4/10/13- A Korean War Hero of a Different Stripe

Set free those who are crushed.
    Break every evil chain.
⁷ Share your food with hungry people.
    Provide homeless people with a place to stay.
Give naked people clothes to wear.
    Provide for the needs of your own family.
⁸ Then the light of my blessing will shine on you like the rising sun. 
(Isaiah 58:6-8 NIRV)

Thoughts: Some have heard small stories about the American chaplain who received the medal of honor award posthumously.  Here is a bit more.  
     Back when religion was not such a bad thing, ABC did an anthology series on TV about Father Emil Kapaun starring James Whitmore.  The Roman Catholic Church is considering him for sainthood and they have declared him a special "Servant of God."  
     Kapaun grew up in Kansas, went to seminary in St. Louis.  He served in Burma, Japan, and Korea.  He spent many sleepless nights with his unit the 8th Calvary regiment, 1st Calvary Division  ministering to the dead and dying, performing baptisms and holding communion with an old jeep as his altar.  Though his feet were frozen he continued to risk his life through mortar and artillery fire rescuing wounded men.  The Eighth Calvary was overrun by the Chinese and retreated. Kapaun stayed behind to help the wounded. Father Kapaun did not have a gun.  But when Herbert Miller was wounded from a grenade and had a Chinese soldier pointing a gun at his head, Captain Kapaun ran to him, knocked the Chinese rifle away, and picked up Miller and carried him.  They were both captured near Unsa in November 1950.  
    In prison Kapaun managed to smuggle in dysentery medicine, coffee, and food for his fellow prisoners.  He continued to minister to the sick and dying, but he also built up morale, encouraging the prisoners that God was with them even in prison.  He became very sick with pneumonia and dysentery.  His last service was an Easter Sunrise service in 1951- to which he was carried by the guards.  He died a few weeks later and was buried in a mass grave near the Yalu River.
    His biographer recounts that  he would be remembered for his "great humility, bravery, his constancy, his love and kindness and solicitude for his fellow prisoners. He also gave people a new appreciation of America and a keener understanding of our greatest enemy: godlessness."  Kapaun was awarded the Bronze Star before his capture, the distinguished service cross, and now the Medal of Honor.
      It is easy to forget the power of faith to motivate, give bravery and to overcome evil and fear.  Kapaun shows us otherwise.  

Prayer: Thank you Lord for those whose faith motivates them to fight oppression, poverty, and evil of all kinds.