To tweak it a little further, construction of Bong AFB began with extensive
grading and site preparation in 1958 but was cancelled after the gravel
subbase had been laid for the main runway. The state began developing the
area as Bong Recreation Area in 1974. See
http://www.sit.wisc.edu/~katschohl/2000-10-xx.html for more info.
Best wishes,
Thomas Berry, Archivist
Historical Construction Equipment Association
16623 Liberty Hi Road
Bowling Green, Ohio 43402
Phone 419-352-5616
Fax 419-352-6086
[log in to unmask]
http://www.hcea.net
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron Twellman" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, May 16, 2003 9:01 AM
Subject: Re: Milwaukee /Bong Recreation area
Hi Greg & all,
Just to tweak Greg's post. The information about Richard Ira Bong, whose
hometown of Poplar is near Duluth, MN is correct, but the Bong Recreation
Area (make up your own 60's counterculture jokes) is in the opposite
(southeast) corner of the state between Milwaukee and Chicago. Apparently
the land was purchased to be an Air Force Base that would have been named
after Richard Bong. When that plan changed it was transferred to the state
which made it a recreation area.
Also, as Greg knows, our museum here in Oshkosh (90 miles NW of Milwaukee on
US 41) has a replica of Bong's P-38 which I'd be happy to show you up close
& personal.
To range even farther afield, the city of Milwaukie, Oregon (yes, it's
spelled slightly differently) is widely know among aviation buffs as the
home of the service station with the B-17 Flying Fortress on the roof.
And finally, the House on the Rock is in a beautiful part of the state &
Frank Lloyd Wright country. It's definitely a place every museum person
should see once. It's almost impossible to describe, so I won't try. You
will be both amazed and dismayed by the experience.
RT
Ron Twellman, Curator of Collections
EAA AirVenture Museum
P.O. Box 3065
Oshkosh, WI 54903-3065
920-426-5917
http://museum.eaa.org/
-----Original Message-----
From: Greg Hansel [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2003 10:51 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Milwaukee /Bong Recreation area
Hi!
So there is no trafic fatalities, the Bong recreation area near Poplar?,
Wisconsin, is a tribute to the local town hero and national World War Two
hero
Richard Bong. Richard Bond was a Major in the US Army Air Corps and piloted
P-
38 lightenings to become the top American Ace of the war with 40
confrimed "kills". He was tragically killed testing jets in early August
1945
just before the end of the war.
There is a display of a P-38 painted like Bong's famous "Marge", which had
the
photo of his High school sweet heart reproduced and applied on the nose of
the
aircraft.
If I am not mistaken there is a small museum opening there soon or perhaps
it
already opened?
I hope I did not butcher the details to bad...
Greg Hansel
a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Milwaukee Public Museum
Anthropology and Museum Studies Student
Quoting Deb Fuller <[log in to unmask]>:
> The Safehouse!! It's a really cool pop-culture spy bar somewhere downtown
> near
> the convention center. (It's been a few years since I've been there and
> didn't
> catch the address.) Like all good spy safehouses, it's in an unmarked
> warehouse
> but you can usually tell what building it is by the line outside. :)
>
> And on the way from Milwaukee and Chicago is the Mars Cheese Castle and
the
> Bong Recreation Area. If you go there, please let me know what these
things
> are. I nearly ran off the road when I saw the signs but didn't have time
to
> stop.
>
> Deb
>
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