medal (with 14 OLC's), and many other American and foreign medals.

[427TJ]

Bong was stateside on a war bond tour (between combat tours) and he flew a P-38 around the country visiting bases and making public appearances. On one stop in San Francisco he flew very low right down Market Street and then did loops around the deck of the Golden Gate Bridge. He got a verbal warning but no disciplinary action was taken. I would love to have seen that P-38 looping around the bridge.

[sssteve]

[ QUOTE ]
The good old Lexington is in Corpus Christi in fine form. I spent a night on it when my boys were is Scouts. It was an annual trip.

[/ QUOTE ]I am a big WW II history also.Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't the original carrier "Lexington"sink in the "Battle of Coral Sea" in May of 1942.The carrier "Yorktown"(later sunk in the "Battle Of Midway") was also damadged.This was the first time in history opposing capital ships were sunk without being in sight of each other.I beleive the Japanese lost the carrier "Zukaku".The Lexington in Corpus Christi must be a later carrier.

[m22mike]

Good history on USS Yorktown CV5, the 3rd. Yorktown

http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/...-yorktown.html

And USS Lexington CV2, the 4th Lexington

http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/...lexington.html

Both lost in battle

Mike