Albert Braun

Father Albert Braun (1889 - 1983) was born near Los Angeles, California. He was a missionary and teacher to the Mescalero Apaches in New Mexico and other Indian tribes of Arizona, as well as to the now demolished Golden Gate Barrio of Phoenix, Arizona.

Army life

Father Braun was an army Chaplain in World War I and World War II, receiving the Purple Heart and two Silver Stars for his heroic service. He was also a prisoner of war for 40 months in the Philippines during the Bataan Death marches.

In 1918, he volunteered as an Army Chaplain and soon saw action in one of the bloodiest World War I battles the American troops fought. Instead of staying in the safety of the rear, the unarmed chaplain went "over the top" with the first assault, was almost immediately wounded, but stayed on the battlefield throughout the day and night, ministering to the wounded and dying. As a result, Albert Braun received the Purple Heart. He was also nominated for the Distinguished Service Cross.

He helped construct St. Joseph's Church for the Mescalero Apaches, finished in 1939.

Later life

Braun received orders to report for regular army duty on November 1, 1940. He volunteered to go to the Philippines and in April 1941, he left for his assignment on the island of Corregidor in Manila Bay. Braun was on hand as General MacArthur was evacuated from Corregidor, he gave the invocation for the inauguration of Philippine President Manuel Quezon on January 1, 1942 in Corregidor, and was present when General Jonathan Wainwright finally surrendered to the Japanese on May 7, 1942. It was Braun who despite the threat of personal harm gained permission from the Japanese officers to bury and cremate the dead and who supervised the work of removing the badly decayed bodies out of the caves of Corregidor for proper disposal.

He suffered beatings, hunger, disease and the accompanying humiliations and deprivations that go with being a POW. He insisted on saying mass for the prisoners despite prohibitions against such service and eventually won concession for such activity.

Braun was liberated at Camp Omori in Tokyo Bay on August 29, 1945. The emaciated priest who stood over six feet tall, had wasted from 195 pounds down to 115 pounds and had contracted diphtheria, dysentery, pelagra and several bouts of malaria.

Facts

* As a consequence of his service, Braun received the Legion of Merit and the Silver Star.

* In 1953, he finished completion of the Sacred Heart Church (Phoenix, Arizona).

* In 1965, he received the Arizona Medal of Honor.

* In 1979 he received the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame award.

References

*Among the Mescalero Apache: The story of Father Albert Braun, by Dorothy Emerson 1973