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American Legion, Legionnaires of Lewis County Hosting
Four Chaplains Service on February 6
Published: January 26, 2022
at 12:30 p.m.
By: Press Release from Lowville American Legion
The American Legion, Legionnaires of Lewis County to
host Four Chaplains Service
Open to the Public
Lowville, NY- The American
Legion, Legionnaires of Lewis County will be hosting the Four Chaplains
Service on Sunday, February 6th at 12 noon, at the Lowville American
Legion. The Public is invited and encouraged to attend this brief solemn
event. We also encourage area churches to mention this during their
Sunday morning services.
Every year,
American Legion posts nationwide remember Four Chaplains Day with memorial
services. Refreshments will be served following the service.
In 1943, four
young Army chaplains joined 900 raw recruits who were headed for battle in
Nazi-occupied Europe on the U.S.A.T. Dorchester. During the voyage, a
torpedo from a German submarine ripped through the hull of the ship which
began to descend rapidly into the freezing waters of the North Atlantic. In
the frantic scramble for lifeboats, four chaplains on board—a Catholic
priest, a Jewish rabbi, and two Protestant ministers—directed many soldiers
to safety. When the life vest supply ran out, they selflessly removed their
own and gave them to the soldiers, knowing they could not possibly survive
without the flotation devices. They spent their last moments singing hymns
and praying, arm-in-arm, as the ship disappeared beneath the waves. (www.fourchaplains.org )
The American
Legion is located at 5383 Dayan Street, Lowville. Call 315-376-3712
for additional information.
XXX
ADDTITONAL
INFORMATION:
On Feb. 3, 1943,
the United States Army Transport Dorchester – a converted luxury liner –
was crossing the North Atlantic, transporting more than 900 troops to an
American base in Greenland. Aboard the ship were four chaplains of
different faiths: Reverend George Fox (Methodist), Jewish Rabbi Alexander
Goode, Reverend Clark Poling (Dutch Reformed) and Father John Washington
(Roman Catholic).
Around 12:55
a.m., a German U-boat fired a torpedo that struck Dorchester’s starboard
side, below the water line and near the engine room. The explosion
instantly killed 100 men and knocked out power and radio communication with
Dorchester’s three escort ships. Within 20 minutes, the transport sank and more than 670 men died.
As soldiers
rushed to lifeboats, the four chaplains spread out, comforting the wounded and directing others to safety. One survivor,
Private William Bednar, later said, “I could hear men crying, pleading,
praying. I could also hear the chaplains’ preaching courage. Their voices
were the only thing that kept me going.”
Another survivor,
John Ladd, watched the chaplains’ distribute life
jackets, and when they ran out, they removed theirs and gave them to four
young men. “It was the finest thing I have seen, or hope to see, this side
of heaven,” he recalled.
As Dorchester
sank, the chaplains were seen linked arm in arm, praying.
Fox, Goode,
Poling and Washington were posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service
Cross and the Purple Heart, and in 1948, Congress declared Feb. 3 to be
Four Chaplains Day. The four chaplains were also honored with a U.S.
postage stamp that year.
Because of the
Medal of Honor’s strict requirements of heroism under fire, Congress
authorized a one-time Chaplain’s Medal for Heroism on July 14, 1960. The
award was presented to the chaplains’ next of kin Jan. 18, 1961.
On Feb. 3, 1951,
President Truman dedicated a chapel in the chaplains’ honor at Grace
Baptist Church in Philadelphia. When the building was sold, the chapel fell
into disrepair, and the foundation overseeing the chapel moved it to the
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in 2001. The chapel was repaired in 2004 and
given the name Chapel of the Four Chaplains.
In 2006, at The
American Legion’s 88th National Convention in Salt Lake City, the National
Executive Committee passed a resolution that supported awarding the Medal
of Honor to Fox, Goode, Poling and Washington.
Every year,
American Legion posts nationwide remember Four Chaplains Day with memorial
services. To request information on how to conduct a Four Chaplains
Memorial Service, contact Charles Graybiel (cgraybiel@legion.org)
of the Americanism and Children & Youth Division at (317) 630-1212.
Learn more about
the four chaplains by visiting The Immortal Chaplains Foundation (www.immortalchaplains.org)
and The Four Chaplains Memorial Foundation (www.fourchaplains.org).
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