God and Country

Update: A Navy Chaplain spoke at a Virginia church service noting

“These chaplains were united in their belief that with God all things are possible,” and they served as an enduring witness to “the power of God to transcend chaos and calamity and produce in us the strength to do all things.”

The story of the four chaplains inspired three Colorado Springs-area military chaplains.

February 3rd marked the 70th anniversary of the sinking of the US Army Transport Dorchester – a tragedy made famous as much by the act of four chaplains as the fact 627 of the 900 men aboard died.

The four chaplains were Protestants George Fox and Clark Poling; Catholic priest John Washington; and a Jewish rabbi, Alexander Goode.  The chaplains famously gave up their own life vests and sank with the ship, arm in arm without regard to any person’s particular religious faith.

The Rev Robert Phillips of Peoria, IL, remembered the chaplains at the end of his service and remarked on the impact the chaplains had on the military as a whole:  Read more…

The US Army Transport Dorchester was sunk 67 years ago on 3 February 1943.  It was one of three ships in a convoy taking American troops across the Atlantic, and would become famous not because it was targeted by German submarines, as many ships were; nor did it become famous for the loss of life, as other events eclipsed the dead and wounded.

The USAT Dorchester became famous for the Four Chaplains.

Four Army chaplains were on board, along with nearly 900 other men: Lt. George Fox, a Methodist; Lt. Alexander Goode, a Jewish Rabbi; Lt. John Washington, a Roman Catholic Priest; and Lt. Clark Poling, a Dutch Reformed minister. They became beacons Read more…