The Story of the Four Chaplains

In the United States, February 3rd is designated as Four Chaplains’ Day. On that day in 1943, the USS Dorchester was headed to the European front carrying 904 men to help the allied war effort, when it was struck by a German torpedo. The four chaplains, Methodist Rev. George L. Fox, Jewish Rabbi Alexander Goode, Catholic Priest John P. Washington, and Reformed Church Rev. Clark V. Poling, who were all lieutenants in the Army, calmed the men and assisted with the evacuation of the ship. As the ship began to sink, the chaplains guided the wounded to safety and even finally gave up their own life belts. Of the 904 men on board the USS Dorchester, 230 were rescued, a number which would have been far lower if not for the assistance of the chaplains. The Four Chaplains were posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Service Cross in 1944, and February 3rd was designated as Four Chaplains’ Day by an act of Congress. The full extent of their sacrifice is best exemplified by this quote from a survivor of the sinking of the USS Dorchester, Grady Clark:

As I swam away from the ship, I looked back. The flares had lighted everything. The bow came up high and she slid under. The last thing I saw, the Four Chaplains were up there praying for the safety of the men. They had done everything they could. I did not see them again. They themselves did not have a chance without their life jackets.

Never forget the memory of The Four Chaplains.

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