Carol Perrine and Cindy Apel, members of the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 367, presented a commemorative program on the Four Chaplains at a meeting on Feb. 5.
Feb. 3 has been declared Four Chaplains Day to commemorate the sacrificial heroism of four military chaplains who enabled many men to survive when the USAT Dorchester was hit by a torpedo attack in World War II. The Dorchester, a troop transport, was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine off the coast of Greenland. The chaplains helped other men board lifeboats and gave up their own life jackets when the supply ran out. They joined arms, said prayers and sang hymns as they went down with the ship.
The Army chaplains, all first lieutenants who perished, were George L. Fox, Alexander D. Goode, Clark V. Poling and John P. Washington. Of the 920 men on board the USAT Dorchester, only 230 survived.
At the meeting, biographies of the chaplains were shared with help from Desert Storm veteran Rev. Ruffin Stepp, Navy veteran Ray Nazarene and World War II veteran Fred Burton.
ABOVE: Rev. Ruffin Stepp, Carol Perrine, Ray Nazarene, Fred Burton and Cindy Apel.
