[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 4932-4933]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           FATHER EMIL KAPAUN

  (Mr. POMPEO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POMPEO. It is an honor today to tell you about one really good 
man. He was born in Pilson, Kansas, and later became an ordained priest 
in Wichita in 1940.
  This very good man, a fellow named Emil Kapaun, served as a military 
chaplain during World War II and again in September 1948, this time 
entering the Korean battlefield with his unit, the 3rd Battalion of the 
8th Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division.
  There we saw what comes of a good man when placed in dangerous times. 
Father Kapaun became a hero. He died after saving hundreds of lives on 
the battlefield and in a prisoner of war camp, having dedicated himself 
to the physical and spiritual health of his fellow prisoners for a very 
long time.
  Tomorrow, President Obama will bestow upon Father Kapaun, this very 
good man, the Medal of Honor, America's highest military honor.
  I want to take this moment to recognize his fellow POWs who never 
wavered in an effort to secure this medal for Father Kapaun, to the 
Catholic Diocese of Wichita, and everyone else who has worked so hard 
for this recognition.
  Finally, I want to thank the fellow Members of this body who 
supported my provision in the NDAA to allow a waiver for the statutory 
time exception so that he could receive this award.
  Father Kapaun is a true American hero, a hero of mankind and so 
deserving of this Medal of Honor.

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