[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 171 (Thursday, September 30, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H5563-H5564]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING FATHER EMIL JOSEPH KAPAUN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Kansas (Mr. Estes) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ESTES. Madam Speaker, today I would like to honor one of the 
finest men to ever come from the State of Kansas, Father Emil Joseph 
Kapaun, or Kapaun, as he is frequently referred to in Kansas.
  Father Kapaun, or Kapaun, who grew up on a farm in Kansas, was 
ordained as a priest for the Wichita Diocese on June 9, 1940. He went 
on to become a U.S. Army Chaplain during World War II and the Korean 
war with the rank of captain.
  Father Kapaun died in a North Korean prison camp on May 23, 1951, at 
the age of 35. In 35 short years, Father Kapaun sacrificed more and 
saved more lives and souls than many could ever hope to do in 100 
years.
  Many around the world rightly celebrate the story of Father Kapaun, 
who is being considered for sainthood by the Catholic Church; a first 
for a native Kansan.
  His Medal of Honor citation gives a small glimpse at the deep 
reservoir of Father Kapaun's bravery and honor. It reads:

       Chaplain Kapaun calmly walked through withering enemy fire 
     in order to provide comfort and medical aid to his comrades 
     and rescue the wounded from no-man's-land.

  After the battle, when given the option to escape to safety with his 
unit, Father Kapaun volunteered to stay behind to care and minister to 
the wounded. He was subsequently captured by the Communists and taken 
to a prison camp where he was forced to march more than 60 miles in 
harsh weather.
  While in captivity, his frank, down-to-earth Kansas manner, along 
with the unassuming farm style and dry wit, made him the servant leader 
for all the POWs held by the Communists. Although greatly suffering 
himself, he always put his needs second to others. His strength and 
optimism allowed his

[[Page H5564]]

fellow GIs to once again believe that they would one day return to 
freedom in America.
  We know that Father Kapaun suffered unthinkable cruelty at the hands 
of his prison guards who had a special hatred for Christians. But as 
the many stories attest, their rage and violence did not deter Father 
Kapaun in the slightest.
  One of his fellow prisoners wrote a letter upon returning from Korea, 
saying that, ``with his scraggly beard and his odd-looking woolen cap 
made of the sleeve of an old GI sweater, pulled down over his ears, he 
looked like any other half-starved prisoner.
  ``But there was something in his voice and bearing that was 
different--a dignity, a composure, a serenity that radiated from him 
like a light. Wherever he stood was holy ground, and the spirit within 
him a spirit of reverence and abiding faith went out to the silent, 
listening men and gave them hope and courage and a sense of peace. By 
his very presence, somehow, he could turn a stinking, louse-ridden mud 
hut, for a little while, into a cathedral.''
  Another passage from that letter reads that, as Father Kapaun spoke, 
``the agony in the garden, the road to Calvary, the Crucifixion, became 
very real to us, who ourselves lived daily under the threat of death, 
and who bore our own crosses of blows, and cold, and illness, and 
starvation. But Christ endured, he told us, and we, too, must endure, 
for the day of resurrection from the tomb of the prison camp would 
surely come.''
  For generations, Father Kapaun has inspired hundreds around the world 
to greater faith and service through adversity. Today, I am proud that 
Father Kapaun has returned home to his native Kansas. He is truly an 
American hero of the first class.

                          ____________________