“Four Special Chaplains”

By George E Williams

Four men brought together by World War Two,
Their religious beliefs they continued to pursue.
As Army Chaplains they continued their careers,
They served with many G. I. volunteers.

The USAT Dorchester sailed for foreign shores in 1943,
And sailed across the North Atlantic Sea.
It was a bleak and freezing winter scene,
And the many dangers were yet unseen.

The Four Courageous Army Chaplains were aboard,
Four very dedicated servants of the Lord.
One Catholic, Two Protestants and a Jew,
The Army GIs and the transport ship’s crew.

February 3rd 1943 is etched in history for all to see,
A day many American Servicemen died unfortunately.
A torpedo from a German sub would sink that ship,
Soon beneath the icy waves it would slip.

GIs searched the ship for life jackets everywhere,
Searching for life preservers they could wear.
There was few to be found they soon learned,
Just one life jacket was what they yearned.

The Four Chaplains seeing the GI’s plight,
Began to do what they felt was right.
One by one the Chaplains’ life jackets came off,
Which four U.S. soldiers soon would doff.

Arm in arm they were last seen singing out loud,
Four Chaplains were standing tall and so very proud.
The last of them the world would ever see,
Then the Dorchester slipped beneath the sea.

Their self sacrifices and courage lives on in us today,
It is alive with every Four Chaplains honor we display.
Cooperation and selfless service is what we tout,
The reason every award in their names is handed out.

Finding a worthy recipient for such a honorable award,
Should be every Chapel members just reward.
The Four Chaplains’ great courage all the world to see,
Heroic deeds never to be forgotten is now left up to you and me.

February 7, 1954 ~ President Dwight D. Eisenhower

“And we remember that, only a decade ago, aboard the transport
Dorchester, four chaplains of four faiths together willingly
sacrificed their lives so that four others might live. In the three
centuries that separate the Pilgrims of the Mayflower from the
Chaplains of the Dorchester, America’s freedom, her courage, her
strength, and her progress have had their foundation in faith.
Today as then, there is need for positive acts of renewed
recognition that faith is our surest strength, our greatest resource."

Source: Internet