A wingtip from a World War II fighter plane flown by American ace Richard Bong has been returned to his home state of Wisconsin after being recovered from the jungles of Papua New Guinea. The piece, part of a Lockheed P-38 Lightning nicknamed "Marge," was located more than 80 years after the aircraft crashed during a 1944 mission.

Richard Bong is recognized as the top American fighter pilot of the war, credited with shooting down 40 Japanese aircraft. The P-38 model he flew featured a nose art portrait of his girlfriend, Marge Vattendahl, after whom the plane was named. In March 1944, Bong’s friend and fellow pilot Thomas Malone was flying the plane over what is now Papua New Guinea’s Madang province when an engine failure forced him to eject. The plane’s wreckage was not found until 2024.

The Richard I Bong Veterans Historical Center, in partnership with the historical preservation group Pacific Wrecks, initiated a search earlier this year to locate and recover parts of the aircraft. In May 2024, explorers discovered remnants of the P-38 partially intact, including the wingtip bearing Bong’s distinctive paint.

Following the recovery, a team from Wisconsin’s National Guard traveled to the crash site to retrieve a 1.82-meter-long aluminum wingtip. Papua New Guinea’s military then transported the relic to the capital, Port Moresby, where it was handed over to the National Guard, which maintains a relationship with Papua New Guinea for disaster response and medical missions. The wingtip was subsequently flown to the United States aboard a military refueling plane.

The transfer required official authorization by Papua New Guinea’s government, as the country retains ownership of the wartime relics. Pacific Wrecks had negotiated for two years with local authorities, landowners, and the Papua New Guinea National Museum to secure the piece. Under the agreement, the wingtip remains on permanent loan, while another section of the plane was provided to the Papua New Guinea National Museum for display.

The wingtip was first exhibited at an airshow before being brought to Poplar, Wisconsin, Bong’s birthplace, and later moved to the Richard I Bong Veterans Historical Center in Superior. Brigadier General Adria Zuccaro of the Wisconsin National Guard said her team felt honored to help bring a part of Bong’s legacy home. Jim Bong, the pilot’s nephew, described the artifact as invaluable, allowing visitors to connect tangibly with his uncle’s combat experience.

Briana Fiandt, the museum’s director of collections and exhibits, expressed hope that the recovered wingtip would engage and inspire new generations to explore history. Richard Bong, who received the Medal of Honor in 1944, was killed later that year in a test flight. His legacy remains a significant chapter in American military aviation history.