Four Chaplains Day

This past Saturday I became aware of a tragic war event that also packed courage and inspiration. I hope you will follow along as I summarize it…

Fr. John P. Washington was ordained to the priesthood in 1935. He served several New Jersey parishes for a handful of years. However, his ministry took a different turn with the attack of Pearl Harbor in 1941. Deeply impacted by the event, Fr. Washington made the choice to enlist in the U.S. Army so he could bring the message of God’s love and his sacraments to the service people defending our country.

This is First Lieutenant Fr. John P. Washington.

The priest from New Jersey would earn the rank of lieutenant and eventually found himself at Chaplains School at Harvard University. Destined for deployment to Europe, the school was to prepare him for his ministerial mission. While at Harvard, he met three friends—Alexander D. Goode, a Jewish rabbi, George L. Fox, a Methodist preacher, and Clark V. Poling, a Reformed Church pastor.

The four friends, who all wished to minister to troops on the battlefield, were first assigned a mission to what seemed like a much less hostile location—Greenland. They boarded the USAT Dorchester that was bound for the country’s Army Command Base at Narsarsuaq. Unfortunately, the voyage wouldn’t be smooth sailing.

These are the four chaplains who were assigned to sail the Dorchester to Greenland.

About two weeks after departure a German submarine struck the Dorchester with a torpedo. The strike devastated the ship and it became apparent that it only had about 30 minutes before complete sinkage. As chaos ensued, the four chaplains banded together and helped direct traffic and lead troops to the life boats. As things became increasingly bleak and life preservers ran short, the four friends removed their own life jackets and gave them to others. During this time, Fr. Washington gave absolution to soldiers as they entered the waters.

With only moments left before the ship was completely submerged, the four chaplains linked arms, prayed for those in the water and those still on the ship, and sang hymns. Survivors say the final image they had of the ship before it went completely underwater was this show of unity between the men who gave their lives for the troops and God.

One survivor said of the powerful scene: “It was as close to Heaven as I ever hope to be.”

An artistic depiction of the four chaplains on the sinking Dorchester.

The Dorchester sank on Feb. 3, 1943. Today is officially remembered as Four Chaplains Day. I didn’t know about this historical event until this weekend, but I hope that from this point forward I will always turn to it for a courageous example of faith and selflessness. Don’t Blink.

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