Four Chaplains program to be held Sunday

SILOAM SPRINGS — Siloam Springs American Legion Post 29 will host its annual Four Chaplains program at 2 p.m. Sunday at First Christian Church.

The four chaplains are four Army chaplains who were on the USS Dorchester when it was attacked by a German submarine on Feb. 3, 1943, off the coast of Greenland, and went down with the ship so others could live.

Onboard the ship were chaplains: Lt. George L. Fox, a Methodist minister; Lt. Alexander D. Goode, a Jewish rabbi; Lt. Clark V. Poling, a Dutch Reformed minister; and Lt. John P. Washington, a Roman Catholic priest, according to Jerry Cavness, public relations officer for the American Legion post.

As the transport began to sink after it was struck by a torpedo, the four chaplains began to distribute life jackets to the military personnel until the vests were gone, leaving some without life vests, Cavness said.

As an act of love, the four chaplains took off their own vests and provided them to others so they would have the chance to survive, Cavness said.

Survivors in the rafts watched the four chaplains singing hymns and praying with their arms linked and braced against the slanting deck of the Dorchester as it sank.

The American Legion is not the only organization to honor the chaplains, Cavness said. Civitan International, which works with children who have special needs, includes the chaplains in its Clergy Appreciation Week celebration, Cavness said.

“Here in America, we have had so many acts of bravery and willingness to protect and serve that have been done during the tragic years of war,” Cavness said. “We should never forget these dates in history and those that died for our freedoms.”