In 1942, Joseph Hong left his job in the advertising department of The Windsor Star newspaper to enlist in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He served as a navigator, flying in operations over Europe.
On 18 June 1945, his former colleagues at the newspaper had the difficult task of publishing this article notifying readers of Flying Officer Hong’s presumed death. His aircraft set out on a bombing mission over Alençon, France on 22 May 1944 but never returned to its base. Hong and the other members of the aircrew were initially declared missing but later confirmed killed.