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Love in Action: The Four Chaplains
On the bitter cold morning of February 3, 1943, the passenger ship, S.S. Dorchester, was steaming in convoy nearing the frozen coast of Greenland. The 902 souls aboard depended on convoy procedure and three small Coast Guard cutters to protect them from the ravening wolf packs of U-boats, still dominating the North Atlantic. The servicemen, merchant seamen, and civilian workers were destined for a critical support base in Greenland, so were only 150 miles from safe harbor. It was then, in the pre-dawn darkness, that a torpedo slammed into the hull, deep below the waterline.
A diligent sonar operator on a sister ship, the Tampa, had alerted the convoy of suspicious sonar contact. Dorchester’s civilian captain had ordered everyone into life vests, but too many of the young men failed to act, lacking effective unit leadership. The U-boat surfaced and fired a spread of three torpedoes, one of which struck home with devastating effect. We know of this from post-war records from the U-boat command. The ship, an old coastal steamer, was going down rapidly. The ship’s radio was knocked out, but one cutter saw the blast and came charging to the rescue with another, while the third shepherded the rest of the convoy to safe harbor.
The convoy had been short enough, or the civilian captain insufficiently steeped in the need for military emergency drills, that the crew and passengers were stumbling and panicky in their response. Life vests still needed to be handed out, and the limited lifeboats needed to be successfully lowered and filled. Into the chaos stepped four men, not one of them a combat officer. Indeed, they were all four junior Army chaplains, holding the military rank of lieutenant: Lt. George L. Fox, Methodist; Lt. Alexander D. Goode, Jewish; Lt. John P. Washington, Roman Catholic; and Lt. Clark V. Poling, Dutch Reformed. The four men must have berthed together, as they suddenly acted as a unit.
It was the chaplains who opened a storage room of life vests and handed them out with words of encouragement. When one disoriented sailor turned back to go below deck for his gloves, Rabbi Goode stopped him, saying that Goode had two pairs and the petty officer should take his spare pair. This was, of course, not true. The rabbi, like the priest and two pastors, had already determined that they would give up their equipment and seats in a lifeboat to save others.
Sure enough, when the last life vest was handed out, the four chaplains took their vests off as one, handing them to four terrified young men. The chaplains continued to encourage the men as the ship rapidly sank into the killing cold of the winter seas. If you were in a lifeboat, you had a chance. If you were floating in a tight group with life vests, you had a slimmer chance of surviving long enough for the nearby cutters to fish you out and begin reversing the hypothermia. Getting people calmed down enough to operate together towards these two survival strategies took leadership. In this case, it was a sort of sacrificial leadership by four religious leaders.
The reports of the 230 survivors all agreed. The four chaplains were seen standing together and could be heard across the water praying and singing hymns, in English, Latin, and Hebrew, until the ship slipped below the icy waters, only 20 minutes after the torpedo struck.
Congress, and the public, was so impressed by the four chaplains‘ conduct, that they called for the Medal of Honor to be awarded to the four chaplains. However, the military leadership insisted that the recently tightened restrictions, and the military’s read of heroism “under fire” did not include action on a ship after being struck by a torpedo. Make of this what you will, Congress, after a long time, finally gave up and created a special award, signed into law by President Eisenhower and presented to the four chaplains’ family survivors. It was intended by Congress to have the same prestige as the Medal of Honor.
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Rejyresentatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President is authorized to award posthumously appropriate medals and certificates to Chaplain George L. Fox of Gilman, Vermont; Chaplain Alexander D. Goode of Washington, District of Columbia; Chaplain Clark V. Poling of Schenectady, New York; and Chaplain John P.Washington of Arlington, New Jersey, in recognition of the extraordinary heroism displayed by them when they sacrificed their lives in the sinking of the troop transport Dorchester in the North Atlantic in 1943 by giving up their life preservers to other men aboard such
transport.
SEC. 2. The medals and certificates authorized by this Act shall be in such form and of such design as shall be prescribed by the President, and shall be awarded to such representatives of the aforementioned
chaplains as the President may designate.
SEC. 3. There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may. be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.
Approved July 14, 1960.
The four young religious leaders were not thinking of military glory or the praise of men. They were living out their faiths in love.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
— John 15:3, King James Version
P.S. This post is within this month’s theme: “Love, Hate, and other Feelings.” It is a departure from my usual habit of rattling my cup for additional posts, bringing out disco, bears, or the occasional disco bear to induce Ricochet members to sign up. I do strongly encourage you to click the theme link at the beginning of this paragraph and sign up for a day, whether you have a clear topic now or not. My thanks to early volunteers, @JamesHageman, @bryangstephens, @HenryCastaigne, @GossamerCat, @SusanQuinn, and @DavidSable.
Besides my usual eclectic playlist post, we have had a wonderful Valentine to a daughter and a heartfelt reflection on hate threatening to swallow up a person. The comments in response are great as well. More, please.
P.P.S. I was inspired by a chance meeting with a veteran who was preparing an annual “Four Chaplains” memorial ceremony in the area. This is one of many lesser-known commemorations that can be found in the rich military tradition of America. You can read more at the Four Chaplains Memorial Foundation.
Published in Group Writing
Wow!
Yes, I have read of them before. But it is always humbling and inspiring to have my memory refreshed that such men existed, served and died.
My thoughts turn inward and They didn’t die alone.
These were men.
A powerful, moving story. Thanks, Clifford.
Colonel,
This is how you encourage us?!?
Just joking. I really mean to say this: that the tears in my eyes will need to dry before I start to build up the confidence to add my own post to the series.
Beautiful. I second what so many have said here. The 4 Chaplains were included in a Heroes book I had as a child. The picture of the four of them in the water, arm in arm, praying together has stayed with me. Probably not completely historically accurate but their bravery, faith, and care for everyone on the ship is what came through to me as a child. Having fairly recently read The Good Shepherd and watched the 1950’s (British) Titanic film, both brought home the bitter cold of the northern Atlantic and the additional burden that added to that theater of WWII.
I had the postage stamp but didn’t know the story behind it. Thank you.