A look at Bong Air Force Base, the Wisconsin military site that shut down before it opened

The site of Richard Bong Air Force Base, as seen from the air in November 1958. At the center is a 2-mile runway still under construction. More than 70 farms were bought by the federal government for the 5,400-acre base, mostly in Kenosha County. At the time this photograph was taken, the base was expected to be completed by the end of 1961, and be home for eight heavy bombers, 45 medium bombers, 25 fighter-interceptors and 20 flying tanker escorts.

Capt. Richard J. Bong of Poplar stands at his Lightning P-38 fighter plane at a New Guinea air base on March 31, 1944, pointing to a large picture of his girlfriend whom he later married. Bong shot down more enemy aircraft than any other U.S. pilot, becoming America’s top ace before dying in a plane crash on the same day the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. A Wisconsin congressman successfully pushed for the new air base planned for southeast Wisconsin to be named after Bong.

The runway at the Bong Air Force Base near Kansasville in Racine and Kenosha counties is awaiting a layer of concrete in this photo taken in September 1959, a few days before the U.S. Air Force shut down the construction of the base after 15 months of work.

Wisconsin government officials and others gather to hear Air Force Secretary James H. Douglas discuss the closing of Richard Bong Air Force Base in Racine on Oct. 8, 1959. Among them, front row, from left: U.S. Rep. Gerald Flynn (D-Racine), U.S. Sen. William Proxmire (D-Wisconsin) and George Schlitz, chairman of the Kenosha County Board. Back row, from left: U.S. Sen. Alexander Wiley (R-Wisconsin), Racine Mayor Jack H. Humble, state Sen. Lynn Stalbaum (D-Racine) and Phil Warren, chairman of the Burlington town board.

With all work stopped, the abandoned Richard Bong Air Force Base in Racine and Kenosha counties is a mixture of leveled and scarred land. Work on the base near Kansasville, in Racine and Kenosha counties, was canceled just before concrete was to be poured for the base's large runway. This photo was published in the Dec. 27, 1959, Milwaukee Journal, three months after the Air Force pulled the plug on the project.

Earth-moving equipment sits idle months after work was halted on the development of Richard Bong Air Force Base in Kenosha County. This photo was in the March 10, 1960, Milwaukee Journal; construction of the air base was halted in October 1959.

Gloomy skies hang over the deserted power plant and storage tanks at the site of Richard Bong Air Force Base in March 1960. The power plant was one of the few buildings completed at the base before the U.S. Air Force shut down the project.

Parachutes blossom in the sky as heavy equipment was dropped from a C-119 airplane over the former Richard Bong Air Force Base in Racine and Kenosha counties on July 1, 1961. About 250 paratroopers, a part of the 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, were dropped in a display of combat readiness, as the Air Force tried to find a new use for the abandoned base. This photo was published in the July 2, 1961, Milwaukee Journal.

Nature continues to reclaim the never-completed runway at the former Richard Bong Air Force Base. This photo was published in the July 13, 1975, Milwaukee Journal, nearly 16 year after the U.S. Air Force halted work on the base in Racine and Kenosha counties.

White X's mark both ends of the never-completed runway at the former Richard Bong Air Force Base to warn pilots that the 12,500-foot strip is closed, as shown in this photo published in The Milwaukee Journal on June 1, 1986. Most of the 5,400-acre air base was turned into a state-operated recreation area 20 years earlier.

Richard Bong Recreation Area in Kansasville was slated to be a jet fighter base in the '50s. Today it's a 4,515-acre natural spot open for everything from hunting and hiking to launching model rockets and airplaines.

A small observation tower allows visitors to get a higher view of Richard Bong Recreation Area in Kansasville.

The Green and Blue trails in the Richard Bong Recreation Area are open to hikers and cross-country skiiers.

A 2015 aerial image of the never-completed runway at what would have been Bong Air Force Base. The land is now part of Bong Recreation Area.