Here is an inspiring story of a US Army Chaplain, Father Emil Kapaun (on the right in the picture above, helping a wounded soldier), who, in the middle of a fierce firefight during the Korean War in 1950, refused to leave the wounded and so was captured and sent to a North Korean labour camp, where he died from the terrible conditions sixth months later. Kapaun's bravery has led to calls for him to be given the Congressional Medal of Honour, and he has been named a Servant of God by the Catholic church, the first step towards sainthood. You can read more about Father Emil in this sequence of articles from the Wichita Eagle, in his home state of Kansas.
His story always inspires and on so many levels. Last year, as a relaxing hobby (perhaps the only good kind), I posted on F.B. brief biographies, and with images, of Americans who I felt were the best examples of those deserving of inclusion in either of the following categories: 1.Unalloyed American Heroes; 2.American National Treasures. With the possible exception of the late Jimmy Stewart, Father Kapaun is the only person who, it strikes me, qualifies for both. The deeply spiritual component of his life, its matchless imitation of Christ, is of course, his most wondrous and admirable one which all men of good will cherish and can aspire to. We especially need his kind of strength during the current demonic onslaught in the world today. God bless Father Kapaun!
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