Today Is FOUR CHAPLAINS' DAY

Today Is FOUR CHAPLAINS' DAY

On the frigid night of FEBRUARY 3, 1943, the overcrowded Allied ship U.S.A.T. Dorchester, carrying 902 servicemen, plowed through the dark waters near Greenland.

At 1:00am, a Nazi submarine fired a torpedo into the transport's flank, killing many in the explosion and trapping others below deck.

The ship sank in 27 minutes.

The two escort ships, Coast Guard cutters Comanche and Escanaba, were able to rescue only 231 survivors. In the chaos of fire, smoke, oil and ammonia, four chaplains calmed sailors and distributed life jackets:

Lt. George L. Fox, Methodist;

Lt. Clark V. Poling, Dutch Reformed;

Lt. John P. Washington, Roman Catholic; and

Lt. Alexander D. Goode, Jewish.

When there were no more life jackets, the four chaplains ripped off their own and put them on four young men.

As the ship went down, survivors floating in rafts could see the four chaplains linking arms and bracing themselves on the slanting deck. They bowed their heads in prayer as they sank to their icy deaths.

Survivor Grady Clark wrote: "As I swam away from the ship, I looked back. The flares had lighted everything. The bow came up high and the ship 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."

In 1998, Congress honored them by declaring February 3rd "Four Chaplains Day.