Please join us to hear the stories of three United States Catholic veterans who experience disability. Learn about the intersection of their faith and disability, in recognition of the 2024 International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
Raised Catholic, Kathy earned a BA in English from Mount Saint Mary’s College in Los Angeles and then joined the Air Force as a 2nd Lieutenant and was stationed at 5th Fighter Interceptor Squadron as an Avionics Maintenance Officer. She was the squadron’s first female officer. Kathy became United Methodist after a pastor demanded she quit her job as a counselor at a safehouse for her to remain in the Catholic Church. Kathy became a Licensed Professional Counselor and earned an MSEd is from North Dakota State University, an MDiv from Iliff School of Theology, and a DMin in Wesleyan Evangelization from the Saint Paul School of Theology. Kathy had served as a Chaplain and a pastor for 16 years when God called her back to the Catholic Church in 2016. Dr. Haley is rated as 100% complete and permanent disabled due to PTSD due to military sexual trauma, Traumatic Brain Injury, and service-connected back injury. She has a Service Dog, Chesed, a German Shepherd Dog and spends her time counseling veterans with PTSD and TBIs and helping them to train their service dogs.
Deacon Josh and his wife Trish live in Fayetteville NC where they where they were stationed for most of their Army carrier and raised six children. Josh grew up in Portland Oregon and was an atheist until some of his Pentecostal cross-country teammates invited him to a life of peace and joy in Christ. After joining the Army Infantry in 1995, Josh went to a Mass and knew instantly that he wanted to join the Catholic Church. He served in Special Forces, and his involvement in ministry led him to earn a MA in Theology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville. In 2019 he transitioned from the Military and now he works for the Diocese of Raleigh as the Human Life and Dignity Coordinator.
Retired First Sergeant Sompaul Vorapanich is the Director of the Warriors to Lourdes Pilgrimage, Director of Military Councils, and is the Knights of Columbus Liaison to the Archdiocese for the Military Services. He recently retired after 21 years of active-duty service as a paratrooper with the United States Army. He deployed over 20 times while assigned to the United States Special Operations Command.
Vorapanich was born in Holland, Michigan but raised in Chicago, Illinois. He is the first-born son of his family in the United States. His father was a South Vietnamese citizen recruited to be a Force Recon Interrogator with the United States Marine Corps, during the Vietnam Conflict. His mother was a Vietnamese refugee who fled tyranny and oppression by becoming one of the “boat-people”. They are now proud American citizens and reside in Oklahoma. On February 18th, 2003, he raised his right hand and swore into the United States Army to pay back a debt to his country for the freedom that his family was blessed with. Vorapanich transitioned out of the active military service and retired on May 1st of 2024.
Retired First Sergeant Sompaul Vorapanich attended the United States Army’s Sergeants Major Academy. His civilian education includes a Bachelor of Science in Operations Management from DeVry Institute of Business and Technology, a Masters Certification in Cyber Security from Fayetteville State University, a Masters Degree in Theology from St. Joseph’s College of Maine and earned a Theology Doctorate (Th.D.) with a concentration on Moral Injury.
