Willibald C. Bianchi

He fought through repeated wounds to break enemy resistance.

Willibald Charles Bianchi was born in New Ulm, Minnesota, on 12 March 1915. Raised on a poultry farm, he helped support his family after his father’s death. He graduated from South Dakota State College in 1940 and received an Army commission through ROTC. He went to the Philippines in April 1941.

Bianchi served as an Army first lieutenant in the 45th Infantry, Philippine Scouts. On 3 February 1942, near Bagac on Bataan, he voluntarily advanced with another company’s platoon against two enemy machine-gun nests. Wounded in his left hand, he continued with a pistol and silenced an emplacement using grenades. After being wounded again in the chest, he climbed onto an American tank and fired its antiaircraft machine gun at a fortified enemy position. A third wound knocked him from the tank. His Medal of Honor recognized his determination to continue the attack.

He recovered sufficiently to return to duty and became a captain. Captured after the surrender on Bataan on 9 April 1942, he endured the death march and more than two years in Japanese captivity. Fellow prisoners remembered his efforts to obtain food and help men who were struggling to survive.

Bianchi survived an air attack on the prisoner transport Oryoku Maru in December 1944. He was transferred to Enoura Maru and died when American aircraft attacked that ship at Takao, Formosa, on 9 January 1945, unaware that Allied prisoners were aboard. His mother received his Medal of Honor at Fort Snelling on 7 June 1945.

Remains recovered after the war were buried as unidentified casualties in Hawaii. DPAA identified Bianchi on 11 August 2025. On 2 May 2026, he was buried in New Ulm City Cemetery, near his family. His Medal of Honor and other decorations are preserved at the Brown County Historical Society Museum.

Medal of Honor 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 two strong enemy machine-gun 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 two bullets through the left hand, he did not stop for first aid but discarded his rifle and began firing a pistol. He located a machine-gun nest and personally silenced it with grenades. When wounded the second time by two machine-gun bullets through the chest muscles, 1st Lt. Bianchi climbed to the top of an American tank, manned its antiaircraft machine gun, and fired into strongly held enemy position until knocked completely off the tank by a third severe wound.