Thinking about Emil Kapuan today, who received the Medal of Honor for his incredible and unbelievably selfless leadership during the Korean War. A chaplain, he stayed behind with wounded American soldiers when the 1st Cavalry Division was overrun by Chinese troops in November 1950.

Kapuan already had served as a chaplain in World War II in the Burma theater. From Kansas, Father Kapuan earned the Bronze Star with Combat V when he sprinted forward to drag a soldier to safety in the summer of 1950 during the North Korean invasion of South Korea. 

Kapuan refused to fall back when his unit was surrounded, and saved the lives of over forty soldiers. He refused to give into despair when captured. Most notably, he prevented a Chinese soldier from executing Sergeant Herbert Miller. His example encouraged all American prisoners to persevere.

Father Kapuan died of dysentery in May, 1951. His remains were returned to the United States and he is interred in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Wichita, Kansas.

In 1993, Pope Jon Paul II declared Kapuan a Servant of God, the first step on the path to canonization. Kapuan received the Defense Service Cross posthumously for his leadership, which was upgraded to the Medal of Honor on April 11, 2013. Honor and remember this great Catholic priest and incredible American.