Henry Mucci
| Henry A. Mucci | |
|---|---|
| 1909 - April 20, 1997 | |
 Colonel Henry Mucci |
|
| Place of birth | Bridgeport, Connecticut |
| Place of death | Florida |
| Service/branch | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1936-?? |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Commands | 6th Ranger Battalion |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Distinguished Service Cross |
Henry A. Mucci (1909—April 20, 1997) was a United States Army colonel and Ranger. He was famous for leading the raid that rescued survivors of the Bataan Death March during World War II. With only 128 Army Rangers, Mucci headed the January 1945 mission that freed 512 men from Cabanatuan Prison Camp despite being heavily outnumbered.
Early years
Mucci was born in 1909 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. His parents had both emigrated from Italy, and his father worked as a horse salesman in the Bridgeport area. Upon graduating from high school he applied to West Point but was rejected. He reapplied the following year and received an appointment to West Point, from which he graduated in 1936, 246th in his class.
6th Ranger Battalion
In February 1943, the US Sixth Army put Henry Mucci in charge of the 98th Field Artillery Battalion, previously a mule-drawn pack artillery unit. Mucci announced that the Battalion was being converted from Field Artillery to Rangers, downsized the battalion from 1,000 men to 500, and held a training camp in New Guinea where he utilized commando type training techniques for over a year.
World War II and the Great Raid
Mucci survived the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. During the liberation of the Philippines, General Walter Kreuger and one of his top men, Horton White, chose Mucci to head the liberation of the Cabanatuan Prison Camp due to both the difficult and peculiar needs of such a mission.
In January of 1945, Mucci led 128 Army Rangers in liberating the Cabanatuan Prison Camp with the loss of only 2 men killed in action. The raid included support of some 250 Filipino guerrillas, many of whom were unarmed, who guided the Rangers through Japanese held territory and held off Japanese reinforcements while the American Rangers freed the POWs.
The Raid at Cabanatuan was depicted in the 2005 film The Great Raid that featured actor Benjamin Bratt playing Lt. Col. Mucci.
Honors
For Mucci's actions on the raid he was personally awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by General Douglas MacArthur. The military promoted Mucci to Colonel.
Life after military service
When Mucci returned home he was treated as a national hero in his home town of Bridgeport, Connecticut. He ran for Congress in 1946 but was defeated. He then went into the auto industry as well as becoming an oil representative in India. In November of 1974, the stretch of Route 25 between Bridgeport and Newtown was named the Col. Henry A. Mucci Highway.[1] He died at 88 in Florida in 1997, as a result of a stroke.
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