This story actually begins on February 2, 1943.
In the chilly waters between Newfoundland and Greenland, a large vessel named the U.S.A.T. Dorchester sailed in the night. Filled with 902 servicemen and merchant seamen, the captain Hans J. Danielsen was cautiously moving through the sea.
In this area, German U-boats were skulking around the waters, looking to destroy any vessel they find. The convoy included two other vessels and Coast Guard escorts. This included the Coast Guard cutters Comanche, Escanaba and the Tampa.
At 150 miles out from the American base in Greenland, Captain Danielsen ordered his men to keep life jackets on, knowing they needed to stay alert.
On February 3, at 12:55 in the morning, the Germans located the USAT Dorchester. Firing a fan of three torpedoes, a deadly hit on the starboard side would sink the ship in 20 minutes.
Captain Danielson gave the order to abandon ship. The hit knocked out the radio, but the CGC Comanche saw the explosion and moved in to assist. The CGC Escanaba also moved in to help as the CGC Tampa continued the escort of the other two vessels.
But this is what you need to hear…
Panic and chaos hit the men as they struggled to find a safe way off the ship. Lifeboats were lowered, overwhelmed as they started to sink with too many men. Lifejackets were lost, many of the men refusing to wear them into the night as the captain had ordered, so they were left without.
As shipmates died around them, their ship falling into the frigid waters, many were struggling to find a way to survive.
The calm of four men not only saved lives, but also sacrificed their own. Lieutenant George Fox, Lieutenant Alexander Goode, Lieutenant John Washington and Lieutenant Clark Poling. These are the four chaplains.
As men scattered and panicked, the four chaplains prayed over everyone, offering support and preaching courage. Witnesses describe the officers as calm, helping the injured and guiding the men from below to topside.
One survivor, Petty Officer John Mahoney, tried to go back to his room for his gloves. He was stopped by Lt. Goode, who gave Mahoney his own gloves.
As the chaplains went topside, lifejackets became sparse and soon, there were none left. As men lined up, the chaplains gave away their own.
The four chaplains were a Methodist, a Jew, a Roman Catholic and a Dutch Reformed (a reformed Protestant denomination).
When they gave away their life jackets, they didn’t ask for a member of their own denomination to step up, they just gave to the next person in line.
In the end…
As survivors floated away, they witnessed the four chaplains link arms as they balanced on the deck, their prayers echoing in the night as the ship sank into the water.
Their valor and sacrifice earned them the Distinguished Service Cross and Purple Heart posthumously on December 19, 1944.
672 men died that night and we know of four who were given a chance at life because of the life jackets the chaplains freely gave away.
Our county is chastised with denominational stress. We divide ourselves in every way, making sure to either not cross that line or making the line clear to others. The idea that I can’t agree with you so that makes me hate you, has become so common, the divide has gotten deeper.
To look at the valor of four men that had different religious ideas, yet they sacrificed for the country they love, it should give us all a convicted spirit. They didn’t care where the line was, they didn’t care if they crossed that line of religious division, they did what was right.
Their story hits deeper than religion, it’s how we should get along with our neighbor.
The four chaplains have a website in their honor. Click here to learn more about their story and hear more eyewitness and survivor accounts.
A great story. Thank you.
I have visited Dachau and Normandy twice. These stories are being lost in age and the new “political correctness” (Dachau prisoncamp has been refurbished in the last years to accommodate less impact).
I interviewed Mr. Jose Cifuentes (Sr., Joe’s father) right before his passing. He was on the third wave landing on Omaha Beach, and progressed to Battle of the Bulge…at 17yrs young; a Spanish immigrant’s son. Pure Valor!
Thank you for sharing…
Thanks for reading! I agree that political correctness is seeping into our history and has already taken away certain aspects in order to make it more palpable for the next generation. With our history lost, we’ll be doomed to repeat it over and over.