Emil Kapaun

Emil Joseph Kapaun was born on April 20, 1916, and grew up on a farm southwest of Pilsen, Kansas, on rural 260th Street of Marion County, Kansas. He graduated from Pilsen High School in May 1930. Kapaun also graduated from Conception Abbey seminary college (College of New Engleberg; Conception Seminary College) in Conception, Missouri, in June 1936 and Kenrick Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1940. ==Priesthood==

On June 9, 1940, Kapaun was ordained a Catholic priest of the Diocese of Wichita by Bishop Christian Herman Winkelmann at what is now Newman University in Wichita, Kansas. He celebrated his first Mass at St. John Nepomucene Catholic Church in Pilsen, Kansas. In January 1943, Kapaun was appointed auxiliary chaplain at the Herington Army Airfield near Herington, Kansas. ==U.S. Army service==

World War II Kapaun entered the U.S. Army Chaplain School at Ft. Devens, Massachusetts in August 1944, and after graduating in October began his military chaplaincy at Camp Wheeler, Georgia. He and one other chaplain ministered to approximately 19,000 servicemen and women. He was promoted to captain in January 1946. In September 1948, he returned to active duty in the U.S. Army and resumed his chaplaincy at Fort Bliss near El Paso, Texas. In December 1949, Kapaun left his parents and Pilsen for the last time, bound for Japan. His main complaint was lack of sleep for several weeks at a time. In the prison camp, sometimes up to two dozen men died each day from malnutrition, disease, lice, and extreme cold. Kapaun refused to give in to despair. He dug latrines, mediated disputes, gave away his food and raised morale. He was noted among his fellow POWs as one who would steal food for the men to eat. He also stood up to communist indoctrination, smuggled dysentery drugs to the doctor, Sidney Esensten, and led the men in prayer. He was one of twelve chaplains to die in Korea. Four U.S. Army chaplains were taken prisoner in 1950, all of whom died while in captivity. As part of the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement, Kapaun's remains were among the 1,868 returned to U.S. custody in Operation Glory, although they could not be identified. His remains were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP) in Honolulu, Hawaii, around 1956. His remains were disinterred and identified as part of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s Korean War Disinterment Project, a seven-phase plan begun in 2018, to disinter all remaining Korean War Unknowns from the NMCP. On March 4, 2021, U.S. senator Jerry Moran and the Catholic Diocese of Wichita confirmed the remains of Emil Kapaun were identified. On September 29, 2021, a Mass of Christian Burial was held in Kapaun's home state of Kansas at the Hartman Arena in Park City, near Wichita. Afterwards, a horse-drawn caisson carried his remains to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Wichita, where he was buried with full military honors inside the church. == Citations ==

Kapaun's Distinguished Service Cross was upgraded by the U.S. Army to the Medal of Honor on April 11, 2013. He was awarded the following U.S and foreign military awards: ==Cause of beatification and canonization==

The following is a general narrative from the many reports of Kapaun's ordeal as a prisoner of war given by many repatriated American soldiers after their release from prison camps. He was most remembered for his great humility, bravery, constancy, love, kindness, and solicitude for his fellow prisoners. "He was their hero... their admired and beloved "padre." He kept up the POWs' morale, and most of all, helped a lot of men to become good Catholics." Reports noted Kapaun's feet had become badly frozen, but he continued to administer to the sick and wounded. He continuously went out under heavy mortar and shelling to rescue wounded and dying soldiers, risking capture or death. Many accounts have been given of the many creature comforts he provided his comrades of the 8th Cavalry Regiment during imprisonment. They were both spiritual and physical. He provided endless hours of prayer and what nourishment he could find to all he could to keep them from starving to death. Following his death, as Kapaun's actions became known, Catholic faithful began to offer devotional prayers to him; these prayers came from U.S. service members, laymen and women across the United States, as well as those in East and Southeast Asia. A team of six historians gathered on June 21, 2016, and voiced their approval of the cause. In January 2022, Fr. John Hotze, the chief investigator for Kapaun's cause for canonization, announced the Vatican was considering whether to declare Kapaun a martyr for the Catholic faith, which if granted would hasten the process of canonization. In February 2025, Kapaun was declared Venerable by Pope Francis, the Vatican's second step toward possible canonization. Avery went on to become physically active, become a licensed practical nurse at Wichita Area Technical College, and plans on becoming a registered nurse. Possible 2008 miracle On June 29, 2008, the opening ceremony which officially opens the cause for sainthood for Kapaun was made on Father Kapaun Day, held at St. John Nepomucene Catholic Church in Pilsen, Kansas. On June 26, 2009, Andrea Ambrosi, the Roman postulator for Kapaun's cause for canonization, arrived in Wichita to interview doctors about alleged miraculous events. Among these is the claim of 20-year-old Chase Kear, who survived a severe head injury last year, in part, he and his family claim, because they petitioned Emil Kapaun to intercede for them. Some bystanders attribute Dellasega's survival to the devotion of his cousin Jonah Dellasega, who fell to his knees at the scene and prayed for Kapaun's intercession. In a strange coincidence not reported by The Eagle, Dylan Meier, in whose memory the 5K was being held, was slated to teach English in Korea at the time of his death. Skeptics point out Kapaun's spirit could not possibly have orchestrated the bizarre coincidences that saved Nick's life because some of them were set in motion long before Nick collapsed, including a visit by Nick's uncle Mark, a medical doctor from Greenville, North Carolina. • Father Kapaun Memorial Technical School; Kwanju, Korea; dedicated Summer 1955. • Chaplain Kapaun Memorial High School; Wichita, Kansas; dedicated May 12, 1957. Later to become Kapaun Mt. Carmel Catholic High School, 1971. • Honolulu Memorial at National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific; Honolulu, Hawaii; dedicated 1964 • Bronze Door Panel at Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception; Wichita, Kansas; dedicated February 1997. • Kapaun Chapel at Camp McGovern, Bosnia; dedicated 1998. • Chaplain Kapaun Korean War Memorial Site; Pilsen, Kansas; dedicated June 3, 2001. • Chaplain Kapaun Complex; Fort Riley, Kansas; dedicated 2001, 2002. • Memorial Tablet added to the Kansas Korean War Memorial wall in Overland Park, Kansas; dedicated on November 11, 2014. • Granite monument, U.S. Army Garrison Daegu; unveiled December 2014 • Chaplains Memorial; The Medal of Honor Grove; Freedoms Foundation; Valley Forge, PA; Induction, October 18, 2014. Knights of Columbus • Chaplain Emil J. Kapaun Knights of Columbus Council #3423 Pilsen, KS • Knights of Columbus Council 3744 • Knights of Columbus Council 11987 • Father Emil Kapaun Knights of Columbus Council #12965 Oak Grove KY • Chaplain Emil J. Kapaun Knights of Columbus Council #14218 Fort Riley, KS • Emil Kapaun Knights of Columbus Fourth Degree Assembly #2721; Katy, Texas. • FR. EMIL J. KAPAUN ASSEMBLY #3260 VAIL, ARIZONA [Knights of Columbus] • Fr. Emil Kapaun Assembly #3274 Paoli, Pennsylvania, Knights of Columbus • Fr. Emil Kapaun Assembly #3826 Pearl, Mississippi, Knights of Columbus == Kapaun's Men ==

In 2015 several men came together to form ''Kapaun's Men'', a movement that seeks to continue Father Kapaun's legacy of encouraging men to accompany one another in faith. The group has produced a documentary life of Father Kapaun, several video series, and for a time hosted a weekly podcast called The Foxhole. ==TV portrayal==

He was played by James Whitmore in the Crossroads TV episode "The Good Thief", which aired on November 25, 1955. ==See also==