Enos Kapaun News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Though he never met Fr. Emil Kapaun, Gerald Fink heard enough about him to motivate his personal tribute to legendary war chaplain.

Farm boy. Catholic priest. U.S. Army chaplain. Defiant prisoner of war who stole food and medicine right under the noses of camp guards. Medal of Honor recipient, possible Roman Catholic saint — and now, finally, a long-lost son of Kansas returning to a family that can lay him to rest.

By MIINDY KEPFIELD Staff writer Father Emil Kapaun’s extraordinary life will be honored with a funeral Mass at Wichita arena, but his family wanted to return him home first. His remains will be flown from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Eisenhower Airport, where a procession will escort them to St. John Nepomucene Catholic Church, in Pilsen, where Kapaun grew up. “When I found out I broke down,” longtime Kapaun Museum volunteer Harriet Bina said. “Right now I am so thrilled. I know that’s what his mother had prayed for…for a long time. And I didn’t think that would happen for a while.”