Thank You For Your Service
If you’ve listened to Into the Deep for any length of time, you’ve probably heard Josh and me talk about The Fat Electrician. He’s one of our favorite YouTube storytellers, part historian, part comedian, and all patriot. His channel takes moments of military history and turns them into stories that are as hilarious as they are inspiring. What makes his work so powerful isn’t just the humor. It’s the way he draws attention to the unsung heroes, the medics, engineers, and soldiers whose courage shaped the world but rarely gets remembered. For Veterans Day, I wanted to do something in that same spirit. Not to try to be funny or clever (not that I could hold a candle to his work), but to shine a light on one of those forgotten heroes. Someone who served both God and country with a level of courage that can still teach us something today. Someone The Fat Electrician hasn’t covered yet, but absolutely should. His name is Father Emil Kapaun, a Catholic priest and Army chaplain whose story embodies what it means to be faithful in adversity and to serve even when hope seems lost.
Father Kapaun was born in 1916 in Pilsen, Kansas in the middle of America. He grew up working the fields, learning the value of hard work and humility long before he ever put on a collar or a uniform. He was ordained a priest in 1940 and quickly became known for his steady presence and tireless service. When war broke out, he felt a deep conviction that he needed to go where his people were going, to the front lines. So he joined the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps and served in World War II before returning home, only to volunteer again when the Korean War began. Kapaun’s ministry was as gritty as it was holy. He offered Mass on the hoods of jeeps and the backs of trucks. He crawled through mud to reach the wounded, gave last rites under fire, and offered words of hope to soldiers who had lost everything. The men who served with him said he was fearless, and that he always seemed to appear where things were at their worst. He didn’t just preach Christ’s suffering; he lived it, right there in the chaos of war.
In November of 1950, during the Battle of Unsan, Father Kapaun’s unit was surrounded by Chinese forces. When the order came to retreat, he refused to leave the wounded behind. Instead, he chose to run back into the fighting, pulling men out of foxholes, carrying the injured on his shoulders, and praying over the dying. Eventually he was captured, along with dozens of other soldiers, and marched more than sixty miles to a prisoner of war camp in freezing conditions. Along the way, he helped carry those who could not walk and encouraged the men who wanted to give up.
Inside the camp, Father Kapaun’s ministry reached its fullest measure. He became a shepherd to the broken men he was serving his time with. He stole food for the weak, washed the sick, prayed over the dying, and used bits of tin and sticks to make a small crucifix. He risked beatings to hold secret masses, preached forgiveness when bitterness would have been easier, and lifted the spirits of men who had lost all hope. Survivors later said that he saved hundreds of lives, not by weapons or tactics, but by keeping their souls alive. When Father Kapaun fell ill with pneumonia and dysentery, the guards took him away to what prisoners called the “death house.” He blessed his men one last time, forgave his captors, and told everyone to keep the faith. He died on May 23, 1951, at age thirty-five. The men who survived carried his memory like a relic, saying he showed them what holiness looks like in the mud of a prison camp. Decades later, his remains were identified and returned to his home in Kansas. The Church recognized the sanctity of his life, declaring him Venerable, the first step toward sainthood. In 2013, the United States posthumously awarded him the Medal of Honor for his courage and compassion in the face of death. His story continues to inspire soldiers, priests, and ordinary people who want to understand what it really means to serve.
When we say, “Thank you for your service,” we usually mean the sacrifices made for freedom, for the flag, and for our way of life. Father Kapaun reminds us that service goes deeper than that. His service was rooted in the Gospel, the kind of love Christ spoke of when He said, “Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” He served not only his country, but every soul around him, proving that faithfulness is not measured by safety or comfort but by love that endures through suffering.
As we honor our veterans this Tuesday, let’s remember that holiness can take many forms, sometimes it wears a cassock, sometimes a uniform, sometimes both. Faithfulness is not proven in comfort, but in adversity, especially in those moments when serving others means suffering with them. Father Kapaun showed us that being faithful does not mean being safe; it means being willing. So to all who have served, and to all who continue to serve, thank you. Your courage reminds us of the cost of love. To Father Emil Kapaun, thank you for showing us what it means to serve both heaven and earth, even to the end.
Yours in Christ,
The Other AK Guy
