The Association of the United States Army (AUSA) has released the latest in its long-running and wildly successful comic book series celebrating the service of America's Medal of Honor recipients. The latest issue is about chaplain and Medal of Honor recipient Emil Kapaun.
Written by comic book industry veteran Chuck Dixon and artwork also executed by professionals in the business, the comic book tells Kapaun's story from growing up in Kansas on a farm through his military service during the Korean War.
Kapaun's first calling was to his faith, and he became an ordained catholic priest in 1940. During World War II, he volunteered for military service and served as an Army chaplain stationed in Burma through the war. After the war, Kapaun continued his education but felt driven to help America and rejoined the military in 1948.
During the Korean War, Kapaun's heroic actions are too many to summarize. He attended to the dead and dying, and he rescued injured soldiers while under enemy gunfire. Captured by the enemy, he and his fellow soldiers were forced to make a death march into North Korea.
In the Prisoner of War camp, Kapaun continued to hold religious services, helped out his fellow soldiers, and resisted communist propaganda. But the starvation, torture, and poor treatment by the North Koreans took their toll. Kapaun suffered one malady after another until he passed away.
In 2013, Kapaun was awarded the Medal of Honor by the President of the United States. Currently, he is under consideration by the Catholic Church to be canonized as a saint. Kapaun's incredible life story can be read today, free of charge, on the AUSA website.