| R 068 |
| 2024 -- H 7418 Enacted 02/01/2024 |
| H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N |
| COMMEMORATING THE 81ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE "FOUR CHAPLAINS", THE FOUR MEN OF GOD WHO SACRIFICED THEIR LIVES DURING WORLD WAR II SO THAT OTHERS MIGHT LIVE |
Introduced By: Representatives Chippendale, Shekarchi, Blazejewski, Azzinaro, Vella-Wilkinson, Perez, Casimiro, Hull, Lima, and Fellela |
| Date Introduced: February 01, 2024 |
| WHEREAS, Just past midnight on February 3, 1943, the SS Dorchester, a United States |
| Army Troop ship laden with 900 troops, seamen and civilians, was passing through the brutally |
| cold waters of the North Atlantic, on its way to deliver support and materials to Allied bases in |
| Greenland. At 12:55 a.m., the SS Dorchester, located 100 miles from Greenland, was hit by a |
| torpedo fired from a German U-Boat. The massive explosion tore through the ship, causing an |
| immediate loss of life. The SS Dorchester began to list with water gushing into the lower decks of |
| the ship; and |
| WHEREAS, Those who survived the blast were quickly in a state of panic and confusion. |
| Hundreds of survivors hurried towards the deck and then struggled to find the lifeboats as the ship |
| began to sink. Few of the men were wearing life vests, and knew that the frigid waters of the |
| Atlantic below them meant an almost certain death; and |
| WHEREAS, In the midst of this chaos four Chaplains, George Fox, a Methodist Minister, |
| Alexander Goode, a Jewish Rabbi, Clark Poling, a Dutch Reformed Minister, and John |
| Washington, a Roman Catholic Priest, all First Lieutenants, rushed forward to help their fellow |
| shipmates. They began distributing the limited number of available life jackets and when it |
| became clear that there were not enough available life jackets, they gave up their own so that |
| others might live. They remained on deck until the end, assisting others, and were four of the 670 |
| people who perished; and |
| WHEREAS, After the war, numerous memorials were created to honor these four |
| Chaplains. A stained glass window in the Pentagon Chapel is dedicated to their memory. In 1960, |
| Congress passed a law authorizing the President to posthumously award a decoration for |
| extraordinary heroism to the four Chaplains in honor of their actions. The Four Chaplains' Medal |
| was presented to their next of kin in 1961. They are also honored with inscriptions upon the Walls |
| of the Missing at an ABMC memorial, the place where the American government honors all |
| service members who were lost at sea. Finally, in the Battery on the southern tip of Manhattan |
| Island, stands the East Coast Memorial. On this site, overlooking New York Harbor, eight large |
| pylons stand with the names and service information of the 4,611 Americans, including the Four |
| Chaplains, who perished in the western waters of the Atlantic Ocean during World War II; now, |
| therefore be it |
| RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby |
| commemorates the 81st Anniversary of the "Four Chaplains", the four men of God who sacrificed |
| their lives during World War II so that others might live; and be it further |
| RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to |
| transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to Mr. Kasim J. Yarn, Director of the Rhode |
| Island Department of Veterans Affairs and Jane Deptula, Rhode Island Marine Corps League |
| Chaplain. |
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| LC004645 |
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