Community Comes Together to Save Home of Korean War Veteran

Lincoln Countians scramble to save Korean War POW’s home

Lincoln County Journal

By Megan Myers
Staff Writer
August 14, 2017

Luckily, Johnson’s plight has been attracting the attention of many in Lincoln County and abroad. Troy resident Kathi Boley is among those trying to help Johnson, whom she began referring to as “our veteran.” 

Flanked by Troy residents Kathi and Doug Boley, Korea veteran Richard Johnson shakes the hand of Albert St. Clair after the group dined together at Harry J’s Steakhouse Aug. 8. The Boleys and St. Clair have been raising money to keep Johnson’s home from being foreclosed on. Megan Myers photo.

Richard Johnson has never been the type to seek attention.

After all, that’s why the 88-year-old Korean War veteran moved to his longtime home in Winfield in the first place. After experiencing a rocky road back to civilian life, the avid nature-lover longed for the peace and quiet of the country.
And for the last 32 years, that’s just what he’s found.

But now Johnson is finding that peace interrupted. About one year ago, his lending company mysteriously increased the mortgage payments on his home from $506 a month to $860. Johnson, who lives on a fixed income, could not afford to make the larger payments. Then in June, he received a letter stating that if he did not come current on the payments, he would lose his home on Aug. 31.

But in the meantime, Boley said that coupled with attorney fees, late fees and interest, the total amount that Johnson will have to pay to stay in his house is around $8,000. So Boley started a GoFundMe account for the cause. In about one week, the account raised more than $2,500, with donations coming from individuals all across the area.Boley also began organizing a team of volunteers to help make necessary repairs and to furnish Johnson’s home with appliances.Many on the team were veterans themselves, including Sheriff John Cottle and Albert St. Clair Sr., an army veteran who runs a charity called St. Clair Hearts Foundation for homeless veterans in the Greater St. Louis area. Guy Kimler, a fellow Patriot Guard rider with Boley’s husband, Doug, donated $250.

read more here 

Orlando VFW POW-MIA Service on YouTube

On September 18, 2011, the Orlando VFW held a service to honor all POW-MIAs. One of the speakers was an ex-Korean War POW. Ed Izbicky served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam. They also did the empty chair ceremony.

Rev. Emil Kapaun Fallen Korean War chaplain considered for Medal of Honor

Fallen Korean War chaplain considered for MoH

The Assonated Press
Posted : Tuesday Oct 13, 2009 6:01:45 EDT

TOPEKA, Kan. — A Kansas priest already under consideration for sainthood has won the endorsement of the Army’s top civilian leader to receive the Medal of Honor.

The Rev. Emil Kapaun was a captain and chaplain in the Army in Korea and taken prisoner in 1950 when his unit was overrun by Chinese soldiers. Kapaun continued to serve the men’s needs, including risking his own life to provide them with food and water amid squalid conditions.

Kapaun, a Roman Catholic, died in a prison camp in 1951.

In one of his final acts as Army secretary, Pete Geren wrote a letter to Rep. Todd Tiahrt of Goddard saying he agreed that Kapaun should be awarded the Medal of Honor.

Kapaun is also being investigated by the Vatican for sainthood.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/10/ap_moh_chaplain_kapaun_101309/



SHEPHERD IN COMBAT BOOTS
Updated 4/20/2005


On April 3, Veterans Radio (WAAM - Ann Arbor, Michigan - www.veteransradio.net) presented the second in a continuing series of talk radio shows covering the Korean War.
The subject was Father Emil Kapaun, chaplain of the 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, in Korea in 1950.

Father Kapaun was captured in Unsan County, North Korea, on November 2, 1950 and died on May 23, 1951, in Camp #5 on the Yalu River.

Featured on the program was the Reverend John Hotze of the Archdiocese of Wichita, Kansas, Father Kapaun's diocese before he became a military chaplain.

Rev. Hotze presented background information about the pending nomination of Fr. Kapaun for sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church.

The nomination is largely based on Fr. Kapaun's heroic actions on behalf of his fellow prisoners while in captivity.

According to testimony of those who knew him, Fr. Kapaun went all out for God and his fellow POW and forgot himself completely.

http://www.kwva.org/pow_mia/p_050420_shepherd_combat_boots.htm

Real Ex-POW's Veterans History Project Wants to Know Your Story

Ex-POWs battle against time to tell stories

By James Hannah - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jul 27, 2009 7:34:38 EDT

DAYTON, Ohio — Museums are seeing an increase in donations and oral histories from the swell of former U.S. prisoners of war eager to leave their legacies. But museum officials still worry that too many POWs approaching their late 80s and 90s will go to their graves without publicly telling their stories.

The National Prisoner of War Museum, in Andersonville, Ga., said it expects to have a 40 percent increase in artifacts, journals and other donations from former POWs this year compared to last year. Primarily, those contributions are coming from those who fought in World War II.

The number of U.S. POWs in World War II, about 130,000, dwarfs those from other wars. There were about 7,000 POWs in the Korean War, and about 725 in the Vietnam War. World War II ended more than 60 years ago, and the number of U.S. POWs is shrinking fast.
read more here
Ex-POWs battle against time to tell stories

140 POW's from multiple wars gather together

POWs from multiple wars gather

The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Sep 21, 2008 10:01:42 EDT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — About 140 men who were prisoners of war met in Kansas City this weekend to share their stories and some camaraderie.

Many of the veterans at the 61st national convention of the American Ex-Prisoners of War served during World War II including some who were in German POW camps and others who survived the Bataan Death March — the 1942 march of thousands of American and Filipino prisoners by the Japanese.

Others attending the convention, which runs through Sunday, were POWs in the Korean or Vietnam wars.

Despite their special bond, the veterans didn’t come to Kansas City just to share war stories, said Paul Dillon of Maryland Heights, Mo.

“These guys will not let you call them heroes,” said Dillon, who attended with his father, Red Dillon, a ball-turret gunner on a B-17 bomber that was shot down over Europe during World War II. “These are ordinary people who showed the greatest valor by simply enduring under extraordinary circumstances.”
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/ap_pow_reunion_092108/