Four Chaplain’s Day

On Feb. 3, 1943, off the coast of Newfoundland, the troop ship USAT Dorchester was sunk by a German submarine, U-223. The Dorchester had left New York less than two weeks earlier as part of a three-ship convoy bound for Greenland. There were about 900 souls onboard, including the four relatively new Army chaplains. Each represented a different faith. Alexander Goode was Jewish, Clark Poling was Baptist, George Fox was Methodist, and John Washington was Catholic.

The torpedo that struck the Dorchester, also knocked out the ship’s electrical system. Those onboard were left in darkness and many were trapped below decks. As it became obvious that the Dorchester was sinking, panic set in. During those last moments afloat, the four chaplains helped to calm the crew and passengers and organized an orderly evacuation.

Although all hands had been ordered to wear their lifejackets at all times due to the possibility of this very scenario, most of the men had discarded them as uncomfortable and most likely unneeded. The chaplains distributed what lifejackets were available, but the supply ran out before each man had one. In response, the four chaplains removed their lifejackets and gave them to those who didn’t have one. Simultaneously, they continued to help disoriented men into available lifeboats. Without floatation devices and no room in any of the now launched lifeboats, the chaplains linked arms, prayed, and sang hymns as the ship slipped beneath the icy North Atlantic. More than 600 lost their lives that night, to include all four chaplains.

On Dec. 19, 1944, each of the four chaplains was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Service Cross. Congress eventually attempted to posthumously confer the Medal of Honor on to each chaplain. However, because the chaplains had acted after the torpedo attack was over, and this particular medal requires heroism that is performed while “under fire,” they did not technically qualify. In response, members of Congress authorized the Four Chaplains’ Medal, a special award intended to have the same weight and importance as the Medal of Honor. It was approved by a unanimous act of Congress on July 14, 1960, On Jan. 18, 1961, Wilber Brucker, then Secretary of the Army, presented the medals to the next of kin of each chaplain during a ceremony at Ft. Myer, Virginia.

In 1988, Congress established Feb. 3 of each year as Four Chaplains Day. Adoniram Judson, a Baptist missionary once said, "there is no success without sacrifice. If you succeed without sacrifice, it is because someone has suffered before you. If you sacrifice without success, it is because someone will succeed after."

For those of us today, descendants of this “Greatest Generation, we thank our Veterans each day for the sacrifices they have made to preserve our freedoms. However, on this particular day we also recognize and remember these four ordinary men whose extraordinary valor continues to be remembered and serves as a beacon of hope for all.