Mystery in the PunchBowl

Article by John Davis

What honor do we render a Medal of Honor recipient? Would we leave him in an unmarked grave? This is actually the case. Such a scandal calls for action. Read this through and you can help!

Willibald C. Bianchi, of New Ulm, Minnesota, was an American soldier in the Second World War. Assigned to the Philippines, he was there when the Japanese invaded.

Let his Medal of Honor citation tell his story.

 

Bianchi, Willibald C.
Rank and organization:First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 45th Infantry, Philippine Scouts
Place and date:Near Bagac, Bataan Province, Philippine Islands, February 3, 1942
Entered service at:New Ulm, Minnesota
Born:New Ulm, Minnesota
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 2 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 2 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 2 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.

 

His story doesn’t end here. Bianchi survived, only to be captured. Force marched like a beaten animal in the Bataan Death March, he endured this as well. For years, he was held in savage conditions of slave labor by brutal Japanese. He’s remembered for his selfless daring in dealing with his captors for extra rations and even medication for his fellow prisoners. Then, he was evacuated on a prison ship, the Enoura Maru, destined to continue his purgatory in Japan.

The Enoura Maru, an unmarked Japanese prison ship, never reached Japan.It was struck by an Allied torpedo bomber off the coast of Formosa, where his body was buried. After the war, his remains were repatriated to the US National Military Cemetery on Hawaii, nicknamed ‘The Punch Bowl’. Neither Willibald C. Bianchi, Medal of Honor recipient, nor any of the other 300 American victims buried there has ever been identified. With modern technology, this can be done. Why do we leave our heroes unrecognized? Why can’t we give their families a place to remember them?

Call the Defense Personnel Accountability Agency. Tell them you’d like an accounting of those from your state who lie in this series of graves. You may discover the answer to a mystery which has hung on for 75 years.

~ ARTICLE WRITTEN BY JOHN DAVIS

Read More from John

John William Davis is a retired US Army counterintelligence officer and linguist. As a linguist, Mr. Davis learned five languages, the better to serve in his counterintelligence jobs during some 14 years overseas. He served in West Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands during the Cold War. There he was active in investigations directed against the Communist espionage services of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact. His mission was also to investigate terrorists such as the Red Army Faction in Germany, the Red Brigades in Italy, and the Combatant Communist Cells (in Belgium) among a host of others.

His work during the Cold War and the bitter aftermath led him to write Rainy Street Stories, ‘Reflections on Secret Wars, Terrorism, and Espionage’ . He wanted to talk about not only the events themselves, but also the moral and human aspects of the secret world as well.

 

And now recently published in 2018, John continued his writing with Around the Corner: Reflections on American Wars, Violence, Terrorism, and Hope. 

Two powerful books worth reading.

Read more about them in the following Six Questions:

Six Questions with John Davis: Author of Rainy Street Stories

Six Questions with John Davis: Author of Around the Corner