1. Emil Joseph Kapaun was a Catholic priest-martyr and United States Army captain who served as a United States Army chaplain during World War II and the Korean War.
44 Facts About Emil Kapaun
1. 2.
In 2013, Emil Kapaun posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his actions in Korea.
3.
Emil Kapaun is the ninth American military chaplain Medal of Honor recipient.
4.
Emil Joseph Kapaun was born on April 20,1916, and grew up on a farm 3 miles southwest of Pilsen, Kansas, on rural 260th Street of Marion County, Kansas.
5.
Emil Kapaun graduated from Pilsen High School in May 1930.
6.
Emil Kapaun graduated from Conception Abbey seminary college in Conception, Missouri, in June 1936 and Kenrick Theological Seminary in St Louis, Missouri, in 1940.
7.
On June 9,1940, Emil Kapaun was ordained a Catholic priest of the Diocese of Wichita by Bishop Christian Herman Winkelmann at what is Newman University in Wichita, Kansas.
8.
Emil Kapaun celebrated his first Mass at St John Nepomucene Catholic Church in Pilsen, Kansas.
9.
In January 1943, Emil Kapaun was appointed auxiliary chaplain at the Herington Army Airfield near Herington, Kansas.
10.
Emil Kapaun was sent to India and served in the Burma Theater from April 1945 to May 1946.
11.
Emil Kapaun ministered to US soldiers and local missions, sometimes traversing nearly 2,000 miles a month by jeep or airplane.
12.
Emil Kapaun was released from active duty in July 1946.
13.
In December 1949, Emil Kapaun left his parents and Pilsen for the last time, bound for Japan.
14.
In January 1950, Emil Kapaun became a chaplain in the 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, often performing battle drills near Mount Fuji, Japan.
15.
On July 15,1950, the 1st Cavalry Division and Emil Kapaun embarked and left Tokyo Bay sailing for Korea, less than a month after North Korea had invaded South Korea.
16.
Emil Kapaun continued to make the rounds to encourage and pray with the troops of the 8th Regiment.
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Emil Kapaun was able to persuade some prisoners, who had ignored orders from officers, to carry the wounded.
18.
Emil Kapaun dug latrines, mediated disputes, gave away his food and raised morale.
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Emil Kapaun was noted among his fellow POWs as one who would steal food for the men to eat.
20.
Emil Kapaun stood up to communist indoctrination, smuggled dysentery drugs to the doctor, Sidney Esensten, and led the men in prayer.
21.
Emil Kapaun developed a blood clot in one of his legs, besides having dysentery and pneumonia.
22.
Emil Kapaun was so weak the prison guards took him to a place in the Pyoktong camp they called the "hospital," where he died of malnutrition and pneumonia on May 23,1951.
23.
Emil Kapaun was one of twelve chaplains to die in Korea.
24.
Emil Kapaun's remains were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii, around 1956.
25.
On March 4,2021, US senator Jerry Moran and the Catholic Diocese of Wichita confirmed the remains of Emil Kapaun had been identified.
26.
Emil Kapaun's Distinguished Service Cross was upgraded by the US Army to the Medal of Honor on April 11,2013.
27.
Emil Kapaun was awarded the following USand foreign military awards:.
28.
However, his fellow soldiers and POWs felt that Emil Kapaun deserved the Medal of Honor.
29.
Emil Kapaun was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with "V" Device on September 2,1950, for his actions on August 2,1950:.
30.
Emil Kapaun was awarded the Taegeuk Order of Military Merit from President Moon Jae-in on behalf of the Republic of Korea on July 27,2021.
31.
Emil Kapaun was most remembered for his great humility, bravery, constancy, love, kindness, and solicitude for his fellow prisoners.
32.
Reports received noted that Emil Kapaun's feet had become badly frozen, but he continued to administer to the sick and wounded.
33.
Emil Kapaun continuously went out under heavy mortar and shelling to rescue wounded and dying soldiers, risking capture or death.
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Emil Kapaun provided endless hours of prayer and what nourishment he could find to all he could to keep them from starving to death.
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Emil Kapaun has left us a stirring example of devotion to duty.
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Emil Kapaun has passed on to us a spirit of tolerance and understanding.
37.
Emil Kapaun willed to us cannot be contained in memorials, however costly or beautiful.
38.
When Emil Kapaun was assigned to the 8th Cavalry Regiment, which was surrounded and overrun by the Chinese army in North Korea in October and November 1950, he stayed behind with the wounded when the Army retreated.
39.
Emil Kapaun allowed his capture, then risked death by preventing Chinese executions of wounded Americans too injured to walk.
40.
In 1993, Emil Kapaun was named a Servant of God by Pope John Paul II, the Vatican's first step toward possible canonization.
41.
In February 2025, Emil Kapaun was declared Venerable by Pope Francis, the Vatican's second step toward possible canonization.
42.
On June 29,2008, the opening ceremony which officially opens the cause for sainthood for Emil Kapaun was made on Father Emil Kapaun Day, held at St John Nepomucene Catholic Church in Pilsen, Kansas.
43.
Emil Kapaun is being considered for possible designation as a martyr.
44.
Emil Kapaun was played by James Whitmore in the Crossroads TV episode "The Good Thief", which aired on November 25,1955.