Four Chaplains event postponed by Legion because of pandemic

Landt-Thiel American Legion Post 470 in Saukville announced this week it is postponing the annual Four Chaplains tribute because of Covid-19 restrictions.

Four Chaplains Day is observed nationwide each year on Feb. 3 to commemorate four military chaplains, also known as the Immortal Chaplains or the Dorchester Chaplains, who died rescuing about 900 civilian and military personnel as the troop ship SS Dorchester sank on Feb. 3, 1943, en route to Greenland after being struck by a German torpedo.

The chaplains — George Fox (Methodist), Alexander Goode (Jewish), Clark Poling (Dutch Reformed) and John Washington (Roman Catholic) — helped the other soldiers board lifeboats and gave up their own life jackets when the supply ran out. The chaplains joined arms, said prayers, and sang hymns as they went down with the ship.

Each of the chaplains was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Purple Heart. They were deemed ineligible for the Congressional Medal of Honor because they had not engaged in combat with the enemy. Instead, Congress created a medal for them, with the same weight and importance as the Medal of Honor.

“The self-sacrifice of the Four Chaplains was a heroic act,” Legion Auxiliary President Mary Ellen Race said.

“It is our charge to see that this brief, but significant, portion of American history is not lost, and that the lessons of cooperation and selfless service are proclaimed.”

A new date for the tribute has not seen set, Race said.

 

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