RUDOLPH, WI (WSAU-WAOW) — U.S. Army Pvt. Elmer F. Blonien, who died as a prisoner of war in the Philippines during World War II, was honored with memorial services in Rudolph more than 80 years after his death.
Blonien was born May 17, 1915, in Rudolph to John K. and Catherine Blonien. He graduated from Rudolph High School in 1933. He went on to serve with Company A, 192nd Tank Battalion, taking him to the Philippines during World War II. He would die in a POW camp at age 27, suffering complications after surgery.
He was buried with 14 other soldiers in a common grave in Cabanatuan POW Cemetery. But on Friday, his remains were brought back to Rudolph.
Services were held Friday at St. Phillips the Apostle Church, and included a U.S. Army burial at All Souls Cemetery, officiated by a firing squad from Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.
Before the war, he assisted his mother working in her grocery store and meat market. He also worked alongside his father in his feed mill, tavern, and sawmill. He also owned a school bus transportation service with his younger brother Clayton, taking children to schools in nearby Wisconsin Rapids.
The Rudolph American Legion Post 485 is named for Blonien.
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