It's a shame at least some of the wreckage can't be returned to the US but apparently the Papua New Guinea government has already laid claim.
I also saw elsewhere that Bong's sister is still alive, 99 years old. She was glad to here her brothers aircraft had been found.
World War II ace Dick Bong’s P-38 found after crashing decades ago "Richard Bong was the United States’ top ace pilot during the Second World War, scoring 40 aerial victories during his time in the war. Many of those kills happened behind the stick of a P-38 fighter plane nicknamed “Marge” after his then-girlfriend and later wife Marjorie Vattendahl. And now “Marge” the plane has been found after 80 years.
On Thursday, searchers announced that they had located what they believed to be the wreckage of Bong’s P-38. It was found in Papua New Guinea’s Madang Province.
The plane went down on March 24, 1944, not in combat but from a mechanical issue. The plane suffered an engine failure and with nothing to do, the pilot bailed out and the plane crashed in the jungles of what is now Papua New Guinea. But Major Dick Bong wasn’t actually piloting Marge that day. Instead, it was Lt. Thomas Malone was in the cockpit, using the plane for a reconnaissance flight.
In March, historical research group Pacific Wrecks and the Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center located in Superior, Wisconsin announced they were teaming up in a search for the wreckage of Marge.
Explorers with Pacific Wrecks said that they found the wreck of the plane on May 15. The plane had apparently crashed nose-first in the bottom of the ravine. Despite years exposed to the elements, much of the plane was still identifiable. They shared several pieces of information identifying the wreck as Bong’s. Several pieces of metal identify it both as a P-38 and contain serial numbers matching that of Bong’s Marge. Pacific Wrecks Director Justin Taylan, during a press conference on Thursday, May 23 said that proves it is Marge “beyond a doubt.”
“I think it’s safe to say mission accomplished,” Taylan added."