Servant of God Emil Kapaun
Religious (
May 23, 1951 Anno Domini A.D.)
Emil Kapaun , a Catholic priest & US Army chaplain from Kansas , exhibited heroic virtue as a prisoner of war during the Korean War 
. Born in the small farming community of Pilsen , Kapaun was ordained in June 1940 A.D. & assigned to his home parish in Kansas. He entered the US Chaplain Corps inn 1944 A.D., served during World War II in the Burma 
& India 
Theater
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_Kapaun
With the Korean War brewing at the beginning of 1950 A.D. Father Kapaun was assigned to Japan 
& Korea 
On June 25, 1950 A.D., North Korea 
invaded South Korea. In July, Kapaun &the 8th Cavalry Regiment of the Army 's 1st Cavalry Division were sent to defend the South. Kapaun quickly became known for his willingness to risk his own life in order to save his men. He sometimes used the hood of his Jeep as an altar on which to celebrate Mass
& hear confessions
The 8th Cavalry Regiment pushed into North Korea & on November 1, 1950, it suffered a surprise attack by the Chinese army 
at Unsan . When Father Kapaun 's commanders ordered evacuation, he chose to stay. By all accounts, Kapaun refused to save his own skin, dodged bullets, & gave the last rites to as many dying soldiers as he could reach. He carried one man, whose leg had been shattered by shrapnel, in his arms to safety
During the forced 80 mile march to a prison camp in the freezing cold 
Father Kapaun shored up flagging spirits & encouraged his men to help those too wounded to walk. He spent 7 months as a POW. Nearly half the prisoners died that 1st winter: from cold, starvation, lice infestations 
. Given such conditions, Kapaun decided to pray to Saint Dismas , the good thief, & then would sneak extra rations for his men
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=846223375537104&set=ecnf.100069223451062
Kapaun offered freezing prisoners his own clothes, bathed their wounds 
exhorted them to keep going. The guards ridiculed his faith. At night he slipped into huts to lead prisoners in prayer 
& administer the sacraments. "Just for a moment," one said, "he could turn a mud hut into a cathedral." 
He had been forbidden to celebrate Easter Mass , but did so anyway, holding up a small crucifix he had fashioned from sticks 
https://www.dvidshub.net/image/901309/memory-chaplain-kapaun
But Kapaun 's own health was rapidly failing. Suffering from malnutrition, dysentery, pneumonia 
& a blood clot in his leg, Father Kapaun was hauled off to a "death house" 
& deprived of food & water. He lasted 2 days, dying on May 23, 1951 A.D. His surviving fellow prisoners were freed 2 years later & the Father Kapaun stories began trickling out.
70 years later Herbert Miller the SFC whose leg had been shattered at the Battle of Unsan described the ensuing forced march: " Father Kapaun helped me along, sometimes he'd carry me, sometimes he'd put his arm around me, helping me hop on 1 leg. That's the way we went, from there to prison camp. It was a long journey. God sent that man to me. As sure as I was born the Lord sent him & he obeyed…You'll never find a man like him, not on this side of heaven"
Father Kapaun was posthumously awarded the military's Medal of Honor in A.D. 2013 & is one of the most decorated military chaplains in U.S. history. Father Kapaun's remains were returned in A.D. 2018 & positively identified in A.D. 2021 Father Kapaun's cause for canonization was formally opened in A.D. 1993, giving him the title of Servant of God
https://gab.com/adagioforstrings/posts/110415745665129868
FYI President Trump 
was responsible for negotiating the release of Father Kapaun 's & other US military members' remains from North Korea in 2018
"President Donald Trump thanked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un today for 'fulfilling a promise' to return the remains of U.S. soldiers missing from the Korean War, as a U.S. military plane made a rare trip into North Korea to retrieve 55 cases said to contain remains."
"Ne illegitimi carborundum esse"
"Don't let the [turkeys] get you down"
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/16291592
https://noliinsipientiuminiuriaspati.blogspot.com/
According to fellow POW Ray Michael Dowe - Chaplain Kapaun pushed back against the commie guards trying to brainwash them:
"[ Kapaun ] was the most unbending enemy of communism, & when they tried to brainwash him, he had the guts to stand up to them & tell them to their faces that they lied
"https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/16291592
complains how teetotalers lobbied to eliminate US Army 's beer ration during the Korean War 
. The unit chaplain Emil Kapaun tried to keep up morale by handing out apples instead 
Eventually, Schlitz & Blatz stepped up donated beer to the deployed troops"But then the beer suddenly stopped and the rumor was that [someone] pressured President Truman to protect these American soldiers from the demon rum. Morale fell, but here came Father Kapaun again, the kid from Kansas, & he came with his pockets bulging with apples. It wasn't the same as beer, but it was a welcome change from the dirty-mouth taste of C-rations mixed with too many cigarettes
And Father always carried 2 canteens of water 
so that you could wash things down"https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/16291592
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