An official website of the United States Government 
Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov

.gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Medal of Honor Monday: Army Capt. Willibald Bianchi

A man in a uniform and cap poses for a photo.
Willibald Charles Bianchi
Army Capt. Willibald Charles Bianchi, Medal of Honor recipient.
Credit: Army
VIRIN: 250102-A-D0439-0028

Thousands of men died during the brutal Bataan Death March in the Philippines during World War II. Army Capt. Willibald Charles Bianchi was one of the soldiers who stood out as a leader and caretaker. He survived more than two years in captivity before losing his life as the islands were being retaken by the Allies. For his valor and selflessness, he posthumously received the Medal of Honor.

Bianchi was born March 12, 1915, in New Ulm, Minnesota, to Joseph and Caroline Bianchi. He had one older sister and three younger sisters, and he went by the name of Bill.

Bianchi's family lived on a poultry farm. As the only boy in the family, he was often called upon to help his dad with daily tasks. Sadly, Bianchi's father died in a farming accident when he was still in high school, so the teen had to quit school to take over the farm and support his family in his father's absence.

Eventually, however, Bianchi was able to complete his schooling through the University of Minnesota Farm School in St. Paul. Afterward, he enrolled in South Dakota State University to major in animal science. While there, he played football and was active in ROTC. He also worked as a janitor and did furnace work to pay his way.

In June 1940, Bianchi graduated and was commissioned as an Army second lieutenant. As soon as he could, he requested to be sent overseas because he wanted to see action, according to the Minnesota Medal of Honor Memorial website.

Eight men sit on a small cart attached to cattle.
World War II
Philippine Scout soldiers catch a ride in a cart during World War II. Filipino-Americans played an integral role in the Bataan and Corregidor areas of the Philippines, keeping Japanese forces at bay in early 1942.
Credit: Army
VIRIN: 250102-A-D0439-0029

Soon enough, he got his wish. In April 1941, Bianchi was sent to the Philippines to serve with the 45th Infantry and the Philippine Scouts, who were a group of native troops trained by U.S. soldiers to fight off Japanese aggression.

Unfortunately, that training didn't happen quickly enough, as the Philippine Scouts saw some of the very first action of World War II in the Pacific. On Dec. 7, 1941 — the same day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor — the enemy also bombed Clark Field, an Army air base on the island of Luzon. Soon after, the Japanese invaded, forcing Allied troops to withdraw to the Bataan Peninsula and to Corregidor Island to hold off the enemy until the U.S. Navy could bring supplies and reinforcements.

On Feb. 3, 1942, Bianchi's unit was on the western part of the peninsula when a rifle platoon of another company was ordered to wipe out two strong enemy machine gun nests. Then-1st Lt. Bianchi volunteered to go with them and lead some of the men.

Five men sit in a hay-covered area listening to a radio.
Voice of Freedom Radio
Soldiers on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines listen to a Voice of Freedom radio broadcast between battles with the Japanese in late 1941and early 1942. Allied troops eventually surrendered in April 1942.
Credit: Army
VIRIN: 250102-A-D0439-0031

When the fight kicked off, Bianchi was shot twice through the left hand, but instead of stopping for first aid, he tossed aside his rifle and began shooting with his pistol instead. When he came across the first machine gun nest, he quickly silenced it with grenades.

Bianchi was shot twice more in the chest, but again, instead of getting help, he climbed onto a U.S. tank and took command of its anti-aircraft machine gun. He blasted the second enemy machine gun position until he was shot again and completely knocked off the tank.

Bianchi spent a month recovering from his wounds before returning to duty and being promoted to captain.

On April 9, 1942, the Philippines fell to the Japanese. Bianchi and about 75,000 other American and Filipino soldiers were captured as prisoners of war. They endured the famous Bataan Death March across 65 miles of terrain in which they were brutally abused. Many men died on the trek, but as a leader, Bianchi moved through the marchers to try to lift their spirits and get them to keep going.

A long line of men walks along a dirty road.
Bataan Death March
A photograph shows the start of the bloody Bataan Death March in the Philippines in April 1942 after the Allies surrendered following four months of desperate combat. Thousands of American and Filipino prisoners of war died along the brutal 65-mile march across the island.
Credit: Army
VIRIN: 250102-A-D0439-0030

Bianchi spent time in several POW camps, each of which had horrible living conditions. At each one, Bianchi continued his role as caretaker, bartering with their captors for food for himself and other starving prisoners. "Many servicemen wrote to Bianchi's mother following the war, telling her that they owed their lives to her son," the Minnesota Medal of Honor Memorial website said.

By December 1944, Allied troops had begun to retake the Philippines, so the Japanese had started transferring all its POWs to the mainland using what survivors referred to as "hell ships" due to the extremely harsh conditions they endured on them.

Bianchi was first put on a ship called the Oryoku Maru. When it was attacked by Allied aircraft, Bianchi survived, but he was transferred onto a Japanese POW ship, possibly called the Enoura Maru, that was anchored off Taiwan, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency website said.

An aerial photo shows of a bay and a ship.
Aerial View
An aerial photo of former U.S. Naval Station Olongapo in the Philippines, taken from a USS Hancock airplane, Dec. 15, 1944. The ship is likely to be the Oryoku Maru, a “hell ship” filled with Allied prisoners of war that was sunk in Subic Bay by 3rd Fleet aircraft the next day.
Credit: Navy
VIRIN: 441215-N-D0439-085

Many of these ships were unmarked, so Allied aircraft were unaware they were filled with American POWs. Sadly, Bianchi died on Jan. 9, 1945, when a U.S. Navy aircraft dropped a 1,000-pound bomb on his ship.

Stories of Bianchi's valor eventually made it out of the Philippines. On June 7, 1945, his mother received the Medal of Honor on his behalf during a ceremony at Fort Snelling, Minnesota.

Later, famed Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur wrote to Bianchi's mother to honor her son and his fellow soldiers. "It was largely their magnificent courage and sacrifices which stopped the enemy in the Philippines and gave us the time to arm ourselves for our return to the Philippines and the final defeat of Japan," MacArthur said.

Bianchi's body was never recovered, so his name is enshrined on a marker at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, as well as on the Wall of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.

A white wall has inscription on it.
Manila American Cemetery
A wall at the entrance to the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial's Walls of the Missing commemorates the names of the Philippine Scouts who never returned home during World War II. Throughout the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, U.S. and Filipino service members fought, bled and died together, and in turn, they share the same cemetery. MACM serves as the final resting place for service members for both countries who served during the war.
Credit: Marine Corps Sgt. Zachary T. Beatty
VIRIN: 230307-M-VX661-1053

The 29-year-old never married and had no children, but his mother and sisters kept his memory alive by donating his Medal of Honor and other decorations to the Brown County Historical Society Museum in his hometown, which displays those items for visitors.

New Ulm also named a street for Bianchi in 1955 and renamed its American Legion in his honor in 1990. At Bianchi's alma mater, SDSU, a memorial and scholarship were established in 1998. Two years later, a monument in his honor was also dedicated at the school. 

This article is part of a weekly series called "Medal of Honor Monday" in which we highlight one of the more than 3,500 Medal of Honor recipients who have received the U.S. military's highest medal for valor.

Related Stories