A Resolution honoring the life and legacy of United States Army Air Forces Warrant Officer William J. McMichael, expressing condolences to his family and commending with gratitude and respect the recovery and return of his remains.

PRINTER'S NO. 2413
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No. 335
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY MALONEY, COOK, D'ORSIE, GILLEN, JAMES, MAJOR,
SCHEUREN, SMITH, KUZMA, O'NEAL, NEILSON AND KAUFFMAN,
OCTOBER 7, 2025
TO UNCONTESTED CALENDAR UNDER RULE 35 OCTOBER 7, 2025
A RESOLUTION
Honoring the life and legacy of United States Army Air Forces
Warrant Officer William J. McMichael, expressing condolences
to his family and commending with gratitude and respect the
recovery and return of his remains.
WHEREAS, William McMichael was born June 30, 1905, in
Boyertown, Berks County; and
WHEREAS, William McMichael's sister, Audrey McMichael,
survives him; and
WHEREAS, A generation of McMichaels who never met William
McMichael include a grandson, Timothy McMichael, three great-
grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren; and
WHEREAS, William McMichael held the rank of Warrant Officer
Junior Grade at the time of his death; and
WHEREAS, William McMichael enlisted in the United States Army
Air Forces in 1922 at 17 years of age; and
WHEREAS, William McMichael, having earned an honorable
discharge, reenlisted into active service with the United States
Army Air Forces in 1932; and
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WHEREAS, In July 1941, William McMichael's unit was
transported to the Philippine Air Depot, Nichols Field military
base, Manila; and
WHEREAS, On December 8, 1941, Japanese air raids began at
Nichols Field and other Pacific military bases; and
WHEREAS, On December 22, 1941, the Japanese invasion of Luzon
Island near the shores of the Nichols Field base prompted United
States forces to retreat west to the Bataan Peninsula; and
WHEREAS, As armed conflict broke out, United States and
Filipino personnel were ordered to retreat toward the peninsula;
and
WHEREAS, On January 23, 1942, United States and Filipino
ground forces held off a Japanese amphibious landing assault on
the peninsula; and
WHEREAS, These ground forces blocked Japanese advances for
more than four months, running low on food, medicine and
ammunition and subject to Japanese gains in air superiority; and
WHEREAS, Disease and starvation were rampant throughout the
United States and Filipino ranks; and
WHEREAS, Without reinforcements, on April 9, 1942, the United
States Army Forces in the Far East surrendered; and
WHEREAS, The forcible transfer of prisoners of war, referred
to as the Bataan Death March, was an 11-day ordeal; and
WHEREAS, Between 72,000 and 78,000 United States and Filipino
prisoners of war marched 65 miles at gunpoint; and
WHEREAS, An estimated 5,000 to 18,000 Filipino prisoners of
war and an estimated 500 to 650 United States prisoners of war
died from exhaustion, starvation and disease or were shot by
their captors; and
WHEREAS, Survivors entered the Cabanatuan prison camp; and
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WHEREAS, On May 5, 1942, the Japanese landed at Corregidor
Island, cementing their foothold on the Bataan Peninsula; and
WHEREAS, The next day, the remaining United States and
Filipino forces surrendered and were sent to Cabanatuan; and
WHEREAS, William McMichael, who endured the Bataan Death
March, was among the prisoners of war at Cabanatuan; and
WHEREAS, Cabanatuan infamously lacked food, water, sanitary
conditions and medical care; and
WHEREAS, The prisoners of war would be transferred throughout
the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, forced into manual labor in harsh
conditions to support the Japanese war effort; and
WHEREAS, By the summer of 1944, the Japanese began
transporting prisoners of war from the South Pacific island
chains to the Japanese home islands on hell ships, the cramped,
unsanitary transport vessels overloaded with bodies; and
WHEREAS, Under the Japanese plan, these prisoners of war
would be used for political leverage in surrender negotiations;
and
WHEREAS, On October 12, 1944, William McMichael was among
more than 900 prisoners of war prepared for transport on an
unmarked hell ship named the Oryoku Maru; and
WHEREAS, The next day, the Oryoku Maru departed Manila,
headed for the Japanese home islands; and
WHEREAS, Within hours of its departure, the Oryoku Maru was
registered as an enemy Japanese vessel by the aircraft carrier
USS Hornet; and
WHEREAS, The USS Hornet, unaware of the prisoners of war on
board, deployed aircraft to intercept; and
WHEREAS, This action killed more than 300 prisoners of war;
and
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WHEREAS, Thereafter 1,300 prisoners and crew made it to shore
alive at Olongapo Point, Subic Bay, Philippines; and
WHEREAS, From December 13 through 19, 1944, William McMichael
and his fellow prisoners of war were held at an Olongapo Point
tennis court; and
WHEREAS, From December 20 through 24, 1944, William McMichael
and his fellow prisoners of war were sent by truck to a train
station in San Fernando, Pamapanga, Philippines, for transport
north; and
WHEREAS, From December 24 through 27, 1944, William McMichael
and his fellow prisoners of war were transported by train to San
Fernando, La Union, Philippines, where they were hauled onto a
new hell ship; and
WHEREAS, On December 27, 1944, William McMichael and his
fellow prisoners of war were transferred to a pair of new hell
ships, the Enoura Maru and the Brazil Maru; and
WHEREAS, Not marked as carrying prisoners of war, these ships
set for Takao Harbor, Formosa; and
WHEREAS, On January 1, 1945, while docked at Formosa, the
prisoners of war from the Brazil Maru were loaded onto the
Enoura Maru for final transport to the Japanese home islands;
and
WHEREAS, On January 9, 1945, William McMichael and 424 other
American prisoners of war died as the Enoura Maru traveled from
Formosa to Japan, attacked by United States carrier planes whose
crews did not know the ship was transporting prisoners of war;
and
WHEREAS, Approximately 900 surviving prisoners of war were
transferred to the Brazil Maru for the final journey to the
Japanese home islands; and
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WHEREAS, Numerous discrepancies exist between eyewitness
reports by survivors and official Japanese reports relating to
prisoners of war; and
WHEREAS, The remains of William McMichael were contained in a
prisoner of war burial site at Formosa through May 1946; and
WHEREAS, Search and Recovery Team #9 then extracted 407 sets
of remains; and
WHEREAS, The team designated William McMichael's remains as
X-546A and sent them to the United States from Formosa; and
WHEREAS, William McMichael's remains were interred at the
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific for more than seven
decades; and
WHEREAS, Disinterment occurred on October 30, 2017; and
WHEREAS, On July 26, 2018, DNA testing confirmed that remains
previously identified as belonging to one individual were
multiple sets of remains placed together; and
WHEREAS, The process of full DNA identification of individual
remains by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency began in 2023;
and
WHEREAS, On April 3, 2025, the remains of William McMichael
were finally identified at Offutt Lab, Nebraska; and
WHEREAS, On October 2, 2025, William McMichael's remains
arrived in Berks County with full military honors; and
WHEREAS, William McMichael's military records were lost in
the 1973 St. Louis records fire that destroyed millions of
military records dating back to 1912; and
WHEREAS, For distinguished and heroic achievements in the
Asiatic-Pacific Theater, William McMichael earned the Bronze
Star Medal; and
WHEREAS, For giving his life in service to our nation,
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William McMichael earned the Purple Heart; and
WHEREAS, For being taken captive by the Japanese in May 1942
in the aftermath of the Philippines Campaign, William McMichael
earned the Prisoner of War Medal; and
WHEREAS, For serving under active-duty orders for a period of
more than 12 months between September 8, 1939, and December 7,
1941, William McMichael earned the American Defense Service
Medal; and
WHEREAS, For serving in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater between
December 7, 1941, and March 2, 1946, William McMichael earned
the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; and
WHEREAS, For serving in the United States Armed Forces during
the period between December 7, 1941, and September 2, 1945,
William McMichael earned the World War II Victory Medal; and
WHEREAS, For distinguished service in the defense of the
Philippines between December 8, 1941, and June 15, 1942, William
McMichael earned the Philippine Defense Ribbon; and
WHEREAS, For participation in the defensive garrison,
stationed for more than 30 days, William McMichael was
authorized to wear a Bronze Service Star on his Philippine
Defense Ribbon; and
WHEREAS, For extraordinary heroism against an armed enemy
during or after December 7, 1941, William McMichael earned the
Presidential Unit Citation; and
WHEREAS, For participation in the war against the Japanese
Empire in the Philippines between December 7, 1941, and May 10,
1942, William McMichael earned the Philippine Republic
Presidential Unit Citation; and
WHEREAS, For honorable discharge from military service
granted between September 8, 1939, and December 31, 1946,
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William McMichael earned the Honorable Service Lapel Button -
World War II; and
WHEREAS, William McMichael is being laid to rest in a
military funeral service at Fort Indiantown Gap National
Cemetery on October 7, 2025; and
WHEREAS, The House of Representatives notes William
McMichael's courage, camaraderie and sacrifice; and
WHEREAS, The House of Representatives solemnly observes that
an estimated 72,000 World War II service members are missing in
action and 81,000 total service members are missing in action
across the World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War eras;
therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives honor the life
and legacy of United States Army Air Forces Warrant Officer
William J. McMichael, express condolences to his family and
commend with gratitude and respect the recovery and return of
his remains.
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