Catholic War Veterans Support Efforts To Obtain Sainthood For Martyred U.S. Army Chaplain Father Emil J. Kapaun

Father Kapaun, born in Pilsen, Diocese of Wichita, Kansas on Holy Thursday, April 20, 1916, entered the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps in 1944. Separated from the service in 1946, he reentered the Army in 1948 and was sent to Japan the following year. Then, in July 1950 he was ordered to Korea, On November 2 of that same year he was taken a prisoner of war.

In the seven months in prison, Father Kapaun spent himself in heroic service to his fellow prisoners without regard to race, creed or color. To this there is testimony of men of all faiths. Ignoring his own ill health, he nursed the sick and wounded until a blood clot in his leg prevented his daily rounds. Moved to a hospital, but denied medications, his death soon followed on May 23, 1951.

He wore the cross of the Chaplain branch instead of the crossed rifles of the infantry, but he was, I think, the best foot soldier I ever knew, and the kindest. His name was Emil Joseph Kapaun, and he was a priest of the Roman Catholic Church. The men he served in the prison camps of Korea didn't care whether he was Catholic or Baptist, Lutheran or Presbyterian. To all of them, Catholic, Protestant and Jew alike, and to men who professed no formal faith at all, he was simply "FATHER," and each of them, when in trouble came, drew courage and hope and strength from him

He's dead now, murdered by the Red Chinese, and his body lies in an unmarked grave somewhere along the Yalu. The hundreds of men who knew and loved him have not forgotten him. I write this so folks at home can know what kind of a man he was, and what he did for us, and how he died.

The first thing I want to make clear is this, he was a priest of the Church, and a man of great piety, but there was nothing ethereal about him, nothing soft or unctious or holier than thou. He wore his piety in his heart. Outwardly he was all GI, tough of body, rough of speech sometimes, full of the wry humor of the combat soldier. In a camp where men had to steal or starve, he was the most accomplished food thief of them all. In a prison whose inmates hated their communist captors with a bone deep hate, he was the most unbending enemy of Communism, and when they tried to brainwash him, he had the guts to tell them to their faces that they lied. He pitied the Reds for their delusions, but he preached no doctrine of turn-the-other-cheek. I came upon him once sitting in the sunshine by the road. There was a smile on his face and a look of happiness in his eyes.

I hated to break in on his meditations, but I needed cheering, so I asked him" What are you thinking of, Father?" "Of that happy day," he said, "when the first American tank rolls down the road, then I'm going to catch that little so and so, Comrade Sun, and kick his butt right over the compound fence."

Father always spoke in parallels, relating the sufferings that Christ endured to those we were forced to bear. As he spoke, the agony in the garden, the road to Calvary, the Crucifixion, became very real to us who bore our own crosses of blows, and cold, and illness, and starvation. Christ endured, he told us, and we, too, must endure, for the day of our resurrection from the tomb of the prison camp would surely come, as surely as the stone was rolled away from the sepulchre. It is because of these sermons, which gave hope and courage, and food he stole for us, and the care he gave us when we were sick, many of us came back home who never would have survived our long ordeal without him.

Small prayer cards and/or a 3 1/2" X 6" pamphlet giving a short but moving synopsis about Father Kapaun's life, may be obtained from Bishop Higgins. A small donation is not required, but would be appreciated to offset printing expense. Send your request to:

To Learn More About Chaplain Emil J. Kapaun his heroic biography is available in the book "A Shepherd In Combat Boots" by William L. Mather. This book is readily available at Amazon.com as well as Barnes and Noble and other fine bookstores nationwide.