Wichita, Kan., Dec 8, 2009 / 17:30 pm
Wichita priest and U.S. Army chaplain Fr. Emil Kapaun heroically saved wounded sounders from the battlefield of the Korean War and ministered to his fellow prisoners in a prison camp. His life, death and possible beatification are the focus of an eight article series and a DVD being produced by the Wichita Eagle.
During the Korean War the Kansas-born Fr. Kapaun was assigned to the U.S. Army's Eighth Cavalry regiment, which was overrun in late 1951 by the Chinese army in North Korea.
Kapaun courageously rescued wounded soldiers from the battlefield, risking his own life to save them from execution by the Chinese. Later taken as a prisoner of war, he heroically worked to tend to the starving and sick, praying for and ministering to his fellow prisoners.
Eventually suffering a blood clot in his leg, Kapaun was moved to a hospital but was denied medical assistance. He died in May 1951, two years before the end of the war.