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u/Kan4lZ0n3 4d ago
Col. Richard Hewitt of the 78th Fighter Group had nine more air and ground kills against the WWII Luftwaffe than anyone on r/NonCredibleDefense.
He’s as big as he wants or needs to be.
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u/KurwaMegaTurbo 4d ago
Look.
All i want to say is that when I painted swasticas on my car people get uppity and Police stops me on control.
While all it meant is how many pedastrians i hit during last protest.
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u/LeRoienJaune 3d ago
Context is key. I painted the hood of my college age minivan checkerboard, added USAF insignia, gave the side door some passable art ("The Iron Mule- One Bad Ass"), and welded a crude fascimile of a dorsal turret with twin .50 cals to the roof. Goddamn, I miss that car. It was my main claim to fame as the party-mobile of the school. One time it took a total of eighteen people to Rocky Horror! Imagine a Dodge Caravan painted up like a WW2 bomber and stuffed full of goth girls. I can't say I was cool in college, but I was memorable....
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u/nYghtHawkGamer Cyberspace Conversational Irregular TM 4d ago
And then there is Major Dick Bong
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u/AssignmentVivid9864 3d ago
He has an airport named after him too. Sadly they went with Richard. Wisconsin do be slightly up tight.
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u/DerpsMcGee 3d ago
And a state park. The "Bong Recreation Area" sign is a popular photo destination.
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u/CV90_120 3d ago
Strange fact, all three of his children died in separate plane crashes. 2 in the same year.
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u/Kan4lZ0n3 2d ago edited 2d ago
He never had any kids with Margie. They were only married six months when he was killed. She later remarried.
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u/CV90_120 2d ago
You're right. It's the weirdest thing. I think I might have ended up looking up someone else while I was in a wikipedia rabbit hole researching Bong. For the life of me I can't find the person who lost all 3 kids now.
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u/Kan4lZ0n3 2d ago edited 2d ago
For me some of those sad multigenerational stories among military families are the Tinkers and Lt Gen Frank A. Armstrong, inspiration for Gregory Peck’s “Frank Savage” in Twelve O’Clock High.
MG Clarence Leonard Tinker and son MAJ Clarence Jr., aka “Buddy” were both MIA on combat missions over open water during WWII and never found.
Lt Gen Armstrong’s son, MAJ Frank III, was hit in his A-1 over Laos in 1967 and last seen plunging inverted into the jungle. He also has still not been recovered. Lt Gen Armstrong passed away just two years after his son in 1969
Perhaps the line from Armstrong’s movie counterpart says it best when he’s relieving his predecessor at the 918th, ”I guess a man only has so much to give and I guess you've given it.”
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u/The606Grid 3d ago
Lt. Col. Richard A. "Dick" Hewitt of the 78th Fighter Group, 338th Fighter Squadron, with his P-51D Mustang "Big Dick" (44-64147), code MX-U, 1945. Hewitt flew more than 140 combat missions in Europe and was credited with 4 aerial victories and 4 destroyed on the ground, achieved while flying both P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs.
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u/Tutoriaurus 3d ago
Imagine now, SPD Dauntless called Best Dick. Flown by Richard Best, also known as Dick Best.
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u/LandedMetals 4d ago
9 kills.....name deserved I'd say