Willibald Bill C Bianchi, Hell Ship Enoura Maru
Dec 7, 2021 16:16:25 GMT 8
chadhill and beirutvet like this
Post by Karl Welteke on Dec 7, 2021 16:16:25 GMT 8
Willibald Bill C Bianchi, a Casualty of WWII, Hell Ship Enoura Maru
Zf402. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Willibald Charles Bianchi[1] (March 12, 1915 – January 9, 1945) was an officer in the Philippine Scouts who received the Medal of Honor for actions in Bataan, Philippines during that country's capitulation to Japanese forces during World War II. After the action near Bagac in the Bataan Province, Bianchi was among the troops captured by the Japanese at the fall of Bataan, on April 9, 1942. He was part of the Bataan "Death March," and was imprisoned in several Japanese prisoner of war camps, enduring horrible conditions. He was known for his compassion and efforts to better the lot of his fellow prisoners by bartering with their captors for extra food and medicine. On January 9, 1945, while imprisoned in an unmarked Japanese prison ship, Bianchi was killed instantly when an American plane, unaware that the ship contained American prisoners, dropped a 1,000-pound bomb in the cargo hold. Bianchi is one of three members of the Philippine Scouts who were awarded the Medal of Honor. For the URL click here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willibald_C._Bianchi
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Lt. Willibald Bill C Bianchi was one of millions of casualties in WWII, but he is becoming close to me now because I live in the Philippines. He was a Philippine Scout, served in the Battle of Bataan, was a POW of Imperial Japan, was on the two hell ships and died on one. He was awarded the Medal of Honor, serving his country and to me he became a symbol of the millions of service members who lost their lives or got wounded and suffered tremendously.
This presentation has three (3) postwar images of the Enoura Mary where Lt. Willibald Bill C Bianchi was killed and was buried with 482 other dead comrades.
Note from Karl: The pictures of the Enoura Maru will be presented in a few days, it is a lot of work.
All this material, pictures came from the Army Lt. Chester K. Britt Research Team, they are sharing it with me. They finished their book, it is titled:
Relentless Hope: A True Story of War and Survival, by David L. Britt
The Army Lt. Chester K. Britt book Team Members are:
First are Dave Britt, LTC USAF (Ret), son of Chester K Britt, Vickie Graham CMSGT USAF (Ret), and John Duresky. They all graduated from Logan High School in La Crosse, Wisconsin in 1967, and are doing it as a team. Chester Britt graduated from Logan in 1933 and his mother Grace in 1934. Dave wrote most of the manuscript, John editing what he wrote and doing most of the research, and Vickie is the final editor with about 20 years of professional writing in her resume, largely with Airman Magazine. See our forum page about their book, click here:
corregidor.proboards.com/thread/2374/relentless-hope-true-story-survival
The material presented here is mostly pictures or stories from Archives of the news papers then in WWII. To me they are interesting as they show how people saw the war then based on limited resources. The first section has 10 images about Lt. Willibald Bill C Bianchi; some pictures are cropped and zoomed to make the descriptions readable. Two pictures are available in high resolution in my Flickr account.
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Zf403. First of March 1942 the PORT HURON MI TIMES HERALD reports that Lt. Bianchi was recommended for the MOH by MacArthur. This article or picture was found by the researcher and authors of the new book: Relentless Hope: A True Story of War and Survival, by David L. Britt.
Zf404. First of March 1942 the PORT HURON MI TIMES HERALD reports that Lt. Bianchi was recommended for the MOH by MacArthur. This article was cropped, zoomed-in from the previous picture. This article or picture was found by the researcher and authors of the new book: Relentless Hope: A True Story of War and Survival, by David L. Britt.
Zf405. On the 18th of March 1942 the TUCSON AZ DAILY CITIZEN writes a long article of the war in the Philippines and Lt. Bianchi is mentioned that Gen. MacArthur pinned on the MOH to the Lt. This picture is also uploaded to a Flickr album in high resolution and can be downloaded with this URL, click here:
www.flickr.com/photos/44567569@N00/51730313006/in/dateposted-public/
This article or picture was found by the researcher and authors of the new book: Relentless Hope: A True Story of War and Survival, by David L. Britt.
Zf406. Seventh Jan. 1943 the SIOUX FALLS SD ARGUS LEADER reports that Capt. Williband C Bianchi, a MOH winner, and other South Dakota men are held prisoner by the Japanese. This article or picture was found by the researcher and authors of the new book: Relentless Hope: A True Story of War and Survival, by David L. Britt.
Zf407. Seventh Jan. 1943 the SIOUX FALLS SD ARGUS LEADER reports that Capt. Williband C Bianchi, a MOH winner, and other South Dakota men are held prisoner by the Japanese. This article was cropped, zoomed-in from the previous picture. This article or picture was found by the researcher and authors of the new book: Relentless Hope: A True Story of War and Survival, by David L. Britt.
Zf408. On the 13th of April 1946 the MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE reports that Willibald C Bianchi is identified as being in a Takao Formosa mass grave. This article or picture was found by the researcher and authors of the new book: Relentless Hope: A True Story of War and Survival, by David L. Britt.
Zf409. On the 23rd of May 1946 the MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE writes that the mother of Willibald C Bianchi receives his MOH. Notice, there is a date correction added by the researcher and authors of the new book: Relentless Hope: A True Story of War and Survival, by David L. Britt.
Zf410. On the 8th of June 1046 the MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE reports that the mother of Willibald C Bianchi receives his MOH. This picture is also uploaded to a Flickr album in high resolution and can be downloaded with this URL, click here:
www.flickr.com/photos/44567569@N00/51729501447/in/album-72157714691279876/
This article or picture was found by the researcher and authors of the new book: Relentless Hope: A True Story of War and Survival, by David L. Britt.
Zf411. On the 24th of Nov. 1948 the MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE writes and mentions the mother and sister of Capt Willibald Bianchi. This article or picture was found by the researcher and authors of the new book: Relentless Hope: A True Story of War and Survival, by David L. Britt.
Zf412. Capt. Willibald Charles Bianchi is listed at the FINDAGRAVE MEMORIAL webpage, click here:
www.findagrave.com/memorial/7751194/willibald-charles-bianchi
This article or picture was found by the researcher and authors of the new book: Relentless Hope: A True Story of War and Survival, by David L. Britt.
Zf413. The grave stone of Capt. Willibald Charles Bianchi is shown at the FINDAGRAVE MEMORIAL webpage, click here:
www.findagrave.com/memorial/7751194/willibald-charles-bianchi
This article or picture was found by the researcher and authors of the new book: Relentless Hope: A True Story of War and Survival, by David L. Britt.
