The Four Chaplains

The Four Chaplains

Background

Four U.S. Army Chaplains gave up their life jackets and prayed together when their transport ship, the U.S.A.T Dorchester was torpedoed eighty miles south of Greenland on February 3, 1943. The Chaplains came from different faiths and backgrounds.

John P. Washington was a Catholic Priest from Kearny, New Jersey, Rabbi Alexander D. Goode was a native of York, Pennsylvania. Clark V. Poling was a a minister in the Reformed Church in America at the First Reformed Church in Schenectady, New York. George L. Fox, a decorated World War One veteran, was a Methodist minister in Gilman, Vermont.

Bill Bunkelman vividly remembers the night of February 2, 1943. He was on submarine watch on the U.S.A. T.

Dorchester. At 12:55 am, he heard a muffled explosion and he was told the ship had been hit. He recalls the

strong smell of ammonia fumes and he immediately ran to his lifeboat station. He was urged by fellow soldiers and the Four Chaplains to go over the side of the ship. He struggled in the water and managed to reach a raft occupied by only one other person. They proceeded to drag other men into the raft and floated aimlessly in the ocean amidst hundreds of Red Lights attached to life preservers of men that did not survive. They were rescued about 7 hours later by the Coast Guard Cutter Comanche. Two other soldiers from Monroe were lost at sea that night, Lawrence Dusseau and fellow basic trainee Albert DeKeyser. Bill Bunkelman, as pictured above/below is now 80+ years old living in Monroe, Michigan. We would like to thank him and his daughter Dianna Tomkinson for sending us his story and wonderful photos.

Overview

The Reverend Daniel Poling, in honor of his son Chaplain Poling’s heroism, began the movement to celebrate the Four Chaplains acts of courage. The organization was dedicated on February 3, 1951 by President Harry S. Truman. In his dedication speech, the President said, “This interfaith shrine… will stand through long generations to teach Americans that as men can die heroically as brothers so should they live together in mutual faith and goodwill.”

For more than sixty years the Chapel of the Four Chaplains has told the story of their faith, courage and interfaith cooperation through a variety of programs and events.  One important program publicly recognizes and honors outstanding members of society whose lives model the giving spirit and unconditional service to community, nation, and humanity without regard to race, religion, or creed exemplified so dramatically by the Four Chaplains.

The story of the Four Chaplain’s includes not only the background of the Chaplains, their interfaith cooperation, and their selfless sacrifice but it also includes the memories of the close to seven hundred lives lost that day, the stories of the survivors, the bravery of the rescuers and those who are inspired even today.

We may never be asked to give up our own life jacket to save another person, but the story of the Four Chaplains can inspire us to reach out a helping hand in a time of need.