[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 16, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S1574]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      SENATE RESOLUTION 118--HONORING ARMY CHAPLAIN EMIL J. KAPAUN

  Mr. MARSHALL (for himself, Mr. Moran, Mr. Blunt, and Mr. Hawley) 
submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 118

       Whereas Chaplain (Captain) Emil J. Kapaun was born to 
     parents of German-Bohemian ancestry in the rural farming 
     community of Pilsen, Kansas on April 20, 1916;
       Whereas Chaplain Kapaun studied classics and philosophy and 
     graduated from Conception College in Conception, Missouri in 
     June 1936 and Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri in 
     1940;
       Whereas Chaplain Kapaun was ordained a Catholic priest of 
     the Diocese of Wichita in 1940;
       Whereas Chaplain Kapaun was appointed auxiliary chaplain in 
     1943 at the Herington Army Airfield near Herington, Kansas;
       Whereas, in 1944, Chaplain Kapaun entered the Army Chaplain 
     Corps and, following Army Chaplaincy School at Fort Devens, 
     Massachusetts, and a post at Camp Wheeler Georgia, Chaplain 
     Kapaun served the troops in World War II in the Burma and 
     India Theater until 1946;
       Whereas, in 1948, Chaplain Kapaun returned to active duty 
     in the Army Chaplain Corps;
       Whereas Chaplain Kapaun mobilized in support of the Korean 
     conflict in 1950, and served as a chaplain with the 1st 
     Cavalry Division in Japan and Korea;
       Whereas Chaplain Kapaun was taken as a prisoner of war by 
     Chinese forces on November 2, 1950, during the Battle of 
     Unsan;
       Whereas during the fight, which started on November 1, 
     1950, Chaplain Kapaun moved repeatedly under enemy direct 
     fire to rescue wounded soldiers outside the perimeter of his 
     battalion and successfully--
       (1) negotiated with the enemy for the safety of wounded 
     soldiers of the United States;
       (2) knocked aside the rifle of a Chinese soldier who was 
     about to execute Staff Sergeant Herbert Miller; and
       (3) rejected multiple opportunities for escape and instead 
     volunteered to stay and care for the wounded;
       Whereas, during the time Chaplain Kapaun spent in 
     captivity, Chaplain Kapaun frequently risked his life by 
     sneaking around the camp after dark, foraging for food, 
     building fires, caring for the sick, and encouraging his 
     fellow soldiers to sustain their faith and their humanity, 
     and Chaplain Kapaun risked punishment by leading prayers and 
     spiritual services for the other prisoners of war;
       Whereas Chaplain Kapaun died of illness and maltreatment on 
     May 23, 1951;
       Whereas, in 1953, Chaplain Kapaun's surviving fellow 
     prisoners of war were released and began to share stories of 
     the role of Chaplain Kapaun in their survival;
       Whereas, in 1956, Chaplain Kapaun Memorial High School (now 
     known as Kapaun Mt. Carmel Catholic High School) was opened 
     and named after Chaplain Kapaun;
       Whereas, in 1993, Pope John Paul II declared Chaplain 
     Kapaun a Servant of God, the first stage on the path to 
     canonization and the Holy See continues investigations into 
     possible canonization;
       Whereas, in 2013, President Barack Obama posthumously 
     awarded Chaplain Kapaun the Medal of Honor;
       Whereas, upon bestowing the highest award for valor in the 
     United States military, President Obama stated that Chaplain 
     Kapaun was ``an American soldier who didn't fire a gun, but 
     who wielded the mightiest weapon of all: the love for his 
     brothers so powerful that he was willing to die so that they 
     might live'';
       Whereas, in addition to the Medal of Honor, Chaplain Kapaun 
     has been awarded the--
       (1) Distinguished Service Cross;
       (2) Bronze Star Medal with ``V'' Device;
       (3) Legion of Merit;
       (4) Prisoner of War Medal;
       (5) Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with 1 Bronze Service 
     Star for Central Burma Campaign;
       (6) World War II Victory Medal;
       (7) Army of Occupation Medal with Japan Clasp;
       (8) Korean Service Medal with 2 Bronze Service Stars;
       (9) National Defense Service Medal; and
       (10) United Nations Service Medal;
       Whereas there are more than 7,800 service members who 
     served in the Korean War who remain unaccounted for;
       Whereas, in 1956, 867 sets of unidentified remains were 
     interred as Unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the 
     Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii;
       Whereas, in 2019, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency 
     began disinterring 652 sets of unknown Korean War remains at 
     the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific; and
       Whereas, in 2021, the remains of Chaplain Kapaun were 
     exhumed from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific 
     and identified using dental records and DNA: Now, therefore, 
     be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) honors and recognizes Chaplain (Captain) Emil J. Kapaun 
     for--
       (A) his heroic service to the United States of America and 
     the United States Army;
       (B) his heroism, patriotism, and selfless service; and
       (C) the extraordinary courage, conviction, and faith with 
     which he provided comfort and reassurance to his fellow 
     soldiers;
       (2) expresses condolences to the family of Chaplain Emil 
     Kapaun;
       (3) respectfully requests that the Secretary of the Senate 
     transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to the family of 
     Chaplain Emil Kapaun; and
       (4) will never cease in the task of recovering and 
     remembering all prisoners of war and soldiers missing in 
     action from World War II, the Korean conflict, the Vietnam 
     era, hostilities during the Cold War, the Persian Gulf War, 
     Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, 
     Operation New Dawn, Operation Inherent Resolve, and other 
     contingency operations taking place in the Middle East since 
     September 11, 2001.

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