No Greater Love …

February 3, marks the 74th anniversary of the tragic sinking in the icy North Atlantic of the United States Army Transport Dorchester traveling from Newfoundland toward an American base in Greenland.  The Dorchester was carrying 902 service members, merchant seamen and civilian workers.  Just before 1:00 a.m., some 100-miles from Greenland, a German submarine torpedo struck the starboard side with a blast killing scores of men, and many more seriously wounded.  The sinking resulted in the loss of 672 lives in 1943.

Witnesses of the event have recounted in the Congressional Record the heroism and self-sacrifice of four chaplains of different faiths: Lt. George L. Fox, Methodist: Lt. Alexander D. Goode, Jewish; Lt. John P. Washington, Catholic; and Lt. Clark V. Poling, Dutch Reformed.

Witnesses have verified that during the approximate 18-minutes the ship was sinking, the four chaplains went from soldier-to-soldier bringing hope to the men struggling to survive.  They could be heard encouraging the frightened, praying for the dying, and guiding the disoriented toward the lifeboats.  While guiding men to safety and handing out lifejackets from storage on the deck, when there were no more lifejackets to distribute, they removed their own and gave them to four frightened young men so as to save their lives.  The chaplains were last seen arm-in-arm in prayer and grasping the railing of the ship’s deck as it slipped into the frigid Atlantic Ocean.

Many of the 230 men who survived owed their lives to these four chaplains.  Their unique interfaith spirit and love for their fellowmen was memorialized by the United State Postal Service on a popular 1948 postage stamp with the title: “These Immortal Chaplains-Interfaith in Action.”

Congress in 1957, passed a Concurrent Resolution to honor these Immortal Chaplains and the men who died with them; and Presidents Truman and Eisenhower issued similar proclamations calling for national recognition and participation in memorial services throughout the land to be, observed annually by the American Legion and others on the first Sunday in February.

In turn, Congress created a special Medal of Valor in memory of the four chaplains in 1960, never to be repeated.  The United States Congress did pass a unanimous resolution on the first day of the 2nd Session of the 105th Congress, January 27, 1998, designating February 3 as “Four Chaplains Day,” which was co-authored by U.S. Senator Rod Grams, of Minnesota, and a similar bill passed unanimously in the Minnesota State Legislature at that same time.

The historic Fort Snelling Memorial Chapel, where I have the privilege of pastoring, has a permanent memorial in stained glass depicting the compassion of the Four Chaplains and has commemorated this memorial service for decades.

Jesus said and lived before us – “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”  (John 15:13)  Today we remember the immortal Four Chaplains … who put flesh to these words of Christ.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

This blog posting previously appeared on February 3, 2014.