Editing Four Chaplains' Medal (section)

==The Four Chaplains==
{{Main|Four Chaplains}}
The four chaplains were [[lieutenant]]s in the [[United States Army]]: the Rev. [[George L. Fox (chaplain)|George L. Fox]] ([[Methodist]]), [[Rabbi]] [[Alexander D. Goode]] ([[Jewish]]), the Rev. [[Clark V. Poling]] ([[Reformed Church in America]]) and [[Father#Religion|Fr.]] [[John P. Washington]] ([[Roman Catholic]]). In late 1942, the chaplains were transferred to Camp Myles Standish in [[Taunton, Massachusetts]], and attended Chaplains School at [[Harvard University]]. In January 1943, the chaplains embarked on board the SS ''Dorchester'', which was transporting over 900 soldiers to the [[United Kingdom]] via [[Greenland]].

On February 2, 1943, the German submarine [[German submarine U-223|''U-223'']] spotted the convoy on the move and closed with the ships, firing a torpedo which struck the ''Dorchester'' shortly after midnight. Hundreds of men packed the decks of the rapidly sinking ship and scrambled for the [[Lifeboat (shipboard)|lifeboats]]. Several of the lifeboats had been damaged and the four chaplains began to organize frightened soldiers. They distributed [[Personal flotation device|life jackets]] from a locker; when the supply of life jackets ran out, each of the chaplains gave theirs to other soldiers. When the last lifeboats were away, the chaplains prayed with those unable to escape the sinking ship. Twenty-seven minutes after the torpedo struck, the ''Dorchester'' disappeared below the waves with 672 men still aboard. The last anyone saw of the four chaplains, they were standing on the deck, arms linked and praying together.<ref name="S4C">{{cite web |url=http://www.fourchaplains.org/story.html |title=The Saga of the Four Chaplains |accessdate=2008-02-05 |publisher=The Four Chaplains Memorial Foundation |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080207070224/http://www.fourchaplains.org/story.html |archivedate=2008-02-07 }}</ref>

As to official military decorations, each of the four chaplains was posthumously awarded the [[Distinguished Service Cross (United States)|Distinguished Service Cross]] and the [[Purple Heart]].<ref name="S4C"/>