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 ...