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Medal of Honor awarded to Army chaplain

Army News Service

April 11, 2013

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An Army chaplain, Capt. Emil J. Kapaun, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honorfor his actions leading up to his capture as a prisoner of war in North Korea.

An Army chaplain, Capt. Emil J. Kapaun, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honorfor his actions leading up to his capture as a prisoner of war in North Korea.

An Army chaplain, Capt. Emil J. Kapaun, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on Thursday for his actions leading up to his capture as a prisoner of war in North Korea.

President Barack Obama presented the medal to Kapaun’s nephew, Ray Kapaun, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. Ray was joined by other family members and veterans of the Korean War who served with Kapaun.

Kapaun was ordained a priest in 1940, and served under the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wichita in Pilsen, Kan. In 1944, he began serving as an Army chaplain. In 1993, Kapaun was named a “Servant of God” by the Vatican, and is currently a candidate for sainthood.