[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 27, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E15]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           THE FOUR CHAPLAINS

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                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 27, 1998

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to take this opportunity to honor the 
legacy of the four chaplains, who, over 50 years ago, bravely gave 
their own lives in the icy waters of the North Atlantic so that others 
might live on. The chaplains--George L. Fox and Clark V. Poling, 
Protestant ministers; Alexander D. Goode, a rabbi; and John P. 
Washington, a Catholic priest--offered their life vests to four other 
men aboard the U.S.A.T. Dorchester after the ship had been torpedoed by 
a German U-boat in the early-mourning hours of February 3, 1943.
  The Dorchester, carrying 902 servicemen, merchant seamen and civilian 
workers, was one of three ships in the SG-19 convoy travelling from 
Newfoundland, across the Atlantic, toward a U.S. Army base on the coast 
of Greenland. The risk involved in the triad's journey was well-known: 
the area was constantly patrolled by German U-boats, and the Coast 
Guard Cutter Tampa, a second ship in the convoy, had hours before the 
attack spotted a German submarine with its sonar.
  In the moments just after midnight on February 3rd, as the Dorchester 
crept within 15 miles of its final destination, the ship's captain, 
Hans J. Danielsen, noticed a German U-boat fast approaching on the 
horizon. At 12:55 of that same morning the German submarine fired a 
series of torpedoes, which struck the Dorchester well below the water-
line, injuring the ship beyond all repair.
  Many men were killed instantly from the impact of the blast; many 
others--including those seriously injured by the initial barrage, and 
the chaplains--would go down with the ship. As the water poured in 
through the battered starboard side it became clear that the supply of 
life jackets was insufficient, and it was into the ensuing scene of 
chaos, despair, and disbelief that the chaplains contributed their 
fearless ray of light which shone through the darkness.
  When the dearth of life jackets was revealed, the chaplains readily 
and without question removed their own and gave them to four frightened 
young men; as the Dorchester then began to go down, the chaplains 
stayed beside the injured men, and offered prayers for those who had 
died and were injured in the wreckage. It is a testament to their own 
faith and to their overarching love of man that the chaplains--
representatives of three distinct religious creeds--were united in the 
end as one petitioner before God. When the deck slanted into the water 
and the chaplains breathed their final breaths they were seen by 
survivors with their arms linked together in a final symbol of their 
unity of faith and vision. As stated by Francis B. Thorton in his epic, 
Sea of Glory: The Magnificent Story of the Four Chaplains: ``Catholic, 
Jew and Protestant; each proved that night that courage knows no 
distinction of creed, bravery no division of caste.''
  Of the 902 men who boarded the Dorchester on February 2, 1943, 672 
died, leaving 230 survivors. The legacy of the four chaplains, however, 
will forever live on through the hearts and minds of the American 
people. For the qualities which their story defines--hope, self-
sacrifice, and inexorable faith--are the qualities which define true 
American heroes. It is for this reason that the four courageous 
chaplains must not be forgotten, lest the attributes which they so 
thoroughly represent be forgotten as well.
  The four Army chaplains were posthumously awarded the Distinguished 
Service Cross and Purple Heart at a ceremony at Fort Meyer, VA in 1944. 
A chapel in Philadelphia honoring their heroic act of selflessness was 
dedicated by President Truman in February of 1951, and the chaplains 
were posthumously awarded a Special Medal of Heroism in January of 1951 
by President Kennedy. Additionally, a memorial fountain at the National 
Memorial Park outside of Washington, DC was constructed in 1955 to 
attest to their extraordinary act of courage.
  On February 1st, the chaplains will be honored in services by the 
Rockland County American Legion and the Orange County American Legion. 
In Rockland County the services will be held at the Cavalry Baptist 
Church; in Orange County they will be held at the First Baptist Church 
of Middletown.
  Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues to join in the commemoration of 
the chaplains' heroic act of courage which we commemorate throughout 
this month.

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