RED HILL, PA – Pennsylvania Senator Tracy Pennycuick (24th District) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces Warrant Officer Junior Grade William J. McMichael, 36, killed during World War II will return home Thursday, October 2 with full military honors.
In January 1945, McMichael was assigned to the Philippine Air Depot. He was held as a prisoner of war by the Empire of Japan in the Philippines from 1942 to 1944 when the Japanese military moved POWs to Manila for transport to Japan aboard the transport ship Oryoku Maru. Unaware the allied POWs were on board, a U.S. carrier-borne aircraft attacked the Oryoku Maru, which eventually sank in Subic Bay. After a series of land and naval transfers, McMichael was transported to Takao, Formosa, aboard the Enoura Maru. The Japanese government reported that McMichael died on January 9, 1945, when U.S. forces sank the Enoura Maru. He was accounted for April 3, 2025.
McMichael will arrive at Philadelphia International Airport and be transported to Catagnus Funeral Home, 1020 E Philadelphia Ave, Gilbertsville, PA 19525.
CONTACT: Catagnus Funeral Home contact: Brent Budnick, brent@catagnusfuneralhomes.com