BIO:

World War II United States Army Chaplain. Born in Columbus, Ohio, he attended Hope College in Holland, Michigan, but finished his studies at Rutgers University in New Jersey graduating in 1933. His post graduate study was at Yale Divinity School. He served student pastorate in Connecticut before being elected pastor of the First Reformed Church in Schenectady, New York. After Pearl Harbor, he volunteered as a chaplain and was appointed on June 10, 1942. He served as chaplain with the 131st Quartermaster Truck Regiment and reported to Camp Shelby, Hattiesburg, Mississippi before attending Chaplain training at Harvard where he first met his classmates, Jewish chaplain, Alexander Goode; Methodist chaplain, George Fox; and Catholic chaplain, John Washington. In January 1943, he was reunited with his classmates as the four chaplains embarked on the converted ocean liner USAT Dorchester, which was transporting 902 soldiers to Britain via Greenland as part of convoy SG-19. On February 2, 1943, a German u-boat fired on the convoy; a torpedo struck the Dorchester some time after midnight. The Dorchester lost all power, and in the cold and dark, men scrambled for the lifeboats. The four chaplains calmly organized the men as best they could, handing out life jackets from storage, encouraged the men with prayers, and tending wounded as best as was possible. When it became apparent that there were not enough life jackets, each of the chaplains took off his own life jacket and gave each to a young soldier. When the last of the undamaged lifeboats were away, the chaplains prayed with those left behind on the sinking ship. Less than thirty minutes after being hit, the Dorchester sank with the loss of 672 men, including the Four Chaplains. The survival as many as 230 men was directly credited to the chaplains' actions. On December 19, 1944 each of the chaplains was posthumously awarded a purple heart and a distinguished service cross. A US postage stamp was issued in 1948 commemorating the Four Chaplains. A stained glass window in memory of the Four Chaplains was installed in the A-ring of the Pentagon on the third floor. On July 14, 1960 Congress created the Four Chaplains Medal which was presented to each of the chaplains' next of kin by the Secretary of the Army. For their courage and self-sacrifice, by Act of Congress, February 3 is designated Four Chaplains Day.

List of cenotaphs:
Chapel of Four Chaplains
Poling Cemetery
East Coast Memorial
Calvary Cemetery