Four Chaplains Commemorative Medal
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$125.00 |
Foxfall Medals P.O. Box 710
Madison,Virginia 22727
BACKGROUND
The story of the Four Chaplains is one of the most inspiring episodes of the Second World War. The four chaplains were:
- Rev. George L. Fox, a Methodist minister who served as a Medical Corps assistant during the First World War, earning the Silver Star, Purple Heart, and French Croix de Guerre. When the Second World War broke out he said, “I’ve got to go. I know from experience what our boys are about face. They need me.”
- Rabbi Alexander Goode, who like his father was a rabbi. Knowing that war was almost certain, he sought and received an appointment as an Army chaplain
- Rev. Clark V. Poling, a Dutch Reformed minister, wanted to enter the Army – but not from what he thought was the safe position of a chaplain. When his father, who had been a chaplain in the First World War, told him that chaplains had the highest mortality rate of all he changed his mind and followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming an Army chaplain.
- Rev. John P. Washington, a Catholic priest, was one of nine children in an Irish immigrant family that lived in a tough part of Newark, New Jersey. A tough but compassionate man, Father Washington entered the Army as a chaplain
The four chaplains were aboard the the U.S. Army Transport Dorchester when it sailed from New York on January 23, 1943. The ship was filled to capacity with troops on their way to Greenland. Its path would take it through the infamous “Torpedo Junction” where German submarines had been devastatingly efficient. On February 2, 1943 the Dorchester was within 150 miles of Greenland, but the young soldiers aboard did not know that the Coast Guard had detected German submarines in the area. If the ship could make it though the night, its captain realized, air cover would would arrive and guide his ship safely to its destination. However, in the early hours of February 3rd a massive explosion ripped the ship. Then a second torpedo hit, instantly killing at least one hundred men in the hull of the ship. The Dorchester was mortally wounded and quickly began to sink. The four chaplains reached the deck where they began to assist wounded and badly frightened men, directing them to safety and giving them words of encouragement. They passed out life vests from lockers as soldiers pressed forward. When all the life jackets were gone, the four chaplains took off their own and gave them to others. As the Dorchester slid into the deep the four chaplains were seen with their arms linked together, leaning into each other for support. Twenty-seven minutes after the first torpedo hit the Dorchester she sank into the frigid waters of the Atlantic, taking 672 to their death – including the four chaplains. The four chaplains were each posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, and in 1948 a special commemorative stamp honoring them was issued by the United States Postal Service. On July 14, 1960, Congress passed Public Law 86-656 (86th Congress) creating a “Four Chaplains Medal” to be presented to their next of kin. The medals were presented by the Secretary of the Army on January 18, 1961.
THE COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL
This commemorative medal is idential in design to the one issued to the families of the four chaplains. It has been reduced in size (the originals are oversized medals on a neck ribbon) and placed on a breast ribbon. These medals were produced in a limited edition of two hundred, and each medal is numbered on the reverse. The dies have been destroyed, and when this limited edition is sold out it will not be produced again. The medals are gold-plated and like the originals have polished highlights. They are beautiful examples of numismatic art, and each medal is a lasting tribute to the “immortal chaplains.”