Army Chaplain (Capt.) Emil J. Kapaun, a Catholic priest who died in prison after risking his life for his fellow captives during the Korean War, received the Medal of Honor from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel during an April 12 Pentagon ceremony. "In a day when real heroes are hard to find, at a time when America is searching for a center of gravity, it’s particularly important that we grab a hold of people like Father Kapaun and not just acknowledge those acts of heroism and gallantry in what he did as a clergyman but the composite, who he was and what he was about," Hagel said. According to military records, Kapaun was taken prisoner in 1950 and held by Chinese communist forces while attached to the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division at Unsan, Korea. Fellow prisoners related stories of how Kapaun would administer last rites to the dying, give his own clothes to others who he felt needed them more than him, and sneak out of the compound to procure food and keep his comrades from starving. The Pilsen, Kan., native died in the camp May 23, 1951. His body never was recovered.