[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 117 (Wednesday, September 27, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9376-S9377]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          HEROISM OF WILLIBALD C. BIANCHI AND LEO K. THORSNESS

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, the state of South Dakota has just 
dedicated a very special park at my alma mater, South Dakota State 
University. This park holds two new granite markers, each honoring a 
former SDSU student who won the Congressional Medal of Honor, our 
nation's highest award for valor in action against an enemy force.
  Today I offer my solemn appreciation to these great Americans: First 
Lieutenant Willibald C. Bianchi, whose heroism occurred in the 
Philippines during the first weeks of World War II, and Lt. Colonel Leo 
K. Thorsness, who was decorated for his feats as a fighter pilot over 
North Vietnam.
  First Lieutenant Bianchi, a Minnesota native, was a football player 
at SDSU and graduated in 1940 with a degree in animal science. During 
World War II, he served in the 45th Infantry, Philippine Scouts, one of 
the largest units in the Philippines during the Japanese invasion of 
December 1941. The invasion was brutally effective and, after less than 
a month, our Filipino and American troops were forced to retreat onto 
the Bataan Peninsula where they mounted a final stand against a 
numerically superior foe.
  For three desperate months, the Americans and Filipinos battled the 
Japanese in a sweltering, mountainous jungle. Food was limited and 
medical supplies scarce. About a month into the fight, however, First 
Lieutenant Bianchi participated in a crucial series of battles that 
helped eliminate a pocket of Japanese troops behind the American line.
  Four days after the Japanese incursion, our forces targeted ``the Big 
Pocket'' in a coordinated infantry-tank attack. A tank was lost and 
only slight gains made. On February 3, our forces tried again. Although 
he was assigned to another unit, First Lieutenant Bianchi volunteered 
to join a rifle platoon that was directed to destroy two machine gun 
nests. While leading part of the platoon, First Lieutenant Bianchi was 
struck by two bullets in his left hand. Refusing to pause for first 
aid, he dropped his rifle and began firing a pistol. He located one of 
the

[[Page S9377]]

machine gun nests and silenced it with grenades. When wounded again, 
this time by machine gun bullets through his chest muscles, First 
Lieutenant Bianchi climbed atop an American tank, seized its anti-
aircraft gun, and fired into another enemy position until he was 
knocked off the tank by a third severe bullet wound.
  This story has a sad ending. First Lieutenant Bianchi survived that 
day and returned to the fight a month later. The American-Filipino 
forces crushed ``the Big Pocket'' about a week after his heroics. But 
the Japanese would take Bataan in the end, and First Lieutenant Bianchi 
was sent off on the Bataan Death March. Though he survived the march, 
he died on January 9, 1945, when an American plane bombed a Japanese 
prison ship, not realizing that it held Americans.
  The other hero memorialized in Brookings is Lt. Colonel Leo 
Thorsness, with whom I share some history. We both studied at SDSU, we 
both served in the Air Force, and we both ran for South Dakota's 1st 
Congressional District seat in 1978. While I prevailed, it was only by 
the skin of my teeth--110 votes out of more than 129,000 total ballots. 
And from that struggle, I gained a first-hand appreciation of the 
spirit, determination and patriotism of Leo Thorsness. For me, that 
experience enhances my appreciation for the remarkable story of a 35-
year-old Air Force major who, in the words of his strike force 
commander, took on ``most of North Vietnam all by himself.''

  Lt. Colonel Thorsness had served as a pilot for about 15 years when 
he was assigned to the 357th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Takhli Royal 
Thai Air Base. Lt. Colonel Thorsness was sent in just months after the 
Soviet Union began supplying North Vietnam with surface-to-air missiles 
(SAMs), and his mission was a new and dangerous one--distract and 
destroy the SAMs so that U.S. bombers could deliver their ordnance.
  At one o'clock in the afternoon on Wednesday, April 19, 1967, his F-
105 screamed off the runway, headed for the Xuan Mai army barracks and 
storage supply area, 37 miles southwest of Hanoi. Lt. Colonel Thorsness 
and his wingman attacked from the south, while another pair of F-105s 
attacked from the north. He silenced one SAM site with missiles, and 
then destroyed a second SAM site with bombs. But in the attack on the 
second site, Lt. Colonel Thorsness' wingman was shot down by intensive 
anti-aircraft fire, and the plane's pilot and electronic warfare 
officer were forced to eject over North Vietnam. Lt. Colonel Thorsness 
circled their parachutes and relayed their position to search and 
rescue crews. While he was circling, a MIG-17 was sighted in the area. 
Lt. Colonel Thorsness immediately initiated an attack and destroyed the 
MIG, but he was then forced to depart the area in search of an aerial 
tanker for refueling.
  After learning that rescue helicopters had arrived, but that no 
additional F-105s were arriving to provide cover, Lt. Colonel Thorsness 
returned alone, flying back through an area bristling with SAMs and 
anti-aircraft guns to the downed flyers' position. As he approached, he 
spotted four MIG-17 aircraft, which he attacked, damaging one and 
driving away the rest. Soon it became clear that Lt. Colonel Thorsness' 
plane lacked sufficient fuel to continue protecting the rescue 
operation and that he would have to find an aerial tanker. On his way 
to the tanker, however, Lt. Colonel Thorsness received a distress call 
from a fellow F-105 pilot who had gotten lost in battle and was running 
critically low on fuel. In response, Lt. Colonel Thorsness allowed that 
pilot to refuel at the tanker, while he himself flew toward the Thai 
border, a decision that may have saved the other plane and the life of 
its pilot, according to the Medal of Honor citation. Lt. Colonel 
Thorsness managed to return to a forward operating base--``With 70 
miles to go, I pulled the power back to idle and we just glided in,'' 
he would recall later. ``We were indicating `empty' when the runway 
came up just in front of us.''
  A week-and-a-half later, on a similar mission, Lt. Colonel Thorsness 
was shot down over North Vietnam by a heat-seeking missile from a MIG-
21. He spent the next six years as a North Vietnamese prisoner of war. 
He was released on March 4, 1973, and in October of that year, the 
President of the United States draped the light blue ribbon of the 
Congressional Medal of Honor around Lt. Colonel Thorsness' neck.
  The official citation says: ``Lt. Colonel Thorsness' extraordinary 
heroism, self-sacrifice, and personal bravery involving conspicuous 
risk of life were in the highest traditions of the military service and 
have reflected great credit upon himself and the U.S. Air Force.'' I 
could not have put it any better myself.
  With this statement before the United States Senate, I join in 
saluting First Lieutenant Bianchi and Lt. Colonel Thorsness. As 
Congressional Medal of Honor winners, they are a symbol of the finest 
our nation has to offer. Their feats serve as extraordinary lessons in 
courage, commitment, and self sacrifice, and I am proud that they are 
identified with my home state.

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