Homecoming: A September Christmas Gift Father Emil Kapaun

Homecoming:

A SEPTEMBER CHRISTMAS GIFT FATHER EMIL KAPAUN

“Wichita ATC, this is SHEPHERD TWO, American Airlines, requesting permission to land.”

“Shepherd Two, permission granted. Welcome Home, Medal of Honor Father Kapaun. Proceed to runway 6, Gate 8, and enter through the arch from the firetruck water cannons”.

The excitement of the crowd of several hundred invited guests gathered on the runway of the Wichita airport was intense and celebratory as those gathered welcomed home the mortal remains of Father Emil Kapaun, POW, Korean War, and Medal of Honor recipient. Father Rajmund Kopec, a priest-chaplain endorsed by the AMS, was the official Army escort officer who accompanied the remains of Father Kapaun from

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Hawaii to Kansas. The military honor guard from Fort Riley, under the pastoral care of Father Michael Albano, also a priest-chaplain, was present at the airport for the transfer of the remains from SHEPHERD TWO, which was the honorary name given to this American Airlines flight and was the same plane used to transport His Holiness, Pope Francis, Shepherd One, during his visit to the USA.

Thus began four days of religious, military, and civic celebrations welcoming home one of our own: Army Chaplain Father Emil Kapaun, who was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Wichita, 9 June 1940 and died in the Pyoktong POW Camp, North Korea, on 23 May 1951.

Present on the airport ramp for the official military “Ramp Ceremonies” were seven other Medal of Honor recipients and also four former Korean POWs who throughout the following days gave profound personal testimony of the life and heroic actions of Father Kapaun during captivity.

Father Emil Joseph Kapaun served as a Catholic chaplain in the BurmaIndia Theater during World War II (1944-1946) and in the Korean War (1950-1951) during which he was captured and died in a prisoner of war camp. He was awarded the Medal of Honor, April, 2013, by President Obama, in a ceremony at the White House.

From the airport ceremonies we traveled one and a half hours on Kansas farm country roads to

Father Kapaun’s home parish, Saint John Nepomucene Church, Pilsen, Kansas, where his parents were married, he was baptized and where he celebrated his “first” Mass of Thanksgiving as a newly ordained priest and later served as its pastor. Hundreds and hundreds of people, old and young, lined the highways, waving flags and saluting, while

others had their hands placed over their hearts as the motorcade proceeded to Pilsen escorted by many police cars and motorcycles.

Father Kapaun’s body rested for 48 hours in his home parish, followed by the Sunday Mass, a Mass of thanksgiving for prayers of the past 70 years now answered. His Excellency Carl Kemme celebrated the Mass and I concelebrated. Father Eric Weldon preached the homily. On Monday, the body was transferred to the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in downtown Wichita where over 145 priests gathered for evening prayer. An empty tomb had been prepared in front of the main altar.

Seven Medal of Honor recipients attended a luncheon in the Cathedral Rectory and I sat with Medal of Honor recipient Roger Donlon and his wife.

During the luncheon, Medal of Honor recipient and fellow POW with Father Kapaun, SGT Herb Miller (ret), told how Father Kapaun saved his life when he lay wounded in a ditch. Father Kapaun picked him up and carried him for over 4 miles to a safe area where his wounds were bandaged. Miller said he weighed 165 pounds, but also had 14 live hand grenades, which increased his weight by another 20 pounds carried by the priest under enemy gunfire. Captured a second time, the enemy Chinese soldier pointed the barrel of his rifle at the head of SGT Miller, but Father Kapaun simply pushed the weapon to the side, risking his own life as well as that of the soldier he was trying to protect. The senior official of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) also delivered a stimulating account of the recovery actions that resulted in the positive identification of the mortal remains of Father Kapaun.

The funeral vigil was conducted on Tuesday at the Wichita Hartman Arena with the participation of over 5000 people gathered in

prayer and to pay their respects. On Wednesday, again at the Hartman Arena, over 6000 people gathered at the Mass of Christian Burial along with 17 priest-chaplains of the Archdiocese for the Military Services USA, representing both active-duty and Nationsl Guard units. The choirs from the Air Force Academy and West Point sang at both of the liturgies. A spiritual reflection of remembrance was delivered after Holy Communion by one of our AMS priests, Father Matthew Pawlikowski, who spoke on behalf of Colonel Mike Dowe, a POW and friend of Father Kapaun. A standing ovation was given at the end of his excellent delivery of Colonel Dowe’s testimony. After the Mass of Christian Burial, the earthly tent of Father Kapaun were transferred to the Cathedral by a horse drawn caisson accompanied by the traditional rider-less horse to honor this faithful Servant of God, Father Kapaun.

“Oh Mary, my Mother, assist me in the service of Thy Divine Son” (from Father Kapaun’s Ordination Prayer Card).

Father Emil Joseph Kapaun, Servant of God, pray for us ! V