The Four Chaplains
A convoy of 3 ships and 3 Coast Guard cutters passed through “Torpedo Alley” some 100 miles off the coast of Greenland at about 1 a.m. on February 3, 1943. The submarine U-223 fired 3 torpedoes 1 of which hit the midsection of the Dorchester, a US Army troopship with more than 900 men on board. Ammonia and oil were everywhere in the fast-sinking vessel and upon the freezing sea. The 4 chaplains on board, 2 Protestant pastors, a Catholic priest and a Jewish rabbi were among the first on deck calming the men and handing out life jackets. When they ran out they took off their own jackets and placed them on waiting soldiers without regard to faith or race.
Courtesy hmdb.org
