[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 27, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S60]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    SENATE RESOLUTION--169--TO DESIGNATE FEBRUARY 3, 1998 AS ``FOUR 
                            CHAPLAINS DAY''

  Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. Grams, Mr. Torricelli, Mr. D'Amato, Mr. 
Wellstone, Mr. Inouye, Mr. Bond, Mr. Moyhihan, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. 
Abraham, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. Hutchinson, and Mr. Daschle) 
submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to.

                              S. Res. 169

       Whereas February 3, 1998, is the 55th anniversary of the 
     sinking of the United States Army transport Dorchester, an 
     event that resulted in the loss of nearly 700 lives in 1943 
     and for which witnesses have recounted in the Congressional 
     Record the heroism of 4 chaplains of different faiths, 
     Lieutenant George L. Fox, Methodist; Lieutenant Alexander D. 
     Goode, Jewish; Lieutenant John P. Washington, Catholic; and 
     Lieutenant Clark V. Poling, Dutch Reformed;
       Whereas witnesses have verified that during the approximate 
     18 minutes the ship was sinking after being torpedoed off the 
     coast of Greenland, the 4 chaplains went from soldier to 
     soldier calming fears and handing out life jackets and 
     guiding men to safety and when there were no more life 
     jackets, they removed their own life jackets and gave them to 
     others to save their lives and were last seen arm-in-arm in 
     prayer on the hull of the ship;
       Whereas many of the 230 men who survived owed their lives 
     to these 4 chaplains, and witnesses among them recounted the 
     unique ecumenical spirit and love for their fellow man these 
     4 demonstrated that were later illustrated in a popular 
     postage stamp issued by the United States in 1948 with the 
     title ``Interfaith in Action'';
       Whereas Congress passed House Concurrent Resolution 90 in 
     1957 to honor these 4 chaplains and the men who died with 
     them, and President Truman and President Eisenhower issued 
     similar proclamations calling for national recognition and 
     participation in memorial services throughout the land that 
     have been observed annually by the American Legion on the 
     first Sunday in February;
       Whereas Congress undertook to create a special medal for 
     valor given to the memory of the 4 chaplains in 1960 and 
     never to be repeated; and
       Whereas memorials to the chaplains' heroic sacrifice abound 
     in many places throughout the country including the Heroes 
     Window in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) requests the President of the United States to issue a 
     proclamation designating February 3, 1998, as ``Four 
     Chaplains Day''; and
       (2) invites the people of the United States, of all 
     religions and creeds and in all communities, to observe this 
     date with appropriate ceremonies, celebrations, and 
     commemorations.

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