TFH 2/3: First Lieutenant Willibald C. Bianchi, USA

Continuing my series of every Medal of Honor recipient for World War II, 70 years to the day.

Willibald Bianchi was born on March 12, 1915 in New Ulm, Minnesota. When the United States was plunged into war on December 7, 1941 he was with the Philippine Scouts. On this date in 1942, the forces of liberty struggled against the Japanese invaders on the Bataan peninsula. While the forces of the United States Army and the Philippine Army were generally trying to just hold ground, occasionally they were able to counter-attack. During one such event, Lieutenant Bianchi's fighting spirit, courage, and tenacity were ultimately deemed worthy of our Nation's highest honor.


From Medal of Honor Citations for World War II (A-F):

*BIANCHI, WILLIBALD C.

Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 45th Infantry, Philippine Scouts. Place and date: Near Bagac, Bataan Province, Philippine Islands, 3 February 1942. Entered service at: New Ulm, Minn. Birth: New Ulm, Minn. G.O. No.: 11, 5 March 1942. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy on 3 February 1942, near Bagac, Province of Bataan, Philippine Islands. When the rifle platoon of another company was ordered to wipe out 2 strong enemy machinegun nests, 1st Lt. Bianchi voluntarily and of his own initiative, advanced with the platoon leading part of the men. When wounded early in the action by 2 bullets through the left hand, he did not stop for first aid but discarded his rifle and began firing a pistol. He located a machinegun nest and personally silenced it with grenades. When wounded the second time by 2 machinegun bullets through the chest muscles, 1st Lt. Bianchi climbed to the top of an American tank, manned its antiaircraft machinegun, and fired into strongly held enemy position until knocked completely off the tank by a third severe wound. 

The asterisk by his name indicates that the award was posthumous, as regular readers know. Willibald Bianchi survived the combat on Bataan to the time of the surrender in April 1942, and also survived the Bataan Death March that followed. He endured the torment of imprisonment at the hands of the Japanese Empire through January 1945. It is known that his conduct in captivity was exemplary; he did what he could to provide for and comfort his fellow soldiers in captivity.

On January 9, 1945 he was aboard a prison ship which the Japanese had not marked as such per international convention. Tragically, the ship was attacked and destroyed by a 1,000 pound bomb dropped by an American aircraft during the liberation of the Philippines, the pilot unaware that American POWs were aboard.

He rests today in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawai'i. On September 22, 2000, a monument to this great American hero was erected at South Dakota State University (link is PDF), his alma mater.