Posted: | January 27, 2016 02:20 PM |
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From: | Representative Kevin J. Schreiber |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Resolution- Designating February 3, 2016 as "Four Chaplains Day" |
On February 3, 1943, the Army transport ship Dorchester was torpedoed by a German U-boat while crossing the icy North Atlantic in a convoy. Of the 902 soldiers, merchant seamen and civilian workers aboard, only 230 were rescued. As the Dorchester sank into the sea, the four Army chaplains calmed frightened men and led as many as they could to safety. When they ran out of life jackets, they gave away their own. Those swimming in the water and floating in rafts never forgot their last glimpse of the chaplains: all four - Methodist minister, Jewish rabbi, Reformed Church in America reverend and Roman Catholic priest - were linked arm in arm, praying and singing hymns as they went down with the ship. One of the four chaplains was Rabbi Alexander Goode, a York rabbi, who founded Boy Scout Troop 37. Rabbi Goode was originally from Brooklyn, NY but spent the final years of his life stationed in York. The most populous elementary school in the York City School District bears his name in honor of his valor and sacrifice. Please consider joining me as a cosponsor of this resolution. |
Introduced as HR667