{"id":82533,"date":"2025-09-19T17:33:27","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T17:33:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2025\/09\/19\/remains-of-wwii-medal-of-honor-recipient-identified-after-80-years\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:12:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:12:38","slug":"remains-of-wwii-medal-of-honor-recipient-identified-after-80-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/military-history\/2025\/09\/19\/remains-of-wwii-medal-of-honor-recipient-identified-after-80-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Remains of WWII Medal of Honor recipient identified after 80 years"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The remains of Medal of Honor recipient U.S. Army Capt. Willibald Bianchi have been identified, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced<\/a> Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bianchi was killed on Jan. 9, 1945, after U.S. naval aircraft, unaware that there were prisoners on board, scored a direct hit on the Japanese transport ship (dubbed \u201chell ships\u201d by American POWs),<\/i> Enoura Maru, in Takao Harbor. An estimated 431 \u201cunknowns\u201d were killed in the sinking, according to Hegseth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDuring one of the most harrowing chapters of World War II, Willibald Bianchi demonstrated remarkable bravery, valor, and selflessness,\u201d National Medal of Honor Museum President and CEO Chris Cassidy said in a press release. \u201cEighty years after he was killed, we are grateful for the work of the Defense POW\/MIA Accounting Agency to account for Captain Bianchi and finally bring him home. At the National Medal of Honor Museum, his legacy of service and sacrifice will be preserved and shared for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sent to the Philippines in April 1941 to serve with the 45th Infantry and the Philippine Scouts, the Minnesota native was among the very first Americans to see combat in the Second World War. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese swept the Philippines, where, retreating into the jungle, Bianchi and his comrades continued their fight against Japanese forces despite a rapidly dwindling supply of food, medicine and ammunition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cornered on the island, Bianchi nonetheless volunteered to lead the attack to wipe out enemy machine gun nests in the Tuol River pocket on West Bataan on Feb. 3, 1942.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Department of Defense<\/a>, Bianchi was shot twice through the left hand but refused to stop for aid \u2014 tossing his rifle aside and shooting from his pistol instead. As he rushed toward the Japanese machine gun nest, Bianchi silenced it by tossing grenades. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The danger was not over, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bianchi was shot twice more in the chest, but the indefatigable soldier refused to stop. Clambering aboard a U.S. tank, Bianchi took command of its anti-aircraft machine gun and blasted the second enemy machine gun position. He was subsequently shot again and knocked off the tank. It was only then that Bianchi came to a rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The soldier took just one month to recuperate before rejoining his men \u2014 this time as a captain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A bronze rosette next to the name of Capt. Willibald Bianchi on the Walls of the Missing signifies he has been accounted for. The Medal of Honor recipient’s identification was announced by DPAA in conjunction with POW\/MIA Recognition Day. (American Battle Monuments Commission)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On April 9, 1942, with no choice but to capitulate, Bianchi, alongside some 9,700 Americans and their 66,300 Filipino allies, surrendered to the Japanese. The already weakened or sick Allied soldiers were forced to trek 60-plus miles with little food or water, enduring what was later termed the Bataan Death March<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[The] Japanese executed anyone who broke formation or couldn\u2019t keep up and casually butchered others,\u201d according to historian Peter Duffy<\/a>. \u201cMen were left where they fell, sometimes to be run over by Japanese vehicles. During breaks, most prisoners were forced to sit in the hot sun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe best estimates,\u201d Duffy continued, \u201csuggest that approximately 500 Americans and 2,500 Filipinos died\u201d during the march.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite these horrific conditions, Bianchi endured, with many soldiers crediting him with moving through the ranks of desperate men trying to lift their spirits and to get them to walk on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the duration of the war, Bianchi survived several harrowing POW camps. At each, according to the Minnesota Medal of Honor website<\/a>, he took his role as caretaker seriously, bartering with the Japanese for food for his starving soldiers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany servicemen wrote to Bianchi\u2019s mother following the war, telling her that they owed their lives to her son,\u201d according to the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bianchi was transferred from the Bilibid prison in Luzon to the Japanese transport ship Oryoku Maru in December 1944, where it was sunk by American aircraft mere days later. Bianchi survived that sinking before being fatefully transferred to the Enoura Maru, where he, alongside an estimated 300 POWs, was inadvertently killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The soldier was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor<\/a> by Gen. Douglas MacArthur on June 7, 1945, for his \u201cconspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty\u201d for his actions back in the Philippines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, his remains have been identified as a part of DPAA\u2019s Enoura Maru Project<\/a>, which aims to identify the remains of over 928 POWs killed aboard the ships Oryoku Maru, Enoura Maru and Brazil Maru.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, Bianchi\u2019s name, <\/i>engraved in stone and overlaid with gold on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery<\/a>, has a bronze rosette next to it, signifying that, at long last, the captain has been found. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Army Capt. Willibald Bianchi was killed in 1945 after U.S. aircraft, unaware there were prisoners on board, scored a direct hit on a Japanese POW ship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":109851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":91,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,91,12,25,19,70],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3418],"class_list":["post-82533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-military-history","category-news","category-newsletters","category-veterans","category-your-army"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"4MUKPI4F6FHRJEFIP63NXOGHEU","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/military-history\/2025\/09\/19\/remains-of-wwii-medal-of-honor-recipient-identified-after-80-years\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\nRemains of WWII Medal of Honor recipient identified after 80 years - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Army Capt. 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