For 70 years, the remains of Father Kapaun, a Korean War hero and Catholic priest from Pilsen, Kansas, remained missing. In March 2021, his remains were identified and now they’re back home in Kansas.
Roy Wenzl, author of the 2013 book “Miracle of Father Kapaun: Priest, Soldier and Korean War Hero,” spent five months this year researching the decades of effort that went into locating and identifying Kapaun’s remains.
He traveled to Texas, Delaware, Hawaii and Washington, D.C. to interview scientists and others involved, before joining the Kapaun family on the journey to bring the remains home from Hawaii to Pilsen, Kansas, then to Wichita for final internment.
These are his stories written in 2021 and 2022 for The Wichita Eagle.
Fr. Kapaun Begins Journey Home from Hawaii to Kansas
Kapaun’s homecoming to Pilsen, Kansas, is a somber reunion with community, fellow POW
Father Emil Kapaun laid to rest in Wichita as thousands pay their respects
How Father Kapaun, a war hero being considered for sainthood, was found after 70 years
‘I buried him’: Fellow POW tells of Fr. Kapaun’s final days
In the search for Fr. Kapaun, one man searched longer than everyone else
How DNA work on cave bears led to breakthrough that identified Kapaun, others
Kansas woman pressed search commander for decades: ‘Keep looking‘
A Mother’s Gift: How Father Kaupan’s mother – and other mothers – helped bring him home
Vatican to Reconsider Whether Father Kaupan Died a Martyr
Roy Wenzl 