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Description area
Dates of existence
History
Willibald C. Bianchi was born on March 12, 1915, in New Ulm, Minnesota, to Joseph and Carrie Bianchi.
He enrolled at South Dakota State College in 1937 and joined the R.O.T.C. program. Upon graduating in 1940, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and entered Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia, later earning promotion to First Lieutenant.
In April 1941, Bianchi was assigned to the 45th Infantry Regiment of the Philippine Scouts to assist in training Filipino soldiers. He remained in the Philippines after the U.S. entered World War II and was wounded during the Battle of Bataan on February 3, 1942. Despite multiple injuries, he continued fighting until he was incapacitated by an explosion. For his actions, General Douglas MacArthur awarded him the Medal of Honor, making Bianchi the third recipient of the medal during the war.
Promoted to Captain, Bianchi was captured on April 9, 1942, during the fall of Bataan. He endured the Bataan Death March and worked to aid fellow prisoners in the camps. After over two years in captivity, he died on January 9, 1945, when an unmarked prison ship was bombed by American forces.
Bianchi’s remains were never recovered. He is commemorated on the Wall of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines, with a grave marker at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.
In 1998, South Dakota State University honored Captain Bianchi with a memorial plaque in the Student Union, a commemorative ceremony, and the establishment of a scholarship in his name.
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Functions, occupations and activities
Field of Activity: World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Philippines--Bataan (Province)
Occupation: Soldiers, Prisoners of war