62 years ago an Army Chaplain, the Reverend Emil Kapaun died in a POW camp in Korea May 23, 1951…
But his exploits and his fearless devotion to those he served pushed them to go again and again to the well in an attempt to get him the recognition they felt he deserved…
A Medal of Honor.
The plain-spoken, pipe-smoking, bike-riding chaplain was credited with saving hundreds of soldiers during the Korean War. Kapaun (pronounced Kah-PAHWN) received the Distinguished Service Cross and many other medals. His exploits were chronicled in books, magazines and a TV show. A high school was named for him. His statue stands outside his former parish in tiny Pilsen, Kan.
/snip/
On April 11, those two young lieutenants, Dowe and Wood, now 85 and 86, will join their comrades, Kapaun’s family and others at the White House where President Barack Obama will award the legendary chaplain the Medal of Honor posthumously.
“It is about time,” Dowe says.
You can read the full article at Foxnews.com HERE.
He truly lived up to John 15:13, Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends…
And his friends repaid his sacrifice by continuing to fight for recognition (and finally succeeding) for him…
h/t CP
A bittersweet victory; I hope it comforts family which survived him.
God bless the man. Simple as that.
BZ
I attended NCO Academy at Kapaun Air Station, Germany.
Rev- Concurt
BZ- Agreed!
MSgt- Interesting how that works out isn’t it…
There is a God in Heaven…
See any violations of basic gun safety in this video of our potential enemies, the NK’s?
http://www.youtube.com/embed/ua7hlukgLBY
Jim- Gotta remember life is CHEAP over there!!!
Men like him need to be remembered and honored. I’m sure he would have been surprised by him just doing his job… above and beyond.
I am sure he got his Heavenly reward long before his Earthly one.
Ed- Concur
CP-Agreed
Tim- I’m sure he did…
I did a research paper (many years ago) on prisons & prisoners of the Korean war. Those running the prisons were ruthless, hell, worse than that !!!
The Church has started canonization for him as a martyr for Christ. As I heard yesterday, they are well on their way through that process.