Richard I Bong Veterans Museum

The Richard I Bong Veterans Historical Center (P-38 Fund) are a 501c3 non-profit museum located on the on the Bay of Lake Superior in “The Original Twin Port”, Superior, Wisconsin. For over 50 years, a memorial to Richard I. Bong was in place in Poplar, Wisconsin, about 15 miles east of the Twin Ports cities of Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin. Major Richard Bong of Poplar, is America’s all-time leading Ace Pilot. He piloted a P-38 Lightning through more than 200 missions over the Southwest Pacific in World War II and destroyed 40 enemy planes – the most by any United States pilot to date. After Major Bong tragically died in 1945, a group of businessmen and residents from his hometown of Poplar formed the Richard Ira Bong Memorial Foundation, Inc., intending to raise funds for a memorial that would include a Lockheed P-38 Lightning, like those flown by Dick.

We provide in house and outreach education on the life of Richard I Bong and the life of military veterans of all conflicts and eras. We host several programs specifcally for veterans such as the veterans on the lake get away, oral history opportunity, Speaker Series events and much more.