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The American Legion, Legionnaires of Lewis County to
Host Four Chaplains Service February 02
Published: January 27, 2025
at 07:00 a.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 host the Four Chaplains Service
on Sunday, February 2nd, at 11 a.m., 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.
American Legion posts nationwide to remember Four Chaplains Day with yearly
memorial services. Refreshments will be served following the service.
In 1943, four young Army chaplains joined 900 raw recruits headed for
battle in Nazi-occupied Europe on the U.S.A.T. Dorchester. During the
voyage, a German submarine torpedo ripped through the ship's hull, 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 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
ADDITIONAL 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.
The four chaplains spread out as soldiers rushed to lifeboats, comforting
the wounded and directing others to safety. One survivor, Private William
Bednar, later said, “I could hear men crying, pleading, praying. But 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 on Jan. 18,
1961.
On Feb. 3, 1951, President Truman dedicated a chapel in the chaplains’
honor at Grace Baptist Church in Philadelphia. However, 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.
American Legion posts nationwide to remember Four Chaplains Day with yearly
memorial services. For information on conducting 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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