Father Kapaun, named by the Vatican as "Servant of God," ministered lovingly and tirelessly in the parishes of Timken and Spearville. Thus he can be called "our brother Emil." But he will always be remembered as the fearless chaplain in the Korean conflict.

Born April 21, 1916, to Enos and Elizabeth Kapaun on a farm about three miles from Pilsen, Kansas, Emil knew in early childhood the hardships of planting, harvesting, and caring for farm animals. Perhaps these experiences on the farm prepared Emil for the hardships of being a prisoner in a North Korean prison.

The wood-framed house of the Kapaun family had no electricity, no running water; the house was heated by firewood or coal. The focal point of the Pilsen Bohemian community was the parish church called St. John Nepomucene. The pastor, Father John Sklenar, a Czech, was a follow-the-book priest who encouraged a priestly vocation for Emil, and subsequently provided much-needed financial assistance for his education, beginning with Emil’s entrance into Conception College in Missouri. After his ordination in 1940, Father Emil’s first assignment was to serve as assistant to Father Sklenar until Father’s resignation in 1943. Father Emil then became pastor in Pilsen until July, 1944.

A playful, fun-loving lad, Emil was not beyond trapping a skunk on the way to school, much to the chagrin of his Precious Blood Sister teachers (he was sent home to change clothes), skating and fishing at the nearby creek, trying out the family car long before he learned to drive, playing a trick on his mother’s cow by donning one of her dresses to calm the skittish animal, and meeting a kingfisher that he thought was a stork and imploring the stork to bring him a baby brother (brother Eugene was born in 1924).

To become an altar boy, Emil practiced the Latin Mass prayers while kneeling in the backyard. He was a good student but had to work in the fields until late September and be dismissed from classes in the spring when chores took precedence over textbooks. However, Emil finished grade school in six years. He was expert in woodworking, in debate, in poetry, and in the Bohemian language.

After Conception College, Bishop August Schwertner sent Emil to Kenrick Theological Seminary in St. Louis in 1936, but the bishop told him he would have to provide for his own textbooks and transportation. In Kenrick, Emil was a contemporary of Aloysius Preisner. The study of Bohemian was important for the lad and one summer he was sent to Caldwell to do street preaching in Bohemian. His visits with his family were very restricted because of finances.

In April, 1946, Father Emil received orders to return to the States. He received his final pay check of $870.89 and became a civilian once again. He made an intense retreat at Conception and then supplied for the pastor of Strong City who was on vacation. For a short time he was administrator of St. John Church in Spearville, and he served a short time in Hutchinson. Bishop Winkelmann then sent him to Catholic University in Washington, D.C. for an M.A. in education, which he completed in 1948. The bishop queried, "Couldn’t he serve as administrator in accredited diocesan high schools?" Even as a graduate student, Father Emil assisted his fellow priests at Fort Myers in Virginia and at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. He didn’t have money to travel home for Christmas in 1947, so he assisted at a Maryland parish.

From April to September of 1948, Father Emil was assigned to Holy Trinity in Timken, Kansas, where he endeared himself as a holy and generous pastor. Fred Tuzicka, who was struggling about a possible priestly vocation said, "He saved my religious vocation." The Korean conflict was then in full bloom, and Father Emil re-enlisted in the Army, serving at Fort Bliss, Texas until December, 1949. Yet another abandoned army chapel had to be cleaned for religious services.

With an abundance of dust storms and ants, the base could hardly be called Fort Bliss, but again he courageously tended to his duties of baptizing, instructing would-be converts, visiting the sick, and ministering to those in need. Father Emil was convinced that being an army chaplain was a call from God. For the last time, he bade farewell to his beloved parents and sailed for Japan in mid-January, 1950.

In the defeated nation of Japan, Father Emil found an army of men immature and not interested in religion. He knew he would have an enormous task to instill some enthusiasm for life in general and in religion in particular. According to the chaplain’s manual, he was "to guide the molding of the mature character of his men over long periods of purposeful training." His studies in Catholic university stood him in good stead as an expert planner and administrator. He celebrated Masses at various locations, officiated at weddings, and provided pre-nuptial instructions. One of his great disappointments was that so few of the troops in Japan received the Eucharist.

He wrote to Bishop Carroll, "I love this kind of work even though the figures are not a true scale of one’s efforts." To another he wrote, "Making 1,100 miles in a jeep on these bumpy mountain roads puts color in a person’s cheeks and calluses on the extremity which has to bear the bumps and bruises." It was not uncommon for Father Emil to travel 800 miles to conduct services for his soldiers.

In July, 1950, Father Emil’s unit landed in South Korea during a big invasion, a clash between Soviet Communism and the United States. From the start, Father Emil had a reputation for courage and concern for the well-being of his men. Casualties began immediately; he ministered to the wounded; he buried the dead; he consoled the grieving families back home by his letters of sympathy. "This fighting is nerve-wracking. Many of my soldiers crack up — they go insane and scream like wild men."

Torrential rains, 100 degree weather, flies, mildew, rusty weapons and sporadic meals of canned foods, little time and place for sleep, constant retreating of the soldiers, refugees ever on the move away from battle lines ... these were a few of the "inconveniences" of life on the battlefield.

The chaplain and his men moved into North Korea and he was delighted to think that he might be the first Catholic chaplain to come to that country. There seemed to be a relative calm and there was hope that the war was almost over. The grimy men cleaned themselves and settled down for a respite; but this did not last long. Word came that a new foe was on the horizon, the Chinese Communists. Father Emil and his company were taken captive in November 1950, along with hundreds of U.S. soldiers from various places in North Korea. A northward march toward the border of China began; thus started Father Emil’s journey to Calvary.

Winter clothing had not yet arrived and summer uniforms were not suitable for the winter that was about to begin. Thirsty, frightened, hungry, and freezing, the dreams of the Americans for a quick end to the war ended abruptly; the day-by-day struggle to keep alive demoralized the young GIs whose average age was 21. They were captured with Father Emil and they all began trudging toward an unknown destination. For two weeks the POWs struggled onward through freezing streams and over the snow-covered crests of North Korea. A near starvation diet and lack of salt weakened all the men. Any who could not keep up with the pace or who were sick or wounded were abandoned by the Chinese, but the Americans managed to construct stretchers from rice sacks to carry about 45 of their wounded buddies. This sad situation called for a leader who set a good example; they found this in Father Emil. Whenever there was a pause in the march, he would hurry up the line, offering a prayer, a smile, and words of encouragement. In spite of his own case of frostbite on his feet, Father Emil was the inspiration of his men. He had lost at least 50 men on the long trek.

After two weeks of marching to Pyoktong in North Korea, there was a short reprieve in a make-shift prison for the nearly 600 emaciated, tired, and sick GIs. Father Emil led his men in prayer, and tirelessly tried to give them the courage to live. Then the march, this time to the mountains, began all over again toward the prison called, "The Valley." Surrounded by mountains, the night-time temperature often reached 40 degrees below zero in the winter of 1950-1951. The food rations were reduced to the starvation level, and Father Emil decided that he would have to steal food from the kitchens of his captors. Before one of his evening forays, he would say a prayer to St. Dismas, the good thief. In a nearby stream, he helped wash the bloody bandages and soiled garments of the sick and wounded. In every way he could, Father Emil infused in the captives the desire to live.

The Communists drove the tired captives back again to the disease infested pesthole Pyoktong in the middle of January, 1951. Nine captives died during that cold snowy trek. The remaining captives were daily indoctrinated in the tenets of Communism. Food was again extremely limited and Father Emil devised a way to cook the little that was given. He again cared for the sick and dying, washing their soiled clothing, praying with them, encouraging them, even though by this time his own health was a serious problem.

Strong in spirit but broken in body, Father Emil had an Easter sunrise service; the men who were able to attend came. He gave an inspirational talk about the sufferings and crucifixion of Jesus, but was saddened that he could not celebrate Eucharist for his men. As best they could, the congregation sang "Faith of our Fathers," "America," and "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Father Emil led the Rosary and the Stations of the Cross.

With pneumonia and a badly infected leg, Father Emil was taken to the building called "Death Ward." His men protested, saying if they could take care of him and with proper medicine, he would get well. The medicine was refused. The Communist captors were ready to be rid of the holy chaplain, who was a thorn in their side. He died May 23, 1951. Along with thousands of other Americans, his body was placed in a mass grave. Father Emil was denied a burial service, and his family back in Pilsen was not informed of their beloved son’s death until July 12, 1953.

From a prayer card honoring this Servant of God: