Kansas congressman asks committee to act on Medal of Honor award for Kapaun

Kansas congressman asks committee to act on Medal of Honor award for Kapaun
WICHITA, Kan. — A Kansas congressman is pushing his House colleagues to waive regulations to approve the Medal of Honor for an Army chaplain who died in a prison camp during the Korean War.

Rep. Mike Pompeo, a Wichita Republican representing the 4th District, asked the House Armed Services Committee this week to approve legislation waiving the rules to award the Medal of Honor to the Rev. Emil Kapaun, a captain who died in May 1951 in a prisoner of war camp.

"Chaplain Kapaun repeatedly risked his own life to save hundreds of fellow Americans," Pompeo told the committee. "His extraordinary courage and leadership inspired thousands of prisoners to survive hellish conditions and resist Chinese indoctrination.

"His actions reflect great credit upon himself, the 1st Cavalry Division and the United States Army."

Federal law restricts the awarding of the Medal of Honor to two years from the time of the qualifying military action. If Congress approves the legislation waiving the time restriction, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a native of Kansas, could recommend to President Barack Obama that Kapaun receive the medal.

In 2009, then-Army Secretary Pete Geren signed a letter recommending Kapaun receive the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military honor for valor.

In January, Pompeo was joined by Kansas Republican Reps. Lynn Jenkins and Tim Huelskamp and Republican Sens. Pat Robert and Jerry Moran in seeking legislation to award Kapaun his honor.

Kapaun grew up in Pilsen, in Marion County, and served there as a parish priest before joining the Army. He served in World War II and in many battles in Korea before he was captured.

Following the war, the prisoners of the 8th Cavalry Regiment spoke of how Kapaun, an Army chaplain, continued to look after his men even though he was wounded and sick himself. Risking his own life, Kapaun would sneak out after dark to scrounge food for those too weak to eat, fashion makeshift containers to collect water and wash their soiled clothes.

Kapaun died at the camp hospital seven months after he was first taken captive by the Chinese in 1950.

Seven chaplains have received the Medal of Honor, including Vincent Capodanno, a Navy chaplain from New York, killed in Vietnam in 1967. In 2006, Capodanno was declared a Servant of God by the Vatican, a step toward canonization.