Greater Love Hath No Man
The World War II Sacrifice of the Chaplains
The military outcome of WW II was very much in doubt as 1943 began. After a string of setbacks in the first half of 1942, the U.S. had begun to make slow and costly gains in the Pacific islands. Our troops had landed in North Africa in November, aiming to link up with the British operating in Egypt to drive out the vaunted German AfrikaKorps. Western Europe remained in the Nazi grip as the Soviets were finally fighting the Germans to a standstill at Stalingrad and Leningrad.
Meanwhile, German submarines continued to take a terrible toll on ships carrying desperately needed supplies across the North Atlantic to hard-pressed Britain and the Soviet Union. The United States was supplementing the sea traffic with air cargo. For this purpose, airfields were constructed in Greenland, a colony of Denmark whose ambassador had invited the U.S. to protect the giant island after the German conquest of the mother country.
The U.S. Army Transport Dorchester was a converted luxury liner which had been built in 1926 to cruise between Miami and other East Coast ports with a passenger capacity of just over 300. On the night of February 2-3, 1943, it was less than150 miles from its Greenland destination with 902 officers, enlisted men, and crew on board.
The Attack
At about 1 A.M., a German U-Boat fired torpedoes at the Dorchester. At least two struck, and it is believed that approximately 100 men were killed immediately by one of the hits. The ship began to sink rapidly, and the men, most of whom had been sleeping, rushed to the deck. Although they had been instructed to sleep in their lifebelts, many of them had removed them because of the extremely hot conditions in crowded sleeping quarters near the boilers. Many of these lifebelts were now lost as the ship listed and took on water. Several lifeboats were also damaged or lost in the chaos.
Four chaplains who had recently trained together were also on board. They were Father John Washington (Catholic), Reverend Clark Poling (Dutch Reformed), Rabbi Alexander Goode (Jewish), and Reverend George Fox (Methodist). While calming and encouraging the men, the chaplains found a deck box full of lifebelts and began distributing them. When the box was emptied, there were still many personnel without them. The chaplains removed their own and gave them to four others who lacked them.
Then, linking arms, they prayed aloud and went down with the more than 660 who were lost that night. Only 230 made it to the lifeboats and were rescued.
Rarely are human beings able to live up to the cherished ideals of brotherhood and self-sacrifice in the face of imminent death. This unforgettable demonstration by the four chaplains was publicized throughout the war to inspire both the armed forces and home front civilians.
Sources:
www.homeof heroes.com
www.greatships.net
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