WWII Medal of Honor recipient, who died as POW, will be returned home to New Ulm
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
A World War II Medal of Honor recipient from southern Minnesota whose remains were identified this summer, will now be returning home to his final resting place next spring, more than 85 years after he left his home town.
U.S. Army Capt. Willibald C. Bianchi of New Ulm, who survived getting shot twice, the Bataan Death March, and the horrors of POW camps, was killed when U.S. warplanes bombed and sank his POW transport ship in January of 1945. He was 29. His remains were unidentified for 80 years, until August 11 of this year, when he was positively ID’d, according to a news release from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
The Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest military decoration that honors those who distinguished themselves for acts of valor. Bianchi was one of 473 service members who received this commendation for his brave actions in battle during World War II.
During the State Veterans Day program held in Mankato last month, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar spoke about Bianchi and honored him. Klobuchar said that Bianchi was born in New Ulm and grew up on a small poultry farm. After his father died in an accident, Bianchi left high school to take care of the farm and support his family.
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
Bianchi attended the University of Minnesota Farm School—now part of the University of Minnesota Extension—and South Dakota State University, where classmates called him “Medals.”
“That’s because he wore his ROTC uniform, partly because he could not afford clothing,” Klobuchar said during the event. “But also because he was so proud.”
Bianchi will be buried in New Ulm in May 2026. Klobuchar said Bianchi’s sacrifice and story should be remembered.
“His story reminds us of a solemn promise that we bring every missing hero home,” Klobuchar said. “No matter how long it takes. The story reminds us that we can never fully repay what our veterans have given our nation, but we can honor their service now.”
In 1942, Bianchi served as commander of Company D, 1st Battalion, 45th Infantry Regiment, Philippine Scouts on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines.
Bianchi earned the Medal of Honor—the highest honor in the military—on Feb. 3, 1942 when he volunteered to clear a series of Japanese machine gun nests. Despite being wounded multiple times, he continued leading the attack. He was eventually awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for that action, according to the National Medal of Honor Museum.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s release stated that Bianchi was captured on April 9, 1942 and held as a prisoner of war by the Empire of Japan in the Philippines until 1944 when the Japanese military moved prisoners to Manila for transport to Japan on the Oryoku Maru.
A U.S. carrier-borne aircraft attacked the ship, unaware that prisoners of war were on the ship. The Oryoku Maru eventually sank in Subic Bay. Bianchi was then transported to what was then Takao Formosoa—known today as Taiwan—aboard the Enoura Maru.
But that transport ship was attacked by U.S. warplanes, too, which sank the Enoura Maru, killing Bianchi and other American POWs on Jan. 9, 1945. After the end of World War II, the American Graves Registration Command investigated and recovered missing American personnel. About 311 bodies were recovered in May 1946 in a mass grave on a beach. The unidentified remains were buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific—known as the Punchbowl—in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Scientists from the DPAA Laboratory identified Bianchi’s remains. His name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and memorial in the Philippines alongside others still missing from the war. The DPPA said in the news release that a rosette will be placed next to his name to show that Bianchi has now been accounted for.
