Suggestions for a Four Day observance Four Chaplains Day services vary in length and format, but all should tell the story of the The chaplains’ supreme sacrifice – and bring together people of diverse backgrounds and creeds in recognition of our common humanity. FOUR ƒƒ Invite representatives of different faith groups to participate. Clergy representing the faiths CHAPLAINS of the Four Chaplains is especially fitting. ƒƒ Ask your mayor or governor to issue a proclamation designating the first Sunday of DAY February “Four Chaplains Sunday.” ƒƒ Create a focal point, placing photos of the Four Chaplains, four red roses, life jackets, or The American Legion four empty seats near the altar or podium. P.O. Box 1055 ƒƒ Include a candle lighting or wreath laying. Indianapolis, IN 46206 ƒƒ Have a message that centers on the Four (317) 630-1200 Chaplains and selfless service. www.legion.org ƒƒ Spread the word about your program through Follow The American Legion online: social media, local newspapers, and radio and www.legion.org/facebook TV stations. Encourage reporters to write an @AmericanLegion advance or follow-up story. Send copies to the Chapel of Four Chaplains for its archives. This institution is an equal opportunity provider. ƒƒ Collect an offering to support the work of the Chapel of Four Chaplains. For a suggested program, download The American Legion ’s Handbook at legion.org/publications or contact the Chapel of Four Chaplains at [email protected].

Chapel of Four Chaplains 1201 Constitution Ave. The Navy Yard, Building 649 Philadelphia, PA 19112 (215) 218-1943 fourchaplains.org

Stock# 26-001 (Rev. 01/2020) Artwork# 60MAG0120 Lt. George L. Fox Lt. Alexander D. Goode Lt. Clark V. Poling Lt. John P. As a medical corps assistant Born in , N.Y., in Clark attended high school in Born into a poor immigrant during , Fox was 1911, Goode became a rabbi Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where he family, Washington took a highly decorated for bravery like his father. He applied was student body president newspaper route to help and awarded the , to become a Navy chaplain and a football halfback. support his family. He loved and the French in early 1941, but was not He was ordained in the music and sang in the church The story Croix de Guerre. accepted. After Pearl Harbor, Reformed Church in America choir. In seventh grade, Fox studied at Moody he tried again, this time and served as pastor of he sensed a call to the Early on Feb. 3, 1943, an enemy torpedo struck Institute, Illinois Wesleyan with the Army, and received First Reformed Church in priesthood. the Army transport Dorchester as it carried 902 and Boston University School an appointment on July 21, Schenectady, N.Y. He and his Washington attended of Theology. He and his wife, 1942. He went on active duty wife, Betty, had a son, Clark Jr. Immaculate Conception officers and enlisted men, Navy armed guard, on Aug. 9, 1942, and was merchant seamen and civilian workers in the Isadore, had two children. When America entered World Seminary in Darlington, N.J., While serving as a pastor in selected for the Chaplains War II, he decided to become where he was ordained a North Atlantic. The Coast Guard cutter escorts Gilman, Vt., he joined Walter School at Harvard. He was a chaplain. Talking with priest in 1935. Shortly after Comanche and Escanaba rescued 230 men. G. Moore American Legion assigned to the 333rd his father, who served as a the Pearl Harbor attack, he Post 41. He also served as the Airbase Squadron in chaplain in World War I, he received his appointment As Dorchester took on water, four Army chaplains Legion’s state chaplain and Goldsboro, N.C. In October learned that chaplains in that as an Army chaplain. In June – Lt. George L. Fox (Methodist), Lt. Alexander D. historian. 1942, he was transferred war had the highest mortality 1942, he was assigned to to Camp Myles Standish Goode (Jewish), Lt. John P. Washington (Roman Fox went on active duty rate of all military personnel. the 76th Infantry Division at Catholic), and Lt. Clark V. Poling (Dutch Reformed) in Taunton, Mass. He and On June 10, 1942, Poling was Fort Meade, Md. In November Aug. 8, 1942, the same day his wife, Theresa, had one – calmed frightened soldiers, aided the wounded his son Wyatt enlisted in appointed a chaplain with 1942, he reported to Camp daughter. the 131st Quartermaster Myles Standish in Taunton, and guided the disoriented toward safety. the Marine Corps. He was assigned to the Chaplains Truck Regiment and reported Mass., where he was reunited On deck, they opened a storage locker and began School at Harvard and to Camp Shelby in Mississippi. with Fox, Goode and Poling distributing life jackets. When there were no reported to the 411th Coast Two months after Dorchester’s – his classmates at Chaplains sinking, Betty gave birth to School at Harvard. more available, the chaplains removed their life Artillery Battalion at Camp Davis in Holly Ridge, N.C. their daughter. jackets and gave them to four young men. “It was the finest thing I have seen or hope to see this side of heaven,” said John Ladd, a survivor. As the ship went down, men in rafts saw the four How we remember them chaplains, arms linked and braced against the Every year, American Legion posts chaplains and 668 other men who slanting deck, singing hymns and praying. nationwide commemorate the died when Dorchester sank. Congress attempted to confer the selfless acts of the Four Chaplains Founded in 1951, the Chapel of on the chaplains but was prevented by strict on or near Feb. 3, designated Four Four Chaplains in Philadelphia requirements of heroism under fire. It authorized Chaplains Day by Congress in encourages and supports these a one-time posthumous Special Medal for 1948. Through interfaith services, observances, and recognizes Heroism, awarded by President Eisenhower in memorial ceremonies and other selfless service to community, 1961; it was intended to have the same weight solemn events, members of the nation and humanity through its and importance as the Medal of Honor. American Legion Family lead their Legion of Honor award program. communities in honoring the