THE FOUR CHAPLAINS' MEDAL

At 12:55 a.m., a German U-boat caught the Dorchester in its cross hairs. The Dorchester was torpedoed. Men poured up out of the gangways, stunned and disoriented. The wound to the Dorchester was mortal; the ship took on water rapidly and began listing to starboard.

The men milled around the deck. Many had come up from the hold without life jackets; others wearing nothing but underwear, felt the arctic blasts and knew they had only minutes to live.

The testimonies of the survivors tell us that the sole order in that ferment of struggling men, that the only fragment of hope, came from the four chaplains who suddenly appeared on the sloping starboard side. Calmly they guided men to their boat stations, opened a storage locker and distributed life jackets. They coaxed men, frozen with fear, over the side.

Of the 904 men aboard the troop carrier, 605 were lost. Those who lived will never forget the chaplains' heroism. By vote of Congress on Jan. 18, 1961, a Special Medal of Heroism, the only one ever given, was posthumously given to the four chaplains. Feb. 3 became Four Chaplains Observance Day and that is why this day is most significant.

To read the complete article, see:
ASK AUGUSTINE (https://www.timesrepublican.com/opinion/columnists/2018/02/ask-augustine-18/)

In 1957, The American Legion, at their 39th National Convention in Atlantic City, passed a resolution asking Congress to award the Medal of Honor to the Four Chaplains; however, criteria for the Medal of Honor included "combat with the enemy." The special medal — intended to have the same weight and importance as the Medal of Honor — was approved by the Senate in 1958, and by the House in 1960. In 2006, The American Legion, at their 88th National Convention in Salt Lake City, passed a new resolution in support of awarding the Medal of Honor to the Four Chaplains.

 

To read the complete articles, see:
Four Chaplains' Medal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Chaplains%27_Medal)
Four Chaplains Commemorative U.S. Postage Stamp (https://www.schwimmer.com/fourchaplains/)
The Four Chaplains of the U.S.A.T. Dorchester (https://thechaplainkit.com/history/stories/the-four-chaplains/)

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