Oct24
Ghost in the Gallery
This Halloween season, the Bong Veterans Museum invites you to experience our museum in a whole new light. On October 24th, you can alter your vision and get spooky if…
Richard I. Bong Veterans Museum
Walk with heroes.
Where veterans are honored, families are inspired, and history comes alive for all. Home of America’s Ace of Aces and his P-38 Lightning, on the bay of Lake Superior.
- Open today 9 AM to 5 PM
- Adults $12 · Veterans $5 · Under 5 free
- 305 Harbor View Pkwy, Superior
On the floor: the restored Lockheed P-38 Lightning
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Hours
Open today 9 AM to 5 PM
Mon to Sat 9 to 5 · Sun 12 to 5
Open Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day
Open Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day
Admission
From $12 adults
Seniors and students $10 · Kids $8 · Veterans $5
Family pass $45 · Active military free
Family pass $45 · Active military free
Find us
305 Harbor View Pkwy, Superior
On the Superior bayfront, 10 minutes from downtown Duluth. Free parking, fully accessible.
Guided tours
Marge & The Major
Docent-led tours from $20, and the $50 behind-the-scenes Cool Stuff Tour. Book a tour
The campaign
Eighty years lost in the jungle. Found.
In late 1944 a failing engine forced the pilot of “Marge,” Major Bong’s own P-38, to bail out over Papua New Guinea. In May 2024 a team from this museum and Pacific Wrecks reached the wreck and read the serial number: 993. Now we are bringing her story home, and building the exhibit to hold it.
- May 2024Wreck reached and identified
- Nov 2024Sister museum in Papua New Guinea
- Mar 2026Documentary premieres in Duluth
- NextThe permanent Mission: Marge exhibit
$185,000
raised toward the exhibit and the expedition’s humanitarian work in Papua New Guinea, as of June 2, 2026. Exhibit naming rights are available.
40Ace of
Aces
Aces
Who was Major Bong
Wisconsin’s hometown hero. America’s Ace of Aces.
40
Enemy aircraft downed, more than any American pilot
200+
Combat missions in the Southwest Pacific
1920
Born in Superior, raised on a farm in Poplar, WI
The first of nine children of a Swedish immigrant father, Dick Bong learned to fly at the State Teachers College in Superior and became a flying cadet at 20. Flying the P-38 Lightning, he shot down 40 enemy aircraft, received the Medal of Honor, and was ordered home as America’s top pilot.
He married Marge in a Superior cathedral, then died six months later test-flying the first Lockheed jet fighter, at 24, on the day the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima. Thousands lined the funeral route to Poplar. This museum began as the memorial his family and Marge built for him.
Explore the museum
More than a museum. A home for the stories.
Uniforms, weapons, letters, and 15,000 artifacts from WWII through Korea, Vietnam, and the conflicts of today, told in the voices of the people who were there.
The aircraft
The P-38 Lightning
Restored, wearing Marge’s portrait and Bong’s 40 victory flags.
Stand beneath it 
The collection
15,000 artifacts
Uniforms, equipment, souvenirs, and the personal keepsakes veterans carried home.
Browse the collection 
Veterans’ stories
Oral History Project
First-person accounts from WWII to modern conflicts, recorded and preserved here.
Hear the voices 
Research
The Research Library
Over 3,000 books, manuscripts, letters, diaries, scrapbooks, and photographs.
Plan a research visit From the collection
Fifteen thousand objects. Every one carried home by someone.
Uniforms, weapons, letters, and the keepsakes veterans kept for sixty years before trusting them to us. The collection still grows, and written recollections are the additions we want most.
15,000
Artifacts in the collection
3,000+
Books, manuscripts, letters, and diaries in the library
2002
The year the center opened on the Superior bayfront
Upcoming events
Speaker nights, premieres, and a Thanksgiving table for veterans.
Nov11
Pearl Harbor Prophet
A letter written to the White House by a man from Spooner, Wisconsin, forewarned of the details of the attack on Pearl Harbor 10 days before it happened. A local…
Nov26
Thanksgiving meal in honor of Jann Brill
This spring, a very special person to the Bong Center, Jann Brill, passed away. Jann was a long- time volunteer and gift shop manager who helped initiate the idea of…
Ships nationwideLearn
History that comes to your classroom.
School tours aligned to Minnesota and Wisconsin standards, veteran-led presentations, and programs that put students behind the exhibit case.
- The Footlocker ProgramReal uniforms and equipment, presented by a veteran, in the museum, in your classroom, or online. The footlocker ships anywhere in the country.
- Field trips and school toursGreat rates for schools and groups, with tours shaped to your curriculum. Grades 8 and up can add the Vietnam Veterans presentation.
- Junior Curator and the Bong SquadronStudents build a real exhibit from oral histories and display it for a year, or spend the summer leading tours as a paid Bong Squadron guide.
Support the mission
Members keep the lights on and the stories alive.
Unlimited admission all year, a store discount, and first word on every program. Seniors save $5 and veterans save $10 on any level.
Airman First Class
$75/ year
One member
- Unlimited admission year-round
- Digital membership card
- 10% off in the Museum Store
- Discounted event admission
Most popular
Staff Sergeant
$125/ year
Group of five
- Everything in Airman First Class
- Admission for five, all year
- Invitations to member activities
Lieutenant · Business
$350/ year
Ten guests daily
- Admission for ten every day
- 15% off in the Museum Store
- Challenge coin and special event discounts
- Recognition as a museum partner
Also: Airman Student $35, Master Sergeant $200 with a challenge coin, and 4 Star General $1,000 with two private tours and a facility rental. Compare all six levels
Flag of Remembrance
Fly a flag for a veteran you love.
Honor a life and share who they were, here at the museum, with Legion Post 435 and fellow veterans.
Honor a veteran 
Give
Make a gift.
Every dollar keeps admission low for veterans and free for active-duty families.
Donate Volunteer
Lead a tour. Share a story.
Our docents and youth living-history volunteers are the museum’s voice.
Volunteer Visitors say
One of the most-reviewed museums in the Twin Ports.
Very good! My son, wife and I went to this museum and we loved it. So much information provided on the documentary videos showing at the small theaters. Incredible items throughout the space.
Amilkar
If you find yourself near Duluth you should definitely pay a visit. I left with a far greater understanding of the great deeds and symbolic importance of R. Bong.
Dennis
Very cool military museum mostly dedicated to the life of Richard Bong, an Army Air Forces major. A lot of thoughtful historical information to entertain everyone.
Gary, and Melanie
Visitor comments as published on bongcenter.org/testimonials. All five
Mission: Marge in the news
Museum store
Take a piece of the story home.
Every purchase supports the museum. Mission: Marge merchandise funds the expedition and the exhibit directly.
Funds the expedition
Mission: Marge
Shirts, patches, prints
Apparel
Tees, hoodies, jackets
Books
Bong, the Pacific, WWII
Flags
Flown and folded
Patches & Pins
Squadron style
Kids & Toys
Puzzles, games, models
Gifts
Drinkware, magnets, postcards
Free shipping on orders over $75. Shop online or in the museum, where members save 10%.