Kim's Place ... Travel ... Phoenix: Arizona State Capitol

Father Albert Braun. The plaque near him said:

Father Albert was a young missionary and teacher to the Mescalero Apaches in New Mexico and other tribes in Arizona. 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 a prisoner of war for 40 months in the Philippines.

He came to Arizona in 1949 and assisted the poor in McNary, Parker on the Colorado River and St. John's Indian Mission. He was also a teacher at St. Mary's High School in Phoenix. Discouraged Hispanics in central Phoenix needed a church and Father Braun told them, "Bring me a brick and together we will build a church." The bricks came and the church was built.

His legacy lives on in the thousands of lives he touched. So revered was he that upon his death, the Mescalero Apaches claimed his body for burial among them.