Kaiserslautern American
March 12, 2021
Page 7
Chaplain accounted for from Korean War
Father Emil Kapaun celebrates Mass using the hood of his jeep as an altar, as his assistant, Patrick J. Schuler, kneels in prayer in Korea on Oct. 7, 1950, less than a month before Kapaun was taken prisoner. Kapaun died in a prisoner of war camp on May 23, 1951. Photo by Col. Raymond A. Skeehan via The Wichita Eagle
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that Army Chaplain (Capt.) Emil J. Kapaun, of Pilsen, Kansas, who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for March 2. After serving in World War II, Kapaun returned to active duty in the U.S. Army and served in the Korean War with the 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 2, 1950, his unit was near Unsan when they came under heavy fire from Chinese forces and received orders to withdraw. Approximately a quarter of the unit’s soldiers made their way back to friendly lines. The others, including many wounded soldiers, became trapped. Kapaun volunteered to stay with the wounded, and was soon captured and taken to a Chinese-run prison camp on the Yalu River’s south bank known as Camp 5.
Even after he became gravely ill, Kapaun continued to serve as a spiritual leader for his fellow prisoners, encouraging them to faithfully await their release and regularly defying his captors to bolster the collective morale of the POWs. Due to prolonged malnutrition, he died on May 23, 1951, after which the other POWs buried him in one of the camp’s cemeteries. As part of the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement, Kapaun’s remains were among the 1,868 who were returned to U.S. custody, but they were not able to be identified. At a White House ceremony on April 11, 2013, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Kapaun the Medal of Honor for extraordinary heroism and selflessness. Kapaun’s remains had rested among the 867 remains buried as “Unknowns” at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii. His remains were disinterred and identified as part of DPAA’s Korean War Disinterment Project, a seven-phase plan begun
in 2018, to disinter all remaining Korean War Unknowns from the NMCP. In 1993, Pope John Paul II declared Kapaun a Servant of God, the first stage toward possible canonization, which is the culmination of the Roman Catholic Church’s recognition of a deceased person as a saint. For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa. mil, or find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or https://www.linkedin.com/ company/defense-pow-miaaccounting-agency. Kapaun’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa-mil. sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?i d=a0Jt00000004mBjEAI.
KAISERSLAUTERN
CHURCH OF CHRIST www.ktowncoc.org
by Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Sun: 10 am, 11 am and 6 pm Wed: 7 pm Mühlstrasse 34 67659 Kaiserslautern Tel. 06 31 - 36 18 59 92 Tel. 06 371 - 46 75 16
Then 2nd Lt. Emil Kapaun, U.S. Army chaplain, circa 1943. P hoto courtesy of the U.S. Army
Kaiserslautern Military CoMMunity Chapel sChedule
ARMY POC for Miesau, Landstuhl, and Deanner is the USAG R-P Chaplain’s Office in Bldg 3213 on Kleber Kaserne, DSN 541-2105, CIV 0611143-541-2105.
Jewish services
AIR FORCE POC for Ramstein North, Ramstein South, Vogelweh, and Kapaun is the USAF Chaplain Corps, Bldg 1201 on Ramstein, DSN 480-6148, CIV 06371-47-6148.
Messianic Jewish services
Buddhist (sGi)
Kapaun Chapel (Bldg 2781) Divine Liturgy: 9:00 a.m. Sundays Confessions by appointment
Ramstein North Chapel Conference Room (Bldg 1201) Service: 10:30 a.m., 4th Saturday Service: 12:00 p.m., 3rd Thursday at LRMC Chapel For more info: ktownsgibuddhism@gmail.com
Catholic services
Daenner Community Chapel (Bldg 3150) Sunday Mass: 12:30 p.m. (all year round) Confession: 11:45 p.m. Landstuhl Community Chapel (Bldg 3773) Tue, Wed, Fri: 12 p.m. Sunday: 9 a.m. Confession: 8 a.m. Ramstein North Chapel (Bldg 1201) Daily Mass: 11:30 a.m. Monday-Thursday Sunday Masses: 9 a.m., 1 p.m. & 5 p.m. Confession: RNC or by appt. 4 p.m.- 4:45 p.m. Sundays
episcopal (anglican) (st. albans) Kapaun Chapel (Bldg 2781) Service: 10:30 a.m. Sundays
islamic services
Ramstein South Chapel Mosque Area (Bldg 2403) Jummah Prayers: 1:15 p.m. Fridays Daily Prayers: 1:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday
Ramstein South Chapel Jewish Shul Area (Bldg 2403) Shabbat Evening Service: 6:00 p.m. Fridays Ramstein South Chapel (Bldg 2403) Service: 10:00 a.m. Saturdays
orthodox Christian services
protestant services
Landstuhl Community Chapel (Bldg 3773) Worship: 11:00 a.m. Sundays Children’s Youth Church: 11:00 a.m. Sundays Daenner Community Chapel (Bldg 3150) Chapel Next Worship: Sunday 10:00 a.m. Children’s Church: Sunday 10:30 a.m. Ramstein North Chapel (Bldg 1201) Contemporary Service: 11:00 a.m. Sundays Seventh-Day Adventist Worship Sabbath School: 10 a.m. Saturdays Divine Worship: 11:00 a.m. Saturdays Ramstein South Chapel (Bldg 2403) Traditional with Communion: 9:30 a.m. Sundays Vogelweh Chapel (Bldg 2063) Gospel Service: 11:00 a.m. Sundays. For more info: facebook.com\vogelwehgospelservice or email rvgsfacebook@gmail.com
Wiccan
Kapaun Annex (Bldg 2782) Service: 7:00 p.m. Saturdays
Wisconsin evangelical lutheran synod (Wels) Ramstein South Chapel (Bldg 2403) Service: 4:00 p.m. 2nd & 4th Sundays
