Veterans to honor WWII's 'Four Chaplains'

A memorial ceremony recalling the heroism of a group of World War II clergymen known as "The Four Chaplains" will be conducted at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 3, at the American Legion hall in Conception Junction.

The event has become a tradition for the Legion's Tri- C Post 464 and honors four U.S. Army chaplains who sacrificed their lives during the sinking of the USAT Dorchester.

A U.S. Army transport ship, the Dorchester was destroyed by a German submarine while on its way to Greenland as part of a convoy on Feb. 3, 1943. Approximately 230 of the more than 900 soldiers and sailors aboard lost their lives in the attack.

As the ship was sinking, the supply of life jackets ran out, and the clergymen, sometimes referred to as the "Immortal Chaplains," removed their flotation vests and gave them to other men.

Then, after helping as many passengers and crew as possible into lifeboats, they linked arms and went down with the ship.

The four men — George L. Fox, Alexander D. Goode, John P. Washington and Clark V. Poling —  were relatively new chaplains, and each held the rank of first lieutenant. They had met one another at the Army Chaplains School at Harvard University, where they trained for assignment in the European theater before shipping out on the Dorchester.

Fox was a Methodist minister, Goode a rabbi, Washington a Catholic priest and Poling a member of the Reformed Church in America.

As the ship went down, according to later reports, survivors heard the chaplains singing hymns and praying in Hebrew, Latin and English.