June 2013
On 11 April 2013, a long journey came to an end. Capt/Chaplain/Father Emil J. Kapaun [Hq/8 Cavalry, POW 2 November 1950, death reported on 23 May 1951] posthumously received his Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama. Nine surviving POWs who had known him were there, alphabetically: Gerald “Bob” Cavagnaro, Richard A. Caverly, Ray Michael Dowe, Jr. Robert L. McGreevy, Herbert A. Miller, Joe E. Ramirez, William J. Richardson, Jr., Paul Adams Roach, Jr., and Robert Stephen Wood. Father Kapaun’s nephew, Mr. Ray Kapaun of Pilsen, Kansas, received the award on his behalf, and several other family members were present, as well.
Father Kapaun was among the 8th Cavalrymen captured at Unsan when their positions were overrun by massive Chinese forces. He was taken at the 3rd Battalion Command Post, where he had stayed behind to help care for the wounded, actually on 5 November. Marching northward, he did all that he could for the men around him, first at the holding point of Sambakkol and then at Camp 5 at Old Pyoktong on the south bank of the Yalu River. In an act of continuing sacrifice, he knowingly exhausted himself, and finally passed on 23 May 1951. We know that he died at the Pagoda Sick House, and that he was buried behind it, not across the back water arm that extended behind Camp 5 on its north side.
His remains have never been identified, but do we have them now? Some bodies were returned after war’s end during Operation Glory, including about 560 remains from Camp 5. All but 75 men from this group were identified at Kokura, Japan, in 1954-56, and returned to their families. The 75 were then among the Unknowns buried at National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP) in Honolulu, Hawaii, in May 1956. In recent years, we have done exhumations from NMCP, and among others, we have identified six men from Camp 5. Beyond all of that, the North Koreans returned an additional 208 containers with U.S. remains during 1990-94, and 21 of these were from Camp 5. Five additional Camp 5 identifications have come from this group.
Work continues. The 208 containers from 1990-94 are in a respectful, working storage above ground. So the scientists at Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) can examine them freely. But we will not request an exhumation from NMCP unless there is good, probable cause, meaning well done preparations for a likely identification. The rules are different, but we’re making progress with both groups
It’s not just a case of Father Kapaun’s remains. As we fine-tune good methods, other identifications will surely follow. Very often, an identification “here” will suggest a name from “there.” As many of you already know, Father Kapaun is also under consideration for beatification and sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church. This question is outside our venue, but there’s no harm in simply wishing a good man, an exceptional man, well. He and his companions, either returned from Camp 5 or still resting at Camp 5, are a very special responsibility. Efforts at resolution continue . . . .
The Sambakkol [125 30 45 E, 40 34 33 N] and Camp 5 [125 26 00 E, 40 37 30 N] sites are still intact, and you can look them up. Go to Google Maps, satellite mode, punch in the numbers, and zoom in! At Sambakkol, huts extend up and down the valley—not a single point. At Camp 5, the old back water arm is now partially dry land above the lowered river level.