It took him 70 years to return home, but legendary U.S. Army chaplain Fr. Emil Kapaun (read his story here and here) is back in Kansas, where a funeral mass was held for him in Wichita on Wednesday, September 29, 2021 (read story here).
Kapaun was one of four Army chaplains captured in the Korean War. None survived the POW camps. He was among 848 “unknowns” repatriated in 1954 and buried in Hawaii; his remains were finally identified in March 2021.
He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 2013 for his actions in the POW camps aiding other U.S. prisoners, and is a candidate for Catholic sainthood.
Photo: Kapaun memorial statue in his Pilsen, Kansas, birthplace