Henry Mucci Henry Andrews Mucci ( March 4 , 1911 – April 20 , 1997 ) was a colonel in the United States Army Rangers . In January 1945 , during World War II , he led a force of 121 Army Rangers on a mission which rescued 513 survivors of the Bataan Death March from Cabanatuan Prison Camp , despite being heavily outnumbered . It is widely considered the largest and most successful rescue mission in the history of the United States military . Youth . Mucci was born in Bridgeport , Connecticut , to parents who had emigrated from Campobasso , Italy . Today , a section of the United States Embassy in Italy is named in Mucci ' s honor . Henry came from a large family where many of his brothers also served in the Army and Navy during the Second World War , while his sisters worked at the VFW in America and made bazookas in factories . He enrolled at the United States Military Academy in West Point , New York , and graduated 246th in his class in May 1936 . At West Point he was on the equestrian team , due to his early years growing up with horses . Military Service . In February 1943 , the US Sixth Army put 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 . Thus , Mucci created a new regiment of Army Rangers . 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 , Col . Horton White , chose Mucci to head the liberation of the Cabanatuan Prison Camp due to both the difficulty and the peculiar needs of such a mission . In January 1945 , Mucci led 128 Army Rangers in liberating the Cabanatuan Prison Camp with the loss of only 2 men killed in action . Mucci refused to sit back on the mission and joined his soldiers on the ground in combat , an unusual position for a colonel . The raid was supported by 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 . For Mucci ' s actions on the raid he was personally awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by General Douglas MacArthur . Originally , Mucci was to be awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions , this award being given by the president . However , his close friendship with General MacArthur made him accept the award below , because he wanted the honor of his friend giving him the Distinguished Service Cross . Later years . When Mucci returned home he was treated as a national hero in his home town of Bridgeport . In 1947 , he married Marion Fountain , with whom he had four children . He ran for Congress in 1946 but was defeated . He became the President of Bridgeport Lincoln Mercury as well as becoming an oil representative in India . In November 1974 , the portion of Route 25 between Bridgeport and Newtown was named the Col . Henry A . Mucci Highway . He died at 88 in Melbourne , Florida , on April 20 , 1997 , as the result of a stroke . The stroke was a complication of a fractured hip sustained at age 86 , while swimming in rough surf near his home . [ source Hampton Sides book Ghost Soldiers ; p332 ] The raid on Cabanatuan was depicted in the 2005 film " The Great Raid " , which featured actor Benjamin Bratt as Mucci , Bratt bearing a remarkable facial resemblance to Mucci .