Archdiocese for the Military Services to host Pilsen pilgrimage

The Archdiocese for the Military Services will host the 3rd Annual Military Pilgrimage to Pilsen, home of Father Emil Kapaun, Nov. 11. The day will include an 11 a.m. Mass at St. John Nepomucene Church, followed by a formal wreath laying ceremony at the Chaplain Kapaun Memorial. Lunch will follow.

For more information, call Richard Daise, (913) 684-8705 or the Catholic Chaplain’s Office, (913) 684-8991/8992.

Father Kapaun, a veteran of World War II and the Korean War, was captured by Communist forces on Nov. 2, 1950, as a member of the 8th Cavalry Regiment because he refused an order to try and escape, choosing instead to remain with the wounded.

Up until the date of his death on May 23,1951, Father Kapaun took care of all the prisoners in the Communist prison camp near the Yalu River in North Korea. He not only nursed the wounded and laundered their clothes, he traded for blankets to cut up for warm socks for the helpless men whose feet were freezing. Many of the POWs were weakened due to their diet. Father Kapaun risked retaliation by sneaking into fields around the prison for potatoes and sacks of corn.

Chaplain Kapaun was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Cross posthumously, and was named "Servant of God" by the Roman Catholic Church, the first step toward canonization as a saint. The Archdiocese for the Military Services in addition to the Diocese of Wichita are promoting the canonization process of Father Kapaun.