Rest in peace,
Father Emil J. Kapaun
I received the following earlier in an email newsletter that I signed up for from the American Veteran’s Center. I think everyone will find this inspirational and very moving.
Dear Fellow Patriot,
In honor of Military Appreciation Month, the American Veterans Center is recognizing fallen heroes each Monday in May, leading up to the final Monday, Memorial Day. It is an opportunity to reflect on those who have paid the ultimate price for the freedoms we enjoy.
Among such Americans is Father Emil J. Kapaun, a hero of the Korean War. Father Kapaun did not carry a weapon – he’d never fired a gun – yet early in the Korean War had already earned a reputation for battlefield heroics as a chaplain in the United States Army. A veteran of World War II, Father Kapaun was among the first Americans ordered to Korea at the outbreak of war. A few months into the fighting, he was decorated with a Bronze Star for braving enemy fire to drag wounded soldiers to safety.
Father Emil Kapaun
And so it was no surprise that, on November 2nd 1950, when all seemed lost, Father Kapaun refused to evacuate. He remained on the battlefield, tending to wounded and dying men. He carried soldiers back toward American lines, and dug shallow trenches to shield the wounded from enemy fire.
Father Kapaun and his comrades endured a forced march north to a Korean prisoner camp, where even in the harshest conditions, Father Kapaun’s faith held firm. As the brutal treatment and weather took its toll, Father Kapaun grew thin and weak, was stricken with dysentery, then pneumonia. The guards ordered he be carried to the camp hospital – a death sentence in the camp’s brutal conditions.
As he was carried away, Father Kapaun offered a prayer that his captors be forgiven. He died on May 23, 1951, and was buried in a mass grave near the camp. His remains were never found.
RIP this hero!
Thank you for posting that.