The Four Chaplains Who Gave Their Lives on the USS Dorchester

From left to right: Lt Poling, Lt Goode, Lt Washington and Lt. Fox

The sacrifice of four men of God to quiet the panic and fear of World War II soldiers aboard a sinking ship has forever left its mark indelibly engraved on the minds of all who hear the story. It is a story of brotherly love and sacrifice ... and the power of faith in a moment of tragedy.

On February 3, 1943, the USS Dorchester would become another statistic in the 'ships-lost-at-sea' column. But unlike others before it, what would take place on deck of the Dorchester would become a significant event for all time.

Pushing through the treacherous waters with 905 American servicemen aboard bound for Greenland, the Dorchester left its convoy a few hours short of its destination, not an unusual maneuver. A Nazi submarine, stalking the ship undetected, took this opportunity to fire a torpedo straight toward the ship's flank. The missile struck amid ships and exploded in the boiler room. Many on board died instantly. Some were trapped below deck. Others, jolted from their bunks, half asleep, clambered to reach the decks of the stricken vessel. The ship, taking on water rapidly, began listing to starboard. Because security reasons prevented use of distress flares, escort vessels, still close enough to assist, pushed on into the darkness, unaware that the Dorchester was sinking. Overcrowded lifeboats capsized; rafts drifted away before anyone could reach them.

On deck, amid confusion and terror, Army Chaplains George L. Fox, Alexander D. Goode, Clark V. Poling and John P. Washington moved about calming frightened men, directing bewildered soldiers to lifeboats, and distributing life jackets with calm precision. Soon, the supply of jackets was exhausted, yet four young soldiers, afraid and without life vests, stood waiting. Quickly the chaplains stripped off their own and forced them upon the young soldiers.

The four men of God (one Catholic, one Jewish and two Protestant) had given away their only means of saving themselves in order to save others. Men rowing away from the sinking ship in lifeboats saw the chaplains clinging to each other on the slanting deck. Their arms were linked together, their heads were bowed as they prayed to the one God whom each of them loved and served.

The Dorchester sank beneath the icy waters of the North Atlantic, carrying with it the four chaplains and some 675 servicemen.

Sent to me by a friend. This may take a while to download, but is worth the wait. A beautifully put together slide show of today's troops.

http://www.iwo.com/heroes.htm

POSTED FOR VERONIQUE

hello,

My name is veronique , i live in France , i am a member of the

association of the memory flowers, i adopted 10 graves of american soldiers and

put flowers on their graves on every year, at the cemetery of

colleville sur mer. I would be grateful to get information about the soldiers :

Robert Thomas, J.S.Willis, Robert E De Luca,Donald J Mallard,Vincent G

Lord, I would like to know their ages, the missions they had during the

war, get a pictures because, each year, I put flowers on their graves

and i would so much like to put a face on their names. I look for the

existing relatives to inform them that their graves is respectfully and

that their memory kept alive. I would be grateful , if you are one of

them or if you know someone of their family. If you give me more

information about them because they died to save our country...

I'm proud to honor their memory. because we cannot forget them . They

gave their life for our liberty.

Here are some more details about them:

Name:Vincent G Lord Stata:Massachusetts

Matricule:31036526 Rank: corporal

Unity: 38th engineer General Service Regiment

Died:25-dec-1944

Name:Robert Thomas State:New York

Matricule:32428708 Rank:private first class, U.S .Army

Unity:988th quartermaster service company

died:27 oct 1945

Name: J.S.Willis State: Missouri

Matricule:37410081 Rank:private, U,S Army

unity:450th gasoline supply company

died:27-dec-1944

Name:Robert E De Luca State:New York

Matricule: z-485705 Rank: Merchant seaman

Unity: U.S.Merchant Marine,United States

died:27-oct-1944

Name: Donald J Mallard State:Massachusetts

Matricule:31076337 Rank:Private,U,S,Army

Unity: 3529thordnance automotive maintenance company

died:27 oct.1944

Thank you very much for your help

Upon recommendation from my friend Richard Horrell at WW2Connections, I placed an order from Alibris Books for:

Shoulder Sleeve Insignia of the US Armed Forces 1941-1945

by Richard W. Smith

The edition has 251 pages, with 32 color plates. Format is 81/2 in. wide by 11 in. tall.

Since I not only conduct research for myself, but for others now too, I know this will become an indispensable book in my library.

You can find copies through using these ISBN's:

Hardback ISBN 0-9618883-2-6

Paperback ISBN 0-9618883-3-4

My Uncle George was in the 341st Engineer Gen. Serv. Reg. In the one picture of him that I have seen he is wearing his dress uniform which has a shoulder patch that is round. Inside this round circle are cross hairs with the diagonal quarters colored in. It looks like cross hairs one sees in a rifle scope or a transit. I think this photo was taken in 1943 before he shipped out for Europe.

Can anyone shed some light on this? My research so far is that the 341st was a part of 1st Army for a little while in France and later 3rd Army after the breakout. I am not positive of this so if anyone knows for sure I would love to hear.

Thanks,

Parker