The Four Chaplains
Just after midnight on Feb. 3, 1943, four United States Army chaplains ― Rabbi Alexander Goode, Reverend Clark Poling, Reverend George Fox, and Father John Washington ― made the ultimate sacrifice to save the lives of others.
“The Four Chaplains,” as they are remembered today, were on their way to a new duty station in Greenland when their ship, the U.S. Army Transport (USAT) Dorchester, was torpedoed by a German U-Boat. The initial blast killed and seriously wounded many of the soldiers, sailors and civilian workers onboard.
As the ship began to sink, panic among the survivors spread. However, it was the Four Chaplains who remained calm. Working in the frigid darkness, they spread out among the frightened and injured to help launch lifeboats, distribute life jackets and guide those disoriented by the traumatic experience to safety.
“I could hear men crying, pleading, praying,” said William Bednar, one of the 131 sailors who survived that night. “I could also hear the chaplains preaching courage. Their voices were the only thing that kept me going.”
When there were no more available life jackets, Grady Clark, an engineer on the ship, witnessed an act of not only courage but love. The chaplains removed their life jackets and gave them to other frightened young men.
Clark and several others would remember that when giving up their life jackets, none of the chaplains asked what denomination a soldier was before handing theirs to him. They simply gave it to the next man in line so that he would survive.
“It was the finest thing I have seen or hope to see this side of heaven,” stated survivor John Ladd.
As the ship slid beneath the freezing North Atlantic water, those in nearby life boats stated that they could see and hear the Four Chaplains. Their arms linked together and their bodies braced against the listing deck, they offered prayers for those they had just helped save.
Of the nearly 900 men onboard that night, only 230 survived the sinking of USAT Dorchester. Eventually, each of the Four Chaplains received the Distinguished Service Cross and the Purple Heart based on the testimony of the survivors.
On Feb. 3, 1951, President Harry S. Truman dedicated the Chapel of the Four Chaplains in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The interfaith shrine is administered by the Four Chaplains Memorial Foundation, which honors acts of selfless service nationwide in memory of the Four Chaplains and the crew of USAT Dorchester.