American Legion 4 Chaplains Memorial interfaith service

THE SAGA OF THE FOUR CHAPLAINS

It was known as Torpedo Junction the U-Boat-infested icy water of the North Atlantic during World War II.

On January 23 1943 the U.S.A.T. DORCHESTER an old coastal steamer quickly pressed into military service left New York Harbor bound for Greenland.

The United States Transport Ship DORCHESTER was escorted by three Coast Guard cutters. Two patrolled the flanks; the third the TAMPA was 3000 yards out front. Most of the men were seasick and green with nausea. The weather was bitterly cold with gale-force winds. Ice began building up on the decks slowing the U.S.A.T. DORCHESTER to ten knots.

Moving among them were four Army Chaplains: George Fox Alexander Goode Clark Poling and John Washington. The Chaplains talked with and listened to the men -- soothing apprehensions offering encouragement sharing jokes. By their concern and their camaraderie with the men and one another they brought solace.

 On February 2 1943 the TAMPA's sonar detected the presence of a submarine; she dropped back and swept the periphery of the convoy but failed to find the submarine's position. That evening the TAMPA returned to the patrol area up front and the other ships followed.

The captain ordered the men to sleep in their clothing with lifejackets close at hand. They were only 150 miles from Greenland. With daylight there would be air cover from the American base. It was just after midnight on February 3 1943. An enemy submarine fired a torpedo toward the U.S.A.T. DORCHESTER's aging flank.

The missile exploded in the boiler room destroying the electric supply and releasing suffocating clouds of steam and ammonia gas. Many on board died instantly; some were trapped below deck. Others jolted from their bunks groped and stumbled their way to the decks of the stricken vessel. Taking on water rapidly the ship began listing to starboard.

 Overcrowded lifeboats capsized; rafts drifted away before anyone could reach them. Men clung to the rails frozen with fear unable to let. go and plunge into the dark churning water far below.

The testimony of survivors tells us that the sole order and the only fragment of hope in this chaos came from the Four Chaplains who calmly guided men to their boat stations. They opened a storage locker and distributed lifejackets. Then they coaxed men frozen with fear over the side. Soon the supply of lifejackets was exhausted.

Several survivors report watching in awe as the Four Chaplains either gave away or forced upon other young men their own lifejackets. These four men of God had given away their only means of saving themselves in order to save others. The chaplains gathered together and led the men around them in a prayer and a hymn. They linked their arms together as the slant of the deck became severe. And just that way with their arms linked in brotherhood and their heads bowed in prayer they sank beneath the waves.

It was a heroic act. It was not the only heroic act aboard the U.S.A.T. DORCHESTER but it was especially significant because of the identity of these four young men: two Protestants a Catholic and a Jew. Today as it has these many years the Chapel of Four Chaplains serves the memory of these brave men and carries their message of interfaith cooperation and selfless service to every part of the nation

Host or Publisher American Legion CSM Gary W. Crisp Post 289