January 25, 2022
The La Mirada VFW will honor the American heroes known as “The Four Chaplains” with a special event Friday Feb. 4 at 6:30 at the VFW Banquet Hall in La Mirada.
On January 23, 1943, the U.S.A.T. Dorchester left New York harbor bound for Greenland carrying over 900 officers, servicemen and civilian workers. The ship was a coastal passenger steamship requisitioned and operated by the War Shipping Administration (WSA) for wartime use as a troop ship. The ship was transiting the Labrador Sea when it was torpedoed by a German U-boat (U-233) on February 3, 1943. The ship sank and 675 people on board lost their lives. Amidst the chaos to save 230 lives four chaplains guided soldiers trapped below deck to escape hatches and gave away their life jackets to save others on that fateful day. When the chaplains had done all they could, they linked arms to pray and sing hymns as the Dorchester slipped beneath the waves.
The Immortal Chaplains Memorial Sanctuary is located on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California, and operated by The Immortal Chaplains Foundation. The foundation was founded by the chaplains’ families and survivors of the Dorchester tragedy, including 3 survivors of U-boat 223, which sank the Dorchester on February 3, 1943. The Queen Mary transported these men to the USA as POWs one year after the sinking of the Dorchester.