Service Honors Four Chaplains in Gallupville

GALLUPVILLE — In the early morning hours of February 3rd, 1943, a German U-boat torpedoed the USS Dorchester, a former luxury liner that had been converted for military use during WWII. There were over 900 souls aboard the boat, which had left New York on January 23rd and was headed for Greenland. The torpedo struck as the Dorchester was roughly four hundred miles from its destination. The ship’s captain, Hans J. Danielsen, had ordered the men to sleep in their lifejackets, knowing the waters of the North Atlantic were potentially dangerous. Many disregarded this order due to the discomfort, some because they were so deep in the ship’s hold there was high heat. As the torpedo hit below the water line, it knocked out the electrical system, adding to the panic and chaos. There were four chaplains aboard who were hardly familiar with one another. Despite this, they quickly and intuitively acted together to facilitate an orderly evacuation of the ship. They guided wounded men to safety and began distributing life jackets. As the supply of life jackets ran out, they removed their own and gave them away. As the Dorchester sank into the frigid North Atlantic waters, The Four Chaplains, Lieutenant Rabbi Alexander D. Goode, Lieutenant Reverend George L. Fox, Lieutenant Reverend John P. Washington, and Lieutenant Reverend Clark V. Poling, linked arms, sang hymns, said prayers, and ultimately went down with the Dorchester. Only 230 of the 904 aboard the ship were rescued. One survivor named Grady Clark recalled the sight: “The last thing I saw was the Four Chaplains up there praying for the safety of the men. They had done everything they could.” 

On Sunday, The Gallupville Evangelical Lutheran Church hosted six members of the American Legion for a special “4 Chaplains Service.” Congregants braved the frigid morning temperatures for the mass and luncheon. Patriotic songs like “America the Beautiful” and “The Ballad of The Green Berets” were woven into the ceremony alongside church hymns, punctuating Rev. Peter DeBartolo, Sr.’s sermons on service and sacrifice. Four stands were positioned in front of the altar, containing a photograph of one of The Four Chaplains and a votive candle in front of each. As American Legion members read brief biographies of each chaplain, they lit the accompanying candle. One of the Chaplains, Lieutenant Reverend Clark V. Poling, had been a resident of Schenectady, where he had settled down with his wife, Elizabeth. He had once married a couple from Schoharie County at the First Reformed Church in the Stockade District. 

The ceremony concluded with a rousing rendition of “The Battle Hymn of The Republic.” Following the service, the crowd moved to the gathering area, where they enjoyed a hearty lunch, conversation, and plenty of desserts. American Legion members Dick Frank, Jerry Berard with his partner Barbara Rickard, William Cary, Richard Smith, James Merritt and his wife Sylvia Merritt, and Frederick Williams sat as the guests of honor for the meal. The commemoration of The Four Chaplains has been an annual event at The Gallupville Evangelical Lutheran Church since 2011 when former Schoharie County American Legion Commander (and current Gallupville Evangelical Lutheran Church band drummer) revived the event after a fifteen-year hiatus. “People asked me why we hadn’t done it in years,” recalls Moore. During the hiatus in 1998, a senate resolution established February 3rd as Four Chaplains Day. The American Legion expressed its desire to hold similar ceremonies at other local churches to call attention to the lives and memory of The Four Chaplains.