Fort Walton Beach American Legion
Four Chaplains Ceremony
Sun, Feb 02
|American Legion Post 235
The Four Chaplains ceremony is a memorial service held on or around February 3rd to honor the actions of four chaplains who died in World War II.
Time & Location
Feb 02, 2025, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
American Legion Post 235, 105 Hollywood Blvd NW, Fort Walton Beach, FL 32548, USA
About the event
The Four Chaplains ceremony is a memorial service held on or around February 3rd to honor the actions of four chaplains who died in World War II:
The chaplains
The four chaplains were Lt. George L. Fox (Methodist), Lt. Alexander D. Goode (Jewish), Lt. John P. Washington (Roman Catholic), and Lt. Clark V. Poling (Dutch Reformed).
The event
On February 3, 1943, the U.S. Army Transport Ship (USAT) Dorchester was torpedoed by a German U-boat in the North Atlantic. The chaplains gave their life jackets to other soldiers on the ship, and were last seen with their arms locked and singing as the ship sank.