Journal file photo Captain Willibald "Bill" Charles Bianchi.

NEW ULM — The public is invited to participate in the return of World War II Medal of Honor recipient Capt. Willibald “Bill” Charles Bianchi and his return escort to New Ulm Friday.

A bus with Bianchi’s family members will leave New Ulm at 1 p.m. Friday and travel to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Following arrival of a jet aircraft with Bianchi’s remains at 5 p.m. Friday at the airport, Bianchi’s family and escort units will return to New Ulm.

The escort includes New Ulm Police, the 1st Battalion – 125th Field Artillery Regiment of the Minnesota Army National Guard, American Legion, Legion Riders, Brown County Veteran’s Services, Minnesota State Patrol, and the Brown County Sheriff’s Office.

The escort will travel through Norwood-Young America, Green Isle, Arlington, Gaylord, Winthrop and New Ulm. In New Ulm, the escort will pause for a moment of reflection in front of Seifert-Bianchi American Legion Post 132 for military honors between 7 and 7:30 p.m. Friday.

The public is asked to stop at the Seifert-Bianchi American Legion Post for an American flag to wave prior to the procession’s arrival.

Formal visitation for Bianchi will be held next week, from 10 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Saturday, May 2 at the New Ulm National Guard Readiness Center. A reception with lunch follows services at the Readiness Center.

Services with full military honors begin at noon in the Soldiers Rest Section of New Ulm City Cemetery. Services include a 21-gun salute, New Ulm Battery cannon firing and a flyover.

Bianchi was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery and valor above and beyond the call of duty for his heroic actions in Bataan, Philippine Islands where he had significant wounds.

He returned to the battlefield after a month recovery. Despite suffering from hunger, dehydration, heat and disease, Bianchi was repeatedly seen helping fellow prisoners, encouraging them and preventing many from being killed by their captors on the 65-mile Bataan Death March.

Many fellow prisoners later wrote his mother, crediting Bianchi with saving their lives.

Bianchi died Jan. 9, 1945 aboard a Japanese POW ship when an American aircraft, unaware there were prisoners of war aboard, dropped a bomb on the ship. His remains were not recovered at that time.

The Congressional Medal of Honor was presented to Bianchi’s mother, Carrie Bianchi, on June 7, 1946 at Fort Snelling.

For decades, Bianchi was buried as an unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. He was memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Through forensic science and DNA analysis, Bianchi’s remains were positively identified Aug. 11, 2025, finally allowing him to return home.

Online condolences for his family and a guestbook can be signed at mvfh.org.