[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 17 (Thursday, January 26, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E57]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                     HONORING FOUR CHAPLAINS SUNDAY

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                         HON. GUS M. BILIRAKIS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 26, 2023

  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Four Chaplains 
Sunday.
  February 3, 2023 will mark the 80th anniversary of the sinking of 
troopship USAT Dorchester, which carried to their deaths 672 men, 
including 4 United States Army chaplains of 3 faiths who stood united 
in prayer as the ship went down.
  These 4 chaplains, Roman Catholic, Jewish, and Protestant, gave their 
life jackets to 4 soldiers and thus sacrificed their own lives to save 
the lives of others.
  The heroic deeds of Chaplains Lt. George L. Fox, Lt. Alexander D. 
Goode, Lt. Johnny P. Washington, and Lt. Clark V. Poling, and their 
combined act of supreme devotion and sacrifice for American liberty and 
human freedom, are an inspiring and shining example of real brotherhood 
for all time to the people of the world.
  In 1944, the Distinguished Service Cross and Purple Heart were 
awarded posthumously to the chaplains' next of kin, and in 1961, 
President Eisenhower awarded a special Medal for heroism, a one-time 
award authorized by Congress and intended to have the same weight and 
importance as the Medal of Honor.
  We must all see to it that their supreme sacrifice to the common 
cause of human freedom and justice for all shall not have been in vain.
  May their memory be everlasting.

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