On this day in 1943 four Army chaplains - Rev. George L. Fox (Methodist), Rabbi Alexander D. Goode (Jewish), Fr. John P. Washington (Roman Catholic), and Rev. Clark V. Poling (Dutch Reformed) - gave their lives to save the crew of the USAT Dorchester which had been torpedoed by a German U-Boat.
"As I swam away from the ship , I looked back. The flares had lighted everything. The bow came up high and she slid under. The last thing I saw, the Four Chaplins were up there praying for the safety of the men. They had done everything they could. I did not see them again. They themselves did not have a chance without their life jackets."
- Engineer Grady Clark
"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."
- John 15:12-13