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Father Emil Kapaun, a humble priest, went far beyond the call of duty during World War II and the Korean War. Often found with the combat medics on the front lines, unarmed, ministering to the wounded, and known for his intense devotion to the soldiers whom he called "my boys," Kapaun became the most decorated chaplain in US military history, awarded a Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross and the Legion of Merit.
But Father Kapaun's leadership, bravery and selflessness don't end there. When the story of human history is over, evil, death, darkness—they don't get the final word. It was Father Kapaun's love for God that gave him the courage to lay down his life for his friends and for his country.
Writer John Stansifer has spent years interviewing veterans and ex-POWs. Coupled with other interviews or self-published war experiences, as well as material from the National Archives and rare access to thousands of unseen documents, No Bullet Got Me Yet unveils the compelling history of the life of Father Kapaun as related by his friends, family and fellow soldiers, as well as in his own words from the numerous letters he wrote from the 1930s all the way to the battlefields of the Korean War.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
March 12, 2024 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780369742087
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780369742087
- File size: 34017 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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June 1, 2023
Drawing on interviews with veterans, self-published war experiences, and key archival material, screenwriter Stansifer's No Bullet Got Me Yet chronicles Father Emil Kapaun, the most decorated chaplain in U.S. military history and a candidate for sainthood (40,000-copy first printing). Prepub Alert.
Copyright 2023 Library Journal
Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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February 15, 2024
Emil Kapaun was a Catholic priest and army chaplain who served in WWll before re-enlisting and serving in the Korean conflict. "I am a nobody," he once said, "pay no attention to me. I will gladly stand in the background." Readers will be glad that Stansifer's moving biography brings Kapaun into the foreground, for he was by all accounts a remarkable man. People who knew him seem always to have employed superlatives in describing him. A fellow priest testified that "he was the most wonderful man I ever met." Another claimed that "he was one of the finest men who ever lived." The book is a bit of a patchwork, presenting Father Kapaun's life in a variety of ways: through his many letters, via military after-action reports, and most importantly, following the testimonials of those who knew him. For example, "He was a hero, a saint." Readers who get to know him through the pages of this fine biography will agree.COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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February 1, 2024
Father Emil Kapaun (1916-51), a Roman Catholic priest, was a beloved U.S. Army chaplain who served during World War II and the Korean War. In the latter war, he was captured by Chinese Communist forces after the Battle of Unsan in November 1950. Imprisoned in a squalid concentration camp near the Yalu River, Kapaun disregarded his own well-being to give fellow POWs material and spiritual comfort by scrounging for food, leading prayer services, and giving last rites, even when threatened by guards. This first book by Stansifer, a screenwriter, draws extensively on letters and interviews gathered by the Catholic Diocese of Wichita during the campaign to canonize Kapaun. Kapaun eventually died in the Yalu River camp, but it had a lower mortality rate than other North Korean camps for POWs, which Stansifer argues was due to Kapaun's unflagging devotion to his unit. VERDICT Readers interested in military and Korean War history and faith-based stories will enjoy this book about a man whose simple yet profound piety influenced all who came in contact with him, regardless of their faith or background.--Chad E. Statler
Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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February 15, 2024
A wartime priest serves as a case study for sainthood. Stansifer, a writer and producer, recounts the life of a young Catholic priest, Emil Kapaun (1916-1951), a veritable "man of God" who ministered to practitioners of all faiths while he was a POW during the Korean War. Even before being captured after China sent a massive army in support of Kim Il Sung's North Koreans, Kapaun rendered extraordinary service, such as writing hundreds of notes to the families of men who had been killed in combat. "This, to the best of my knowledge, is definitely not required of an army chaplain," notes one of the interlocutors Stansifer has assembled in this volume, a captain who survived captivity. Kapaun, malnourished and maltreated, did not survive. One sight that many of the returned POWs remember is that of the priest's gold ciborium--the lidded goblet that holds the eucharist--disappearing into history in the hands of the camp commandant's daughter. One striking artifact that did not disappear was a crucifix hand-carved in Kapaun's honor by a Jewish pilot and smuggled out of the camp in pieces when the prisoners were finally repatriated at the war's end in 1953. Kapaun's remains were buried in a mass grave, about which the author remarks, "The Communists were afraid of him even in death....To this very day, the Communists are still afraid of him." Kapaun, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry and was unquestionably an exemplar of grace under pressure, is now under consideration for religious designations that may conclude with sainthood, "potentially...the Patron Saint of POW-MIAs." By the long-established rules of the Catholic Church, and to trust this earnest account, it should come as no surprise were that to happen. A forgotten hero of a nearly forgotten war receives due honor in these pages.COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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