EMOTIONAL CEREMONY
Saratoga Springs American Legion Post honor four chaplains
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » In a Saturday morning ceremony that was described as humbling and emotional, the Saratoga Springs American Legion Post honored four WWII chaplains who were killed in the line of duty.
The Four Chaplains memorial service is an annual tradition. Previously, it was held in Mechanicville, but the honor has been passed on to the Saratoga post. This was their first year hosting.
“It was really a collaborative effort,” said post chaplain Margaret Folk. “The whole Saratoga post got involved.”
In addition to the members of the Saratoga post, other community members were at the ceremony.
Ed Burmaster, from the Stillwater post, who is also the county commander and district vice commander, took time off from working on the Stillwater post’s new building to come to the service.
Patrick Ames, who was on active duty in the Navy from ‘08-’12 as an STG sonar technician and then joined the Reserves in ‘16, was in attendance as he contemplated joining the Legion.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a few years,” he said. “I figured, why not give back to the community? It seems like a good opportunity.”
Also present were members of Boy
Scout Troop 70 to advance the colors and lead the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of the service, along with Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner and U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko.
The four chaplains honored in the memorial service were Chaplain George Fox, a Methodist rever
end; Chaplain Alexander Goode, a Jewish rabbi; Chaplain Clark Poling, a Baptist pastor; and Chaplain John Washington, a Catholic priest.
The men were aboard the USAT Dorchester on the night of Feb. 3, 1943, when the ship was hit by a torpedo from a German U-boat.
According to the story, in the chaos and panic that ensued, the four chaplains were voices of hope and calm. As the ship started to sink, the chaplains prayed and offered words of encouragement, trying to guide those on board to safety. They made it to the storage lockers and began passing out life jackets. When the life jackets ran out, the chaplains removed the ones they were wearing and gave them to the next four men in line.
The four chaplains went down with the ship. Eyewitness survivors described seeing them standing together with linked arms, praying until the very end. They were posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Purple Heart, given to their next of kin at a ceremony on
Dec. 19, 1944. After World War II ended, the US Post Office honored the four chaplains with commemorative stamps.
The chaplains were also posthumously awarded a one-time Special Medal for Heroism authorized by Congress on Jan. 18, 1961. The Special Medal for Heroism carries the same weight as the Congressional Medal of Honor.
During the ceremony, the story of the Dorchester was retold. Each chaplain’s biography was read, and a candle was lit in their memory. At the ceremony’s end, each chaplain’s name was spoken aloud again. Accompanied by the toll of a bell, each candle was extinguished.
Present at the ceremony, as at all American Legion ceremonies, was the POW/MIA table, to remember and honor the soldiers who are missing in action or captured as prisoners of war and have not returned home.
“It’s an impactful service,” Woerner said.
“It’s very emotional,” agreed master of ceremonies Keith Koster. “It takes a lot out of us sometimes. We may not have known them, but we see them as our brothers.”
Today, the four chaplains continue to be honored and remembered through the Chapel of the Four Chaplains, “an interfaith memorial and sanctuary for brotherhood” located in Philadelphia, PA, and the Four Chaplains Memorial Foundation, both dedicated and founded, respectively, in 1951 by President Truman.
The Four Chaplains Memorial Foundation builds on the pillars of interfaith cooperation and selfless service by offering four programs: The Legion of Honor Award, given to both veterans and civilians for selfless acts for wounded and disabled veterans; a scholarship for students in grades 5-12; a veteran outreach program; and the Emergency Chaplain and First Responder Chaplain program, which trains and supports a network of chaplains who respond to natural disasters and emergencies.
“Every time I think about this story; it just gets me,” Tonko said. “It’s such a powerful message of ecumenism and the human connection.”
The four chaplains went down with the ship. Eyewitness survivors described seeing them standing together with linked arms, praying until the very end. They were posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Purple Heart, given to their next of kin at a ceremony on Dec. 19, 1944. After World War II ended, the US Post Office honored the four chaplains with commemorative stamps.