Four Chaplains Day was celebrated Feb. 5 at the St.Paul’s Lutheran Church in Hackensack during their regular service.
Four Chaplains Day is celebrated every year in recognition of four Army chaplains who acted in the spirit of heroic sacrifice and humanitarianism onboard a sinking ship.
On Feb. 3, 1943, four Army chaplains — Father John P. Washington, Rabbi Alexander D. Goode, and the Revs. George L. Fox and Clark V. Poling — gave up their life jackets so that others might live on the sinking U.S.A.T. Dorchester in the North Atlantic, after a German submarine fired a torpedo at the ship.
Of the 902 people onboard the Dorchester, only 230 survived. Many witnesses told us of the chaplains’ efforts to restore calm in a hopeless and chaotic situation, and how they were last seen at the ship’s stern, arms linked in prayer.
The survivors’ testimony and the chaplains’ bravery are preserved at the Chapel of Four Chaplains in the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
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Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.