Servant of God Father Emil Kaupan

Today, May 23, is the anniversary of the death of Fr. Emil Kaupan, which took place in 1951. Father Kaupan, a chaplain in the U.S. Army, gave his life serving God in the Korean War.

Father Kapaun, was born in Pilsen, Kansas in the Diocese of Wichita, Kansas on Holy Thursday, April 20, 1916. He was the first child of Enos and Elizabeth (Hajek) Kapaun and was of Bohemian (Czech) ancestry. Nearly everyone in the area spoke Bohemian (Czech).

Emil was raised in the Catholic faith and even from the time he was a young boy, he knew that he wanted to be a priest. As a young boy, he pretended he was a priest and "played Mass" at home with his younger brother.

He was ordained as a Priest for the Diocese on June 9, 1940 and became an assistant Pastor at his home parish in Pilsen. However, it was in World War II that he found his true calling - to minister to the spiritual needs of the soldiers in the US. Army. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps in 1944. As a 2nd Lieutenant, he served in Burma, China, and India from 1944 to 1945.

Separated from the service in 1946, he re-enlisted in the Army in 1948 and was assigned to the 8th cavalry regiment, who were sent to Japan as part of the U.S. occupation force. In July of 1950, Father Kapaun was ordered to Korea.

Father Kapaun did whatever he could to assist his men. He celebrated Mass, using the hood of his Jeep as an altar. When his jeep was blown out from under him, Fr. Kapaun tended his flock from the back of a bicycle. Kapaun was never far from the fighting - he often risked his own life to retrieve wounded soldiers from the battlefield. On two separate occasions, Fr. Kapaun actually had his pipe shot out of his mouth. On November 1st , 1950, while his unit was falling back from a communist offensive, Fr. Kapaun became a prisoner of war.

As he was preparing to leave, he discovered that there was a pocket of American troops from his unit (most of them sick and wounded) who had not been able to get away. One of the American doctors with the military, Dr. Anderson, was going back to assist those wounded troops. Chaplain Kapaun voluntarily accompanied Captain Anderson.

Eventually, Fr. Kapaun was instrumental in negotiating the surrender to the Chinese of this pocket of American troops. He was the one who did most of the negotiating and he was the only unwounded member of that body that was captured.

In the seven months that he was in prison, Father Kapaun spent himself in heroic service to his fellow prisoners without regard for race, color or creed. To this there is testimony of men of all faiths. As a prisoner of war, Fr. Kaupan continued his aposolate by meeting both the spiritual and physical needs of his men. He gave up his own rations to feed the sick and would often steal food to keep starving soldiers alive. Ignoring his own poor health, he nursed the sick and wounded until a blood clot in his leg prevented his daily rounds. Moved to the camp "hospital", but denied medical assistance, his death followed soon afterwards.

The Diocese of Wichita and the Vatican have begun the formal process that could lead to Father Kapaun's canonization. In 1993, it was announced that Fr. Kapaun would receive the title of "Servant of God".

Photo courtesy of his official website.

Here is his official canonization prayer:

Lord Jesus, in the midst of the folly of war, your servant Emil gave himself in total service to you through his service and care of his fellow soldiers.We now ask you, Lord Jesus, to manifest to the world the glory of his sacrifices by signs of miracles and peace. In your name, Lord, we ask, for you are the source of our peace, the strength of our service to others, and our final hope. In your name, Lord Jesus, we ask.
AMEN