How had I never heard the story of the Four Chaplains before? On February 3, 1943, a German submarine torpedoed the USAT Dorchester, which was serving as a transfer ship for Allied troops, off the coast of Newfoundland. Four chaplains on board — a Methodist, a Jewish rabbi, a Catholic priest, and a Reformed Church minister — heroically ministered to the 904 men on the ship as it began to sink:
The torpedo knocked out the Dorchester’s electrical system, leaving the ship dark. Panic set in among the men on board, many of them trapped below decks. The chaplains sought to calm the men and organize an orderly evacuation of the ship, and helped guide wounded men to safety. As life jackets were passed out to the men, the supply ran out before each man had one. The chaplains removed their own life jackets and gave them to others. They helped as many men as they could into lifeboats, and then linked arms and, saying prayers and singing hymns, went down with the ship.
“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.” —Grady Clark, survivor
Orthodox. Faithful. Free.
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George L. Fox, Alexander D. Goode, John P. Washington, and Clark V. Poling were all posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Service Cross — but I imagine their reward in Heaven is greater. God bless our military chaplains!