American Legion honors the ‘Immortal Chaplains’

World War II was raging when a German U-boat torpedoed the SS Dorchester, a U.S. military personnel transport vessel, on Feb. 3, 1943, in the North Atlantic, between Labrador and Greenland. Of the 904 aboard, 675 perished in the attack.

In the final moments before the ship sank into the frigid Atlantic, four chaplains — two Protestant, one Jewish and one Catholic — linked arms and recited prayers to give hope to the dying men, after they had passed out lifejackets to as many as they could — all the while forsaking their own safety. The four, often referred to as “the Immortal Chaplains,” ultimately died.

The U.S. Coast Guard managed to rescue 230 men from the turbulent waters of the Atlantic. The last survivor of the attack, longtime Baldwin resident Joseph Archer, died in 2009.

For 75 years, Baldwin American Legion Post No. 246 has held its Four Chaplains Memorial Service to commemorate the bravery and sacrifice of Lt. George Fox, a Methodist minister; Lt. Alexander Goode, a rabbi; Lt. Clark Poling, a Dutch Reform minister; and Lt. John Washington, a Catholic priest. This year, the ceremony took place Feb. 7.

As it has each year, the American Legion left four seats empty, with only life vests on them, to commemorate the chaplains. Robert Hare, of Baldwin, the American Legion post commander, recounted the story of how the Dorchester went down, and how the chaplains showed fortitude in the face of death.

The post also annually gives Archer’s family a folded American flag to remember his life and legacy. This year Archer’s daughter Aileen received the flag. “He didn’t like to really remember it,” she said. “The war was not something that he ever wanted to be a part of, but the one thing that always stuck out in my mind was that he remembered serving Mass with Father Washington way before the ship sank, when he was an altar boy… He said that it was a comfort to him.”

She said that the Four Chaplains Memorial Service is a way for her to remember her father and be close to him, even now. “He loved this country very, very, much,” she said, fighting back tears. “He had a very, very strong faith up until the day that he died.”

A number of elected leaders were on hand for the ceremony. “We recognize and remember those lost, but [what] we also do in this program is remember the light that was shining that evening on those dark shores,” State Assemblyman Brian Curran, of Lynbrook, said. “We remember the sacrifice and the courage shown by those four chaplains, all of different faiths, who spent their last moments making sure that they reinforced and comforted their fellow servicemen.”

State Sen. John Brooks, of Seaford, said, “The Dorchester chaplains were a study in diversity. For all of us that have ever put the uniform of this country on, we understand our obligation, and we understand what’s entailed. But few can imagine the additional burden these four men had on them when the certainty of what was going to happen was known.”

“It’s humbling to see the amazing self-sacrifice that our men and women in uniform, and the chaplains who accompany them into danger, have taken on throughout our country’s history,” Brooks continued.

“They made such an incredible sacrifice, and while the story is a sad one, I think it’s also really incredibly inspirational,” said Town of Hempstead Supervisor Laura Gillen, who attended the Four Chaplains ceremony for the first time to present the American Legion with a citation. It is “the courage that we can find — that we can all find — within ourselves if you listen to God’s voice, to do his work in times of trouble, and to help others.”