Remembering the "Immortal Chaplains"

Feb. 3 -- "Four Chaplains Day" -- marks the anniversary of the sinking of the United States Army Transport Dorchester and the selfless acts of four Army chaplains aboard during World War II. The four chaplains, also known as the "Immortal Chaplains" or the "Dorchester Chaplains," represented three faiths: Catholic, Jewish and Protestant. Giving up their life preservers, they sacrificed themselves so others could live.

The Four Chaplains were George L. Fox, a Methodist minister from Pennsylvania; Alexander D. Goode, a Reform rabbi from New York; Clark V. Poling, a Reformed Church in America minister from Ohio; and John P. Washington, a Roman Catholic priest from New Jersey.

They were each posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and Purple Heart. There were attempts in Congress to award the four chaplains the Medal of Honor, but the efforts did not succeed under the strict guidelines for awarding the medal. Instead, a Special Medal for Heroism was authorized by Congress and awarded by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1961.

(https://www.military.com/history/honoring-the-four-chaplains.html)