1998, Congress did something that rarely happens by casting a unanimous vote. It was to declare February 3rd of each year as Four Chaplains Day. Each year, events are held by military organizations to commemorate the events of this day in 1943.
Methodist minister George L. Fox, Reform Rabbi Alexander D. Goode (PhD), Catholic priest Father John P. Washington, and Reformed Church in America minister Clark V. Poling were all first lieutenants. They had met in chaplain’s school at Harvard and were aboard the American troop ship SS Dorchester, heading to their first assignments. WWII was in progress, and there were 904 people aboard the Dorchester.
“During the early morning hours of February 3, 1943, at 12:55, Dorchester was torpedoed by German submarine U-223. The damage was severe, boiler power was lost, and there was inadequate steam to sound the full 6-whistle signal to abandon ship, and Dorchester sank by the bow in about 20 minutes. Loss of power prevented the crew from sending a radio distress signal, and no rockets or flares were launched to alert the escorts. A severe list prevented launch of some port side lifeboats, and some lifeboats capsized through overcrowding.”1
The four chaplains on board immediately started helping other soldiers get to the lifeboats, giving up their own life jackets and gloves to the soldiers. Due to the frigid temperatures, only 230 survived. Rescue ships arriving on the scene found hundreds of dead bodies floating in the water, held afloat by the life jackets.
Survivor Grady Clark recounts the final things he saw that morning. “As I swam away from the ship, I looked back. The flares had lighted everything. The bow came up high and she slid under. The last thing I saw, the Four Chaplains were up there praying for the safety of the men. They had done everything they could. I did not see them again. They themselves did not have a chance without their life jackets. They helped as many men as they could into lifeboats, and then linked arms and, saying prayers and singing hymns, went down with the ship.”2
Posthumously they were awarded the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Service Cross. In another rare moment, Congress again voted unanimously to commission the Four Chaplains’ Medal on July 14, 1960, through Public Law 86-656. The medals were presented posthumously to the next of kin of each of the four chaplains by Secretary of the Army Wilber M. Brucker at Fort Myer, Virginia, on January 18, 1961.3
Such courage is beyond admirable. Having never been in such a situation, I cannot imagine what the split-second decision-making process must be like to conclude that you will die for others. This must be something deeper than intellectual in a person. It has to be at the core of their soul to care for and love others to this degree.
This is the kind of love Jesus has for us. Consider these verses:
John 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
John 10:15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
And the magnitude of this love is seen in Romans 5:6-8. “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (7) For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. (8) But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Today, we celebrate the four chaplains and honor their sacrifice. But we also call to remembrance the greatest of all sacrifices given on our behalf, the life and blood of Jesus.
1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Dorchester
2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Chaplains
3Ibid.
