Closure was the feeling shared by my family when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the identification of our relative, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Captain Willibald “Bill” Bianchi, on Sept. 19 at a POW/MIA recognition day ceremony in Washington, D.C.
Bianchi, a cousin of my late grandfather John Moriarty, attended South Dakota State University from 1936 to 1940 and served in the Philippines during World War II, where he perished on Jan. 9, 1945, aboard a so-called Japanese hell ship, the Enoura Maru. Long thought to be unrecoverable, Bianchi’s remains were identified as part of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency project to identify the 430 unknowns associated with the Enoura Maru.
On May 2, Bianchi will be buried with full military honors in his hometown of New Ulm, Minnesota, at the Soldiers Rest section of the city cemetery. The sense of closure provides relief after many decades of waiting and uncertainty. I am immensely grateful for the work of DPAA. They have provided our family the closure we need and Willibald will now receive the proper burial fitting for an American hero.
The news of his return also brings great feelings of joy, honor and excitement, since he can now rest for eternity in the town that molded him into the American hero who made the ultimate sacrifice. Bianchi’s return means there is now a place where everyone can pay their respects and honor his memory. On a personal note, the news of his recovery signifies the final chapter in a long quest to end the uncertainty over his resting place. With this step complete, I have the confidence that he will be honored and remembered alongside America’s fallen for generations to come.
At a young age I learned about Willibald Bianchi through my grandfather, who made a point of telling the story of his heroic and inspiring life. As result I got to know how his life left a deep impact even though he died years before I was born. My grandfather described Bianchi as a true beacon of light who left a positive impact in his brief life.
“As a young boy, I always looked forward to the summer when Bill would visit my family, we had several good and even humorous times. With him many memories were made.” He described Bill’s untimely death as a “tragedy that deprived the world of a remarkable man who may have become president.”
Early life
All gave some and some gave all. This famous saying exemplifies Bianchi’s life and heroic military service.
A native of New Ulm, Bianchi grew up on a farm where he assumed the responsibility of caring for livestock at an early age. At age 17 his father died in a hunting accident, and Willibald soon found himself with the responsibility of maintaining the family farm. During this challenging time, his mother, sisters, and extended family remembered him as being eager to give a hand without being asked and making a dedicated effort to ensure his family was properly provided for.
In his youth, Bianchi showed previews of his heroism and leadership in World War II. One time he guarded the watermelon patch at his farm from a group of local ruffians, who tried to steal the watermelons. In the ensuing fist fight, Bianchi ultimately stopped the watermelon bandits, though it came at the price of a broken nose and two black eyes. Another time he single handedly took out dozens of rats and mice in his family’s barn so he could give a tour.
My grandfather described the event in vivid detail, saying, “My family visited Bill’s home looking forward to seeing his milk cow operation; however, as we got to the barn it was filled mice, rats, and other rodents. Bill, not willing to give up, grabbed a shovel, charged into the barn and began smashing the rodents, which began flying out one by one like an assembly line.”
South Dakota State
Driven by a desire to be near his extended family in Brookings and South Dakota State’s land grant status in agriculture, Bianchi enrolled in what was then South Dakota State College, attending from 1936 to 1940 and graduated with a degree in animal science.
In his time at what is now SDSU, he participated in ROTC, played football, boxed, judged poultry and was involved with the Newman Club, an outreach for Catholic university students. His fellow ROTC cadets included Don Smith, who later attained recognition as a Doolittle raider, and Jim Emmerich, a long-time track coach at SDSU and 1964 Olympic track trainer for the United States.
In all these areas Bianchi excelled and gained a reputation as skilled, dedicated, and ethical. His commitment resulted in a promotion to cadet major in the ROTC, and serving as a lead guard for the SDSC football team. He also earned the nickname “Medals” since he frequently wore his decorated ROTC uniform with a sense of honor and duty.
As a student, Bianchi took it upon himself to lead his fellow students in a variety of ways. Viewing the betterment of others as his responsibility, he frequently invited his ROTC cadets to brunch on Sundays at the home of his aunt Cecilia Moriarty. His friends remembered these meals as being full of stories, jokes, and card games.
“Bill would frequently give us talks and advice for everyone,” John Moriarty said. “He was wise for his years and as a devout Catholic he had a strong moral compass.”
His standards were high. Foul language or locker room talk were not tolerated during our time with him, according to Moriarty. Bill was also known to carry a prayer book that included the dates he went to confession. During this time, the clouds of war were descending upon the world. Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935, China and Japan went to war in 1937, and the following year Nazi Germany annexed Austria.
Despite this, Bill was not afraid, though he was concerned for the people harmed by these regimes. He always encouraged us by saying, “God is on our side. We are built on truth and justice. The other side is built on lies and murder.” My grandfather said that “Bianchi truly exemplified the phrase first in war and first in peace describing the father of our nation George Washington.”
War years
The year after his graduation in 1941, Bianchi was assigned to the Philippines to assist in the training of native Filipino jungle fighters. Serving with the U.S. Army’s 45th Infantry, he soon found himself by year’s end in the middle of intense fighting.
On Dec. 8, 1941, the Japanese Air Force launched an attack on Clark Field, crippling the Army Air Corps. Depleted of air power, the American Army was in a dire position facing an attack by air, land, and sea. In one of the darkest hours in American history, Bianchi rose to the challenge and distinguished himself in the line of duty.
On Feb. 3, 1942, he volunteered to lead a platoon tasked with the assignment of taking out two enemy machine gun nests holding up an American advance at Bagac. Early in the fight two bullets passed through his left hand. Disregarding first aid, he picked up a pistol with his right hand and began firing at the enemy position. After running out of ammunition, he silenced the first nest with grenade. He was wounded by two machine gun bullets through the chest muscles. Not content until he accomplished the mission, Bianchi climbed atop a tank and fired into the last machine gun nest, silencing it as he was knocked off the tank by a grenade blast.
After recuperating for one month, Bianchi returned to action and was promoted to captain. During this time, President Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated him for the Congressional Medal of Honor as the third soldier to receive our nation’s highest military honor in World War II.
Despite the determined effort of the American and Filipino forces, they could not hold up against the Japanese armed forces and surrendered on April 9, 1942. This event marked the onset of three years of living hell beginning with the Bataan death march, followed by POW camps, and then journeys aboard Japanese naval vessels known as hell ships.
In this time of tribulation, Bianchi went above and beyond to ensure his fellow POWs were equipped to survive. Survivors later wrote to his family after the war that they owed their lives to Bianchi, since he grew a clandestine garden and provided encouragement to his comrades in their struggles. Additionally, the American POWs assigned him the task of delivering rations since he was one of the few who were honest and fair in their distribution.
In this difficult trial he always persevered, never giving into discouragement. The letters sent to his family spoke of the trials and tribulations, but always had a sense of light on the horizon, whether that be liberation, or heaven if he died in captivity. These survivors also spoke of him as their inspiration to persevere and described his untimely demise as an immense tragedy. His commitment to the mission of preserving America endured to the very end. He died tending to the sick and injured POWs, shielding them from flying debris as the hell ship was bombed during an air raid on Formosa.
Legacy
In the years since his death in 1945, Bianchi’s family has worked to preserve his memory. A memorial scholarship bearing his name has been established through the ROTC at SDSU. He was inducted into the SDSU Hall of Fame in 1990. A bronze relief plaque and monument honoring his service were installed on campus in 1998 and 2000, respectively. In New Ulm, a street bears his name, and the local American Legion renamed their post in honor of him.
As our nation marks its semi quincentennial this year, we cannot forget Bianchi’s life and heroism, since he personifies what it means to be a patriotic citizen dedicated to the ideals of freedom enshrined in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution.
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