Mitch Lewis

Are Army chaplains saints?

Well, up to this point none have been officially declared to be saints, but that may soon change.

An Army chaplain who died as a Prisoner of War during the Korean conflict is going to be considered for sainthood by the Roman Catholic Church.? Chaplain (Captain) Emil Kapaun was known for his exceptional and courageous care for the wounded before his capture, and for his exceptional and courageous care for his fellow prisoners during captivity.

This extraordinary priest served as battalion chaplain for the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division.? He was captured in Unsan, North Korea during action on November 1-2, 1950. Kapaun's regiment took the brunt of the first battle with the hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops who had secretly infiltrated into Korea.? The fighting was intense and up-close and for two days Kapaun ministered to the wounded and dying. When his unit was finally overrun, Kapaun risked his own life to plead with his Chinese captors not to kill the prisoners. This would not be the last time that Kapaun risked his own safety or sacrificed his own well being on behalf of his fellow POWs. His captors treated him horribly, but his undefeatable spirit kept hope alive in Prison Camp Number 5. Kapaun died on May 23, 1951 after enduring months of extreme hardship and cruelty for the sake of others.

The Catholic News Agency recently announced that the Cause for the Canonization of Father Emil Kapaun will open on June 29th (2008). The process of examining Father Kapaun's life, work and teaching will take quite some time. The process includes interviews with eyewitnesses and reviews of his writings.

While the theological intricacies of saints and sainthood are a matter of some disagreement among Christians, I am happy to see this exemplary Christian life lifted up as an example to emulate and honor.

If canonized, Father Kapaun won't be the first saint associated with Korea. In fact, there are already 103 Korean saints recognized by the Roman Catholic church, the 4th largest number from any country. Maybe there's something in the soil or the air in the land of the morning calm.

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Pictured above is the memorial tablet one sees as one enters Soldier Memorial Chapel on Camp Walker in Daegu (or Taegu), Korea. It may look like just another memorial plaque, but here on this land U.S. forces made a real difference for the 50 million people now living in the Republic of Korea (ROK). If someone asks if the use or threat of armed force ever does any good, one need look no further than the Korean peninsula.

After the U.S. liberated Korea from a half-century of Japanese occupation at the end of World War II, the Soviet Union made a land-grab to gobble up as much territory as it could in the Pacific. Soviet forces entered the northern half of Korea and effectively divided the nation at the 38th parallel. Stalin trained and equipped the army of his hand-picked dictator - Kim Il Sung - to dominate the region. Unsurprisingly, in June 1950 the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) invaded the unprepared and virtually unarmed republic to its south.

Were it not for the combined efforts of the armed forces of the Republic of Korea, the United States and the fifteen other nations of the United Nations Command that defended against North Korean (and later Chinese) aggression, South Koreans would be living in the same state of starvation and virtual slavery that North Koreans endure today. See, for example, here and here. The Republic of Korea has the tenth largest economy in the world, rising literally from the ashes of its post-war world. Its citizens today enjoy true freedom of expression and political association.

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This is the Bridge of No Return separating North Korea from South Korea in the Joint Security Area (JSA) near Panmunjom. The photo, taken on a recent winter's day, looks into North Korea. The rusty panel marker on the left of the photo denotes the "Military Demarcation Line" (MDL) between the two Koreas. For 2000 meters on each side of this line, the "Demilitarized Zone" (DMZ) serves as a buffer between the two states. North Korea, China and the United Nations Command (UNC) agreed to an armistice on July 27, 1953, but a final peace treaty has never been signed.

The Bridge of No Return was the site of the prisoner exchange that followed the armistice. Prisoners of war lined up on each side of the bridge and were offered the opportunity to go home or remain where they were. Understandably, a number of North Korean prisoners wanted to stay in South Korea. In this one moment, prisoners could choose. If a prisoner crossed the bridge, however, his fate was sealed forever. He could no longer choose to return to the other side.

It seems to me that we all face a number of Bridges of No Return during our lifetimes.

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