THE FORGOTTEN WAR: Medal of Honor recipient, a chaplain who died in captivity, identified among Korean War remains.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency has identified the remains of Chaplain (Capt.) Emil J. Kapaun, a Medal of Honor recipient who died as a prisoner of war in Korea.
Kapaun was identified on Mar. 2, the DPAA announced Friday. His remains were among the 867 buried as “Unknowns” at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii, according to a DPAA news release.
Also known as the “Punchbowl,” the NMCP is the final resting place of many servicemembers’ unidentified remains. The Korean War Disinterment Project, initiated in 2018, is a seven-phase plan to disinter and identify all of the Korean war remains in the Punchbowl.
“After 70 years Chaplain (Capt.) Kapaun has been accounted for. His heroism and resilient spirit epitomized our Army values of personal courage and selfless service,” said acting Secretary of the Army John E. Whitley.
Indeed.