A new Hollywood documentary film, which spotlights the heroism of the U.S. Army Chaplain Corp, and particularly one heroic chaplain who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, will be released in movie theaters Friday.
The film will open in 20 cities, including the New York market.
Justin Roberts is the writer and one of the directors of “Fighting Spirit: A Combat Chaplain’s Journey.”
Roberts garnered kudos for his film “No Greater Love” about his service as a combat chaplain with the 101st Airbourne Division in Afghanistan.
This film chronicles Roberts’ trip to Kansas in 2021 to attend the burial service of Emil Kapuan, a combat chaplain during World War II and the Korean War.
Kapuan died in a Prisoner of War camp in Korea and was buried in a mass grave. His remains were returned to the United States after the war and were identified in 2018.
During his sojourn to Kansas, Roberts reflects on the 419 U.S. combat chaplains who have died in the line of duty, but the bulk of the focus is on Kapuan’s heroism.
Kapuan served with American troops in Burma during World War II and he was part of the first amphibious landing of American troops in Korea.
He braved enemy fire during this landing to help carry a wounded soldier to safety. For this act he was awarded a Bronze Star.
Kapuan would be awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor for his actions saving more than 40 American soldiers during the Battle of Unsan in November of 1950.
In 1993 Pope John Paul VI declared Kapuan a “Servant of God,” the first step in the path to sainthood prescribed by the Vatican.
A schedule of the film’s showing can be found here.
