A family of WWII heroes Eldest's POW status inspired three other siblings into service
By DREW KERR
Updated: Friday, February 20, 2009 9:34 AM EST
WILTON - In a Wilton home, four military uniforms from World War II are draped on hangers, their arms and legs falling limply toward the floor.
Each tan and olive outfit carries a unique story, but it's their connection with one another that contains the true narrative.
The uniforms belonged to four siblings in the Biss family who became embroiled in the 1940s war effort.
It started when John Biss, the eldest, enlisted in the Army shortly after graduating from Saratoga Springs High School. He signed up on his 18th birthday, Nov. 20, 1937.
Five years later, while he was serving in the Pacific, Japanese forces invaded the Philippines island he was on. Biss joined a handful of other men trying to paddle a canoe toward Australia, but the current wasn't in their favor.
The group was taken captive near New Guinea, placed on a Japanese Destroyer and taken to the Dutch East Indies, where they were the few Americans in a camp of more than 500.
At home, John's brothers and sister could do little to gain his release from captivity.
So they enlisted.
Stephen "Chip" Biss joined the Marine Corps in 1943, later finding himself in the South Pacific, and at the historic battle on Iwo Jima.
Julia Biss became a member of the Women's Army Corp and worked at the Pentagon, where she toiled amid wall-to-wall IBM equipment.
And Michael Biss, the youngest of the four at 17, left high school to join the U.S. Navy. He later participated in the D-Day invasion at Normandy, a scene, family members say, that brought him to his knees in prayer.
John Biss, who spent three years staring at a palm leaf roof and living on little more than rice, didn't learn about the actions of his siblings until his return in 1945.
And even after the war, family members say, not much was ever made of the fact that four members of the same family were dispersed simultaneously across the globe.
Czechoslovakian immigrants, they wanted to prove their patriotism and defend their brother, nothing more or less.
"They wanted to be Americans; that was the major thing," said Lisa Biss, the daughter-in-law of Michael Biss. "They just knew that they had to join."
The passing years could not compel them to reflect on their service, either. Only on rare occasions did any of the Bisses speak of it.
In a June 2007 interview recorded at the New York State Military Museum, John Biss was curt.
"Here's a guy who spent almost the entire war in a Japanese prison camp and all he can say is, 'Eh, it wasn't that bad,' " said Michael Biss, whose father bore the same name.
Despite their reticence, the four shared a bond, family members say.
"Their relationship was a pretty quiet one," Lisa Biss said. "But amongst themselves they knew they had something very deep."
Now, in the wake of the four siblings' deaths -- each has died within the last two years -- the story is making its way to the public.
Saratoga County officials will recognize the family for its service on Tuesday in Ballston Spa during a deceased veterans ceremony.
The event is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at the county building, at 40 McMaster St.
Publicizing the Biss siblings' story, said Michael Biss, who is himself an Army reservist, should give people today an appreciation of the sacrifices that were made then.
"I always admired all of them for doing it," the Army reservist said. "There are still a lot of people sacrificing today, so I think this is a good lesson for people to reflect on, that four people from the same family were willing to go to war."
A family of WWII heroes :: Today :: PostStar.com
A family of WWII heroes
LOL.
