WEBVTT - Faith on a Sinking Ship: The Immortal Four Chaplains 0:00:17.101 --> 0:00:17.621 Pushkin. 0:00:23.741 --> 0:00:27.901 Hello everyone, Malcolm Glabel here. The primary instinct of every 0:00:27.901 --> 0:00:31.981 living thing on our planet is self preservation in moments 0:00:32.021 --> 0:00:35.260 of danger. Our own survival is wired into us so 0:00:35.421 --> 0:00:39.020 deeply it's nearly impossible for our brains to override it. 0:00:39.980 --> 0:00:42.580 To do that, to consciously give your life, you have 0:00:42.661 --> 0:00:45.581 to be set in your convictions. You'd have to believe 0:00:45.620 --> 0:00:48.820 against every instinct and synapse in your brain that what 0:00:48.861 --> 0:00:52.181 you're doing is right. We're going to end the season 0:00:52.301 --> 0:00:54.581 of Medal of Honor with the story of four men 0:00:54.621 --> 0:00:58.501 who did just that. There were four chaplains from different 0:00:58.581 --> 0:01:03.380 religious backgrounds who became unlikely friends. In their short time together, 0:01:03.700 --> 0:01:07.181 their collective faith galvanized and inspired the men around them. 0:01:07.941 --> 0:01:10.621 They differed in many of their beliefs, but aligned on 0:01:10.621 --> 0:01:13.621 one that to serve God, they would have to serve 0:01:13.741 --> 0:01:19.821 others over themselves. This is their story. 0:01:22.461 --> 0:01:26.261 It was just before one am on February third, nineteen 0:01:26.420 --> 0:01:30.780 forty three, ten foot waves were turning the icy waters 0:01:30.780 --> 0:01:34.500 of the North Atlantic. A ship named the Dorchester was 0:01:34.541 --> 0:01:38.300 carrying American soldiers across the ocean to fight in World 0:01:38.340 --> 0:01:42.181 War II. They were headed to Greenland, a strategic base 0:01:42.220 --> 0:01:45.381 for the Allies. They were only about one hundred and 0:01:45.461 --> 0:01:49.781 fifty miles from their destination. But now the ship was sinking. 0:01:51.541 --> 0:01:55.061 It was mayhem on the deck. Soldiers raced to the lifeboats. 0:01:55.461 --> 0:01:59.180 They scrambled for life preservers. Men pushed towards the railing 0:01:59.341 --> 0:02:03.221 as the giant ship listed to one side. The Dorchester 0:02:03.381 --> 0:02:08.141 was breaking apart around them. Some gi screamed and wept 0:02:08.181 --> 0:02:11.981 as they slid down ropes and dropped into the free waves. 0:02:12.501 --> 0:02:16.501 But four men stood calmly among the chaos. Each wore 0:02:16.541 --> 0:02:20.701 the uniform of an officer, but they weren't soldiers. There 0:02:20.701 --> 0:02:25.501 were four Army chaplains, each of a different faith. The 0:02:25.501 --> 0:02:28.941 soldiers knew them well, they loved them, and now they 0:02:28.981 --> 0:02:33.421 watched as the chaplains started to pray. The four chaplains 0:02:33.541 --> 0:02:41.460 were going down with the ship. I'm j R. Martinez 0:02:41.581 --> 0:02:45.661 and this is Medal of Honor Stories of Courage. The 0:02:45.661 --> 0:02:48.541 Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration in the 0:02:48.621 --> 0:02:53.141 United States. It's awarded for gallantry and bravery and combat 0:02:53.421 --> 0:02:56.181 at the risk of life, above and beyond the call 0:02:56.221 --> 0:02:59.701 of duty. Each candidate must be approved all the way 0:02:59.781 --> 0:03:02.821 up the chain of command, from the supervisory officer in 0:03:02.861 --> 0:03:06.021 the Field to the White House. This show is about 0:03:06.061 --> 0:03:09.621 those heroes, what they did, what it meant, and what 0:03:09.701 --> 0:03:15.181 their stories tell us about the nature of courage and sacrifice. 0:03:15.301 --> 0:03:18.141 In this episode, we're going to meet the four Chaplains 0:03:18.181 --> 0:03:23.261 of the USS Dorchester. Two Protestant ministers, one Catholic priest, 0:03:23.581 --> 0:03:27.141 and one Jewish rabbi. They were men of peace who 0:03:27.181 --> 0:03:30.301 decided to serve in World War Two as a commitment 0:03:30.341 --> 0:03:34.461 to themselves, to the country, and to their God. They 0:03:34.461 --> 0:03:36.741 did everything in their power to help the more than 0:03:36.861 --> 0:03:41.741 nine hundred men traveling on the Dorchester. The four Chaplains 0:03:41.741 --> 0:03:45.541 didn't receive the Medal of Honor for their actions. Instead, 0:03:45.781 --> 0:03:50.581 they were awarded a special and unique decoration, the Congressional 0:03:50.701 --> 0:03:54.461 Medal of Valor. But I think they deserve a place 0:03:54.501 --> 0:03:57.581 in this podcast because they are just as heroic as 0:03:57.581 --> 0:04:01.261 to other people we've met this season. The four Chaplains 0:04:01.301 --> 0:04:05.541 had different beliefs, they worshiped in different ways, but each 0:04:05.621 --> 0:04:09.181 of them proved that selflessness is at the very heart 0:04:09.301 --> 0:04:26.621 of courage. On January twenty third, nineteen forty three, the 0:04:26.741 --> 0:04:30.621 USS Dorchester arrived in New York Harbor. It was a 0:04:30.661 --> 0:04:35.101 former passenger ship, sleek and elegant. It had once taken 0:04:35.141 --> 0:04:38.781 wealthy travelers from New York to Miami. In those days, 0:04:38.981 --> 0:04:42.821 it even had a casino. It sure wasn't luxurious anymore. 0:04:43.421 --> 0:04:47.101 This was wartime and every seaworthy boat had been refitted 0:04:47.101 --> 0:04:52.581 for military service. Those roulette wheels were long gone. Now 0:04:52.901 --> 0:04:55.381 GI's were going to pack in like sardines and get 0:04:55.381 --> 0:04:58.181 taken to fight. Most of the nine hundred and two 0:04:58.221 --> 0:05:02.381 people aboard were headed to southwestern Greenland. It had airfields 0:05:02.381 --> 0:05:05.501 that were key for battling the Nazis in Europe. The 0:05:05.621 --> 0:05:08.461 journey was going to be dangerous because those North Atlantic 0:05:08.501 --> 0:05:13.901 waters were swarming with Germany U some Maarines that moved 0:05:13.941 --> 0:05:18.461 in wolf packs. Allied ships traveled in convoys for safety, 0:05:18.781 --> 0:05:22.421 but they didn't always go fast enough, and the Dorchester 0:05:22.741 --> 0:05:26.461 wasn't known for its speed. A young soldier named Benjamin 0:05:26.501 --> 0:05:29.541 Epstein looked at it with a queasy filling. 0:05:30.341 --> 0:05:32.621 I know, I've heard it said that the ship was 0:05:32.701 --> 0:05:37.301 called the suicide ship. It was an extremely slow boat. 0:05:38.981 --> 0:05:43.101 Four officers stood by the gangplank welcoming soldiers on board. 0:05:43.621 --> 0:05:46.981 They all had pins on their lapels, three war crosses, 0:05:47.541 --> 0:05:50.901 and one wore Hebrew tablets under a Star of David. 0:05:51.621 --> 0:05:55.301 They were army chaplains there to support troops both on 0:05:55.661 --> 0:06:00.260 and off the battlefield. More than nine thousand ministers, priests 0:06:00.341 --> 0:06:05.021 and rabbi served during the war, giving spiritual support, rescuing 0:06:05.061 --> 0:06:09.421 the wounded and burying the dead. They were unarmed, but 0:06:09.501 --> 0:06:14.101 they were essential. The four chaplains of the Dorchester couldn't 0:06:14.141 --> 0:06:17.461 have been less alike. For one thing, they were all 0:06:17.461 --> 0:06:20.421 of different faiths. This was at a time when people 0:06:20.421 --> 0:06:25.341 from different religions didn't mix that much. James Mcatney was 0:06:25.381 --> 0:06:27.341 another young soldier on the Dorchester. 0:06:28.181 --> 0:06:30.981 I was raised as a Catholic in an Irish neighborhood, 0:06:31.501 --> 0:06:34.301 and I don't think I'd be very far away from 0:06:34.341 --> 0:06:36.580 the truth if I were to say that the pastor 0:06:36.621 --> 0:06:39.141 of our church wouldn't have been caught dead talking to 0:06:39.941 --> 0:06:40.981 a Protestant minister. 0:06:42.381 --> 0:06:46.221 Here were these four chaplains who came together from different backgrounds, 0:06:46.661 --> 0:06:50.661 but all shared a deep desire to serve. To James, 0:06:50.941 --> 0:06:53.621 they seemed to fit together like pieces of a puzzle. 0:06:54.221 --> 0:06:57.820 To see these men in shame uniform but of different 0:06:57.861 --> 0:07:02.421 faiths getting together and actually talking and smiling and laughing 0:07:02.421 --> 0:07:04.181 and joking each other was unheard of. 0:07:05.861 --> 0:07:09.501 The oldest of the group was George Fox and Methodist minister. 0:07:10.301 --> 0:07:13.141 George had a babyface and a mild manner, but he 0:07:13.181 --> 0:07:16.461 was a survivor. He'd been abused by his dad and 0:07:16.501 --> 0:07:19.301 had escaped by joining the army in World War One 0:07:19.661 --> 0:07:23.781 at the age of seventeen. He lied about his age 0:07:23.821 --> 0:07:26.741 to get in. He'd been a medic and was decorated 0:07:26.741 --> 0:07:29.661 with the Silver Star for his bravery, but the war 0:07:29.941 --> 0:07:34.341 left him with lingering injuries. Even so, when World War 0:07:34.421 --> 0:07:38.501 II began, he was determined to rejoin the army. By 0:07:38.541 --> 0:07:40.741 then he was a minister, so he would serve as 0:07:40.781 --> 0:07:44.541 a chaplain. He left a wife and daughter back in Vermont, 0:07:44.781 --> 0:07:48.901 and his teenage son had joined the Marines. Ed Dion, 0:07:49.141 --> 0:07:52.301 another soldier on the Dorchester, remembered him well. 0:07:52.581 --> 0:07:55.541 He was small in stature, but then by the same 0:07:55.621 --> 0:07:58.781 token he was big and things he did. The very 0:07:58.861 --> 0:08:02.941 fact that Reverend Vox had medaled from World War One, well, 0:08:02.981 --> 0:08:04.901 that gave you a little idea as to how he 0:08:04.981 --> 0:08:07.541 earned them was through taking care of somebody else. 0:08:09.021 --> 0:08:10.701 George was on the ship with one of his best 0:08:10.701 --> 0:08:15.621 f friends, Rabbi Alex Good. Alex was thirty one, a 0:08:15.661 --> 0:08:19.101 decade younger than George, and he served in the military too, 0:08:19.341 --> 0:08:22.901 in the National Guard. Alex had a wife and toddler 0:08:22.941 --> 0:08:26.181 waiting for him in Pennsylvania, but that hadn't stopped him 0:08:26.181 --> 0:08:29.261 from volunteering for the army. He was ready to fight 0:08:29.301 --> 0:08:33.061 for democracy and he wanted to go straight to the battlefields. 0:08:33.621 --> 0:08:36.901 His wife, Teresa knew he was set on serving no 0:08:37.021 --> 0:08:37.901 matter the cost. 0:08:38.701 --> 0:08:41.141 When I said goodbye to him, I had a feeling 0:08:41.221 --> 0:08:44.181 in my heart that he would not come back. It 0:08:44.300 --> 0:08:47.381 was a very difficult goodbye, and I looked at him 0:08:47.501 --> 0:08:49.501 through the windows of the train. I was crying, and 0:08:49.540 --> 0:08:53.060 he was crying, and I knew I'd never see him again. 0:08:53.460 --> 0:08:55.181 I just felt it in my heart. He was a 0:08:55.221 --> 0:08:59.221 selfless individual. He couldn't do enough for anyone, and a 0:08:59.341 --> 0:09:03.861 very kind man, but a strong man, had strong principles 0:09:04.420 --> 0:09:05.501 and he lived by them. 0:09:09.221 --> 0:09:12.141 George and Alex had met during chapter training at Harvard 0:09:12.180 --> 0:09:15.461 Divinity School, and as they waited to be sent overseas, 0:09:15.901 --> 0:09:20.021 they met two other chaplains. One was John Washington, a 0:09:20.101 --> 0:09:24.220 Roman Catholic priest. The other was Clark Polling, a minister 0:09:24.341 --> 0:09:28.621 of the Dutch Reformed Church. Clark was a pastor in Schenectady, 0:09:28.660 --> 0:09:31.780 New York, with a wife, a toddler, and a baby 0:09:31.820 --> 0:09:35.581 on the way. His dad was a famous evangelical preacher, 0:09:35.820 --> 0:09:38.861 and his brother Dan was a minister too. I guess 0:09:38.861 --> 0:09:42.100 it was the family business. Dan said that his brother 0:09:42.180 --> 0:09:44.300 Clark was always looking deeper. 0:09:45.141 --> 0:09:50.101 He was born an inquirer, a questioner. The things that 0:09:50.180 --> 0:09:54.740 he heard, he inquired about and searched to know their 0:09:54.780 --> 0:09:58.061 meaning and their purposes. He thought that he would be 0:09:58.101 --> 0:10:02.021 a lawyer, and he finally came to accept the fact 0:10:02.060 --> 0:10:05.420 that he was intended by Almighty going to be a 0:10:05.501 --> 0:10:06.621 minister clergyman. 0:10:08.221 --> 0:10:11.100 John Washington, on the other hand, knew he wanted to 0:10:11.141 --> 0:10:13.701 be a priest from the time he was in middle school. 0:10:14.221 --> 0:10:16.861 He grew up in a big and lively Irish Catholic 0:10:16.940 --> 0:10:20.861 family in Newark, New Jersey. When Pearl Harbor was attacked, 0:10:20.981 --> 0:10:23.741 he wanted to enlist, but he'd been hit in the 0:10:23.780 --> 0:10:25.780 eye with a bbie when he was a kid, so 0:10:25.820 --> 0:10:30.141 he wasn't sure he'd be able to. Somehow he managed 0:10:30.141 --> 0:10:33.061 to fake his way through the physical We've heard that 0:10:33.221 --> 0:10:37.980 story before. John was just one of the guys and hilarious. 0:10:38.580 --> 0:10:40.541 Here's the soldier ed Dion again. 0:10:40.981 --> 0:10:44.221 Father Washington probably told more stories than anybody I've ever heard. 0:10:44.221 --> 0:10:47.660 He kept ongoing. He had a good irish with two. 0:10:49.101 --> 0:10:52.141 The four chaplains hit it off immediately, and as soon 0:10:52.180 --> 0:10:55.221 as the journey began they got to work caring for 0:10:55.341 --> 0:10:58.901 the men on board. The chaplain shared a room, but 0:10:58.940 --> 0:11:02.021 they were barely in it. They held services for their 0:11:02.060 --> 0:11:06.780 different faiths. They organized the talent show, but James Mcatney 0:11:06.940 --> 0:11:09.700 remembers their comfort and support most of all. 0:11:10.341 --> 0:11:13.901 You'ven seen him at all hours, not just me lower, 0:11:14.060 --> 0:11:17.740 but wherever there was a gathering of any sort, one 0:11:17.820 --> 0:11:20.220 or more of than would be around, you know, filling 0:11:20.261 --> 0:11:25.220 in and talking and joking and participating. They had tremendous 0:11:25.261 --> 0:11:28.341 empathy with what most of us were going through, the 0:11:28.460 --> 0:11:32.940 uncertainty and the fear and all the other sentiments. 0:11:34.940 --> 0:11:38.141 About nine days after the ship set sail, their job 0:11:38.180 --> 0:11:42.501 got harder. The Dorchester was rocked by a terrible storm, 0:11:43.141 --> 0:11:43.860 the worst. 0:11:43.580 --> 0:11:46.021 Storm in fifty years in the North Atlantic. 0:11:47.180 --> 0:11:50.581 Ernie Heaton was a soldier on the Dorchester and nineteen 0:11:50.660 --> 0:11:54.301 at the time. He found the storm so terrifying that 0:11:54.381 --> 0:11:56.501 he clearly remembered it decades later. 0:11:57.261 --> 0:12:00.780 I'm telling you that ship was all over that ocean 0:12:01.460 --> 0:12:04.861 waves forty foot waves break clear over the bow of 0:12:04.861 --> 0:12:09.101 that ship, and it was cold, and I start building 0:12:09.180 --> 0:12:10.101 up on that ship. 0:12:11.820 --> 0:12:14.060 The outside of the ship was covered in a thick 0:12:14.101 --> 0:12:18.861 blanket of ice. Inside men were throwing up furniture flew. 0:12:19.621 --> 0:12:22.860 Three men were seriously injured, and two of the chaplains 0:12:22.901 --> 0:12:25.901 carried them to their bunks and bandaged them. The two 0:12:25.981 --> 0:12:29.460 others walked the ship, offering crackers and fruit to the men. 0:12:30.540 --> 0:12:34.381 And there was another bigger problem. The storm meant that 0:12:34.420 --> 0:12:38.901 the Dorchester was moving even slower, and sonar had picked 0:12:38.940 --> 0:12:41.580 up evidence that they were being followed by a pack 0:12:41.621 --> 0:12:46.821 of German submarines. That night, John Washington led Catholic Mass 0:12:46.861 --> 0:12:50.581 in the dining hall after all enemy ships meant the 0:12:50.621 --> 0:12:53.700 men were at risk of death. They would need all 0:12:53.741 --> 0:12:56.821 the prayers they could get, But he didn't limit his 0:12:56.940 --> 0:13:00.341 pastorship to Catholics. Here's ed Dion again. 0:13:01.060 --> 0:13:04.381 We all knew that torpedo was out there somewhere, and 0:13:04.420 --> 0:13:06.940 he came around. Didn't make any difference who they were. 0:13:07.420 --> 0:13:09.981 He said, all of you know the Lord's prayer. Poydon 0:13:10.101 --> 0:13:13.981 sang it, saying whatever he said, it'll help you. And 0:13:14.021 --> 0:13:16.261 that was the only time that I ever saw that 0:13:16.341 --> 0:13:20.381 he brought his religion in the rest of the time, 0:13:20.460 --> 0:13:22.941 he was just a man who wanted to take care 0:13:22.981 --> 0:13:23.700 of other men. 0:13:25.700 --> 0:13:28.941 By the late evening, the storm died down, but now 0:13:28.981 --> 0:13:31.501 that the seas had calmed, the threat from the U 0:13:31.540 --> 0:13:36.261 boats got worse. Ernie Heaton remembers an announcement coming over 0:13:36.300 --> 0:13:37.101 the loudspeaker. 0:13:37.741 --> 0:13:43.021 Captain come on and said, everybody is to stay fully dressed, 0:13:43.141 --> 0:13:48.501 absolutely fully dressed with life jackets. We've got soundings of 0:13:48.580 --> 0:13:51.421 subs in the area and we're going to do everything 0:13:51.460 --> 0:13:53.141 we can to keep them away from us. 0:13:54.540 --> 0:13:57.420 The message was clear. They were all at risk of 0:13:57.460 --> 0:14:01.621 being blown into the icy water. So not only were 0:14:01.660 --> 0:14:05.461 life preservers important, but everyone needed to wear all of 0:14:05.501 --> 0:14:11.300 their clothes, hats, gloves, and shoes as insulation against cold. 0:14:12.221 --> 0:14:15.660 The water was around thirty four degrees. You could only 0:14:15.700 --> 0:14:19.781 survive in it for twenty or thirty minutes, even less 0:14:19.981 --> 0:14:23.981 if you weren't fully dressed. But many of the men 0:14:24.061 --> 0:14:27.861 didn't listen. Their bunk rooms were stuffy and hot, and 0:14:27.901 --> 0:14:30.941 nobody wanted to stay in their heavy winter gear all night, 0:14:31.460 --> 0:14:36.061 and life fests weren't exactly comfortable. And remember most of 0:14:36.101 --> 0:14:41.181 these soldiers were eighteen nineteen twenty years old. I remember 0:14:41.221 --> 0:14:44.141 being nineteen years old and feeling like nothing is going 0:14:44.221 --> 0:14:48.581 to happen. They told themselves they only had to make 0:14:48.621 --> 0:14:51.421 it to daylight. Then they would be close enough to 0:14:51.460 --> 0:14:56.101 Greenland that Allied planes would escort them to safety. They 0:14:56.301 --> 0:15:15.340 just had to make it through the night. By midnight 0:15:15.381 --> 0:15:19.941 on February third, nineteen forty three, life on the USS 0:15:20.101 --> 0:15:24.261 Dorchester felt almost normal. Yes, they were being tailed by 0:15:24.381 --> 0:15:28.781 Nazi submarines, but safety was waiting in Greenland, only one 0:15:28.861 --> 0:15:33.021 hundred and fifty miles away. After the storm ended and 0:15:33.061 --> 0:15:36.381 the warnings went out over the loudspeakers, the guys just 0:15:36.861 --> 0:15:40.460 did what they usually did. Here's Ernie Heaton again. 0:15:41.061 --> 0:15:45.021 We were playing cards all evening. The ship had settled 0:15:45.061 --> 0:15:48.301 down some, it wasn't bouncing around like it was, and 0:15:48.701 --> 0:15:51.581 I had lost twenty bucks. So I said, hey, yes, enough. 0:15:52.301 --> 0:15:55.381 So I went to my own room and I sat 0:15:55.421 --> 0:15:58.221 down on my bunk and I said, darn it, I 0:15:58.261 --> 0:16:01.821 haven't even had my shoes off for five days. I'm 0:16:01.861 --> 0:16:03.821 going to at least take my shoes off. You know, 0:16:04.381 --> 0:16:06.541 if I just went over like this to take my 0:16:06.661 --> 0:16:10.021 shoes off, and the next thing you know, there was 0:16:10.061 --> 0:16:14.181 a big and that's when that torpedo hit. 0:16:16.341 --> 0:16:21.181 It was twelve fifty five am. Immediately the lights went out. 0:16:21.541 --> 0:16:25.501 It was pitch black. The steam pipes broke, the bunks 0:16:25.541 --> 0:16:29.421 went down like a house of cards. The torpedo had 0:16:29.501 --> 0:16:33.021 hit close to the engine room. Dozens of men died 0:16:33.101 --> 0:16:37.221 on impact. A flood of icy water roared into the 0:16:37.261 --> 0:16:38.701 lower compartments. 0:16:39.101 --> 0:16:42.661 When that torpedo hit, it penetrated the ship and then 0:16:42.821 --> 0:16:46.740 exploded inside the ship, and it split that chip open 0:16:46.821 --> 0:16:50.860 from blow the waterline clear to the top deck. It 0:16:51.101 --> 0:16:54.381 just started to break it apart. And the next thing, 0:16:54.421 --> 0:16:56.981 you know, in a very short period of time, it 0:16:57.021 --> 0:16:59.941 had already started the list. 0:17:00.061 --> 0:17:01.901 Ernie knew he had to get out of his bunk 0:17:01.981 --> 0:17:05.021 room and up to the deck. The torpedo had hit 0:17:05.061 --> 0:17:08.781 the refrigeration system, so toxic fumes hung in the air. 0:17:09.261 --> 0:17:11.100 As soon as I stepped out that door, there or 0:17:11.261 --> 0:17:15.261 whifts of amonia coming up out of that station. Now 0:17:15.701 --> 0:17:17.981 it's getting hard to breathe, but I had to go 0:17:18.181 --> 0:17:21.061 halfway the length of that ship to go onto the bow. 0:17:23.221 --> 0:17:26.301 There were three Coastguard cutters traveling in the convoy with 0:17:26.381 --> 0:17:31.141 the Dorchester, but without electricity, the Dorchester couldn't signal that 0:17:31.181 --> 0:17:34.741 they had been hit. The ship blew its whistle six 0:17:34.941 --> 0:17:38.941 times and then the steam ran out. Aside from a 0:17:38.941 --> 0:17:42.621 few flashlights, the only lights that work were little blinking 0:17:42.661 --> 0:17:44.741 ones on the men's life jackets. 0:17:45.221 --> 0:17:47.701 You couldn't say hand in front of your face, although 0:17:48.141 --> 0:17:51.301 every life jacket had a red light on it, and 0:17:51.381 --> 0:17:53.461 all you had to do was reach up and twist 0:17:53.541 --> 0:17:56.181 it and you had a red light that they could 0:17:56.181 --> 0:17:56.661 find you. 0:17:58.261 --> 0:18:00.941 In the dark hold of the ship, where the bunks were. 0:18:01.181 --> 0:18:03.981 The halls were blocked by soldiers fighting to get out. 0:18:04.781 --> 0:18:09.941 Up on the deck, it was chaos, clanging bells, emergency sirens, 0:18:10.381 --> 0:18:15.261 men sh The soldiers had assigned lifeboat stations. There should 0:18:15.261 --> 0:18:19.101 have been plenty for everyone, but because the ship was tilting, 0:18:19.541 --> 0:18:24.341 some of the lifeboats weren't usable. Others were frozen solid 0:18:24.421 --> 0:18:28.261 to the boat men piled into the few that did work. 0:18:28.861 --> 0:18:33.661 Soon they were massively overcrowded, capsizing as they hit the waves, 0:18:34.661 --> 0:18:36.501 So the men left on the ship were told to 0:18:36.541 --> 0:18:39.421 get into the water. Either they could jump from the 0:18:39.461 --> 0:18:42.261 deck or shimmy down ropes into the waves. 0:18:42.941 --> 0:18:45.821 They already told us that you couldn't live over a 0:18:45.901 --> 0:18:48.821 half hour in that water. If they tell you to 0:18:48.901 --> 0:18:51.701 cut a rope, let it slide into the ocean and 0:18:51.741 --> 0:18:52.941 then jump in after it. 0:18:54.341 --> 0:18:58.101 Everyone was panicking trying to find a lifeboat or life 0:18:58.181 --> 0:18:59.941 raft that still had space. 0:19:00.581 --> 0:19:03.461 As I'm trying to push my way through. This is 0:19:03.501 --> 0:19:07.221 where I saw the four chappas. They're telling everybody go 0:19:07.341 --> 0:19:10.501 to your station, Please, go to your station. But there 0:19:10.541 --> 0:19:13.941 was guy scream and I can't swim, and it was 0:19:14.061 --> 0:19:17.061 just you can't imagine what it was like. 0:19:17.301 --> 0:19:17.941 Was horrible. 0:19:18.101 --> 0:19:22.901 Yes, the four chaplains were on deck together. They were 0:19:22.901 --> 0:19:26.541 handing out life preservers and giving out instructions, trying to 0:19:26.661 --> 0:19:31.101 keep the men calm. It was an impossible task. Navy 0:19:31.101 --> 0:19:32.941 Gunner Roy Summers was on the deck. 0:19:33.541 --> 0:19:37.100 One of the boys had the chaplain almost by the 0:19:37.181 --> 0:19:40.621 neck and hanging on to him and it's just screaming 0:19:41.101 --> 0:19:43.741 and this chaplain has shaking him some and trying to 0:19:43.741 --> 0:19:47.061 get his attention, and tried to talk to him and 0:19:47.141 --> 0:19:49.701 tell him to get on the fall line. Keep a 0:19:49.741 --> 0:19:52.141 prayer on your lips and I'll be praying for you. 0:19:53.861 --> 0:19:56.501 Ernie noticed something else about the chaplains. 0:19:56.981 --> 0:19:59.741 They didn't have a red light on and I wonder 0:19:59.741 --> 0:20:01.421 why I didn't put that red light on, And when 0:20:01.421 --> 0:20:04.141 I got closer, they didn't have their life jackets on. 0:20:05.901 --> 0:20:08.661 There was a reason for this. Many men had gone 0:20:08.741 --> 0:20:11.861 to sleep without their life jackets, and after the attack 0:20:12.141 --> 0:20:15.181 they had left them down in the bunks. The Chaplains 0:20:15.221 --> 0:20:17.461 were giving out all the life preservers they can get 0:20:17.501 --> 0:20:21.461 their hands on. A private named Charles Mackley watched them. 0:20:21.861 --> 0:20:24.981 They were handed out life jackets. You know, they even 0:20:25.021 --> 0:20:25.901 gave up their own. 0:20:27.181 --> 0:20:30.100 In fact, the Chaplains gave up everything they could to 0:20:30.181 --> 0:20:33.421 the men on that ship. One man later said he 0:20:33.461 --> 0:20:36.221 had gotten to the deck and realized his gloves were 0:20:36.261 --> 0:20:39.261 back in his cabin, so Alex Good took off his 0:20:39.421 --> 0:20:43.261 own gloves and gave them to him. The four Chaplains 0:20:43.301 --> 0:20:47.021 weren't thinking about their own survival. As the freezing waters 0:20:47.061 --> 0:20:50.381 slashed over the deck, they called out words of encouragement. 0:20:51.061 --> 0:20:55.501 They calmly ordered terrified men to save themselves, but they 0:20:55.501 --> 0:20:58.181 didn't try to take a spot on a lifeboat or 0:20:58.341 --> 0:20:58.941 swim away. 0:20:59.581 --> 0:21:02.301 In fact, I told his Catholic chaplain, I said, finally 0:21:02.301 --> 0:21:04.581 get off the ship. The ship was going down. Still 0:21:04.661 --> 0:21:07.100 reallyased to do it, though, as I got off the 0:21:07.141 --> 0:21:10.821 ship when I went down on a rope that were joining 0:21:11.021 --> 0:21:13.581 has Afford of the wall together. It just stayed there 0:21:13.781 --> 0:21:16.661 and the water was starting to come into the main deck. 0:21:17.701 --> 0:21:19.701 They made no attempt to get off the ship at all. 0:21:21.821 --> 0:21:24.021 The men on the lifeboats and rafts had gotten as 0:21:24.061 --> 0:21:27.381 far from the sinking ship as they possibly could. If 0:21:27.381 --> 0:21:30.341 they stayed too close, they could have gotten sucked down 0:21:30.381 --> 0:21:34.741 with it. Benjamin Epstein, the guy who called the Dorchester 0:21:34.861 --> 0:21:38.621 a suicide ship, made it to a lifeboat from a 0:21:38.701 --> 0:21:41.581 spot on the water. He took a last look back. 0:21:42.221 --> 0:21:45.621 As I turned around, I saw a sight that will 0:21:45.661 --> 0:21:51.141 forever be with me. It was the Dorchester making its 0:21:51.221 --> 0:21:54.461 last lurch into the water, and it looked like a 0:21:54.541 --> 0:21:59.141 Christmas tree, because that little red light represented a soldier. 0:22:00.381 --> 0:22:03.340 They were soldiers hanging on to the rail of the 0:22:03.381 --> 0:22:07.701 ship who were too frightened. Not that I can blame them. 0:22:07.941 --> 0:22:09.941 Who would want to jump? What are you jumping into 0:22:11.621 --> 0:22:19.421 the cold water the waves? The situation was an impossible one. 0:22:20.101 --> 0:22:22.341 But those men hanging onto the rail of the ship 0:22:22.381 --> 0:22:27.341 weren't alone. George, Alex Clark and John had stayed behind 0:22:27.421 --> 0:22:30.541 to take care of them. From this spot on a 0:22:30.581 --> 0:22:34.141 life raft, A young soldier named James Urdley called the 0:22:34.221 --> 0:22:38.100 last glimpse of the four Chaplains there on the Dorchester 0:22:38.781 --> 0:22:39.501 as she sank. 0:22:40.781 --> 0:22:44.541 When she rolled, she rolled to starboard and all I 0:22:44.541 --> 0:22:49.141 could say was the keel up there and there showed 0:22:49.181 --> 0:22:51.941 the four Chapelains standing arm in arm on the top 0:22:51.981 --> 0:22:52.461 of the boat. 0:22:53.421 --> 0:22:56.501 And then the boat took a nose, diving right down. 0:22:56.701 --> 0:23:12.181 They worked with it. That's the last time we show them. 0:23:14.661 --> 0:23:17.461 Hundreds of red lights blinked in the water around the 0:23:17.581 --> 0:23:21.461 USS Dorchester. Roy Summers watched them from his life. 0:23:21.581 --> 0:23:25.221 Raft Men were all around us, and man with life 0:23:25.301 --> 0:23:28.701 jackets on with one cell lights drifting and bobbling in 0:23:28.741 --> 0:23:31.580 the water, and it kind of looked like a wheat 0:23:31.621 --> 0:23:34.380 field with a lot of light. Need bugs over the 0:23:34.381 --> 0:23:37.141 top of the wheat field, bobbing up and down with 0:23:37.181 --> 0:23:37.541 the light. 0:23:38.981 --> 0:23:42.860 He makes his sound so peaceful and reality. It was 0:23:42.941 --> 0:23:46.941 anything but the ship was surrounded by debris and the 0:23:47.021 --> 0:23:50.221 men got caught in it. It happened to Charles Tichia. 0:23:50.981 --> 0:23:53.181 As I was in the water, something grabbed my life 0:23:53.261 --> 0:23:56.901 jacket that had taken me down with it. I pulled 0:23:56.941 --> 0:24:00.501 and I pulled, and I pulled, and finally got free. 0:24:00.661 --> 0:24:02.621 Then I was trying to make my way up to 0:24:02.661 --> 0:24:06.221 the surface. I thought I'd never breathe there again. Finally 0:24:06.701 --> 0:24:10.221 there it was, and right in front of me was 0:24:10.261 --> 0:24:14.101 this life wren. Few fellows grabbed my back and to 0:24:14.261 --> 0:24:18.301 help bring me aboard. And I can hear the depth 0:24:18.421 --> 0:24:23.221 charges all around, being dropped by the coast cut cutters. 0:24:24.061 --> 0:24:28.341 And I can hear the people in the water saying, hell, 0:24:29.141 --> 0:24:30.981 shave me, shave me. 0:24:33.301 --> 0:24:36.341 Even with layers of clothing on, men in the water 0:24:36.421 --> 0:24:40.741 succumbed to hypothermia quickly. For those in the boats, things 0:24:40.741 --> 0:24:44.741 were barely better. Waves drenched the men with water, which 0:24:44.781 --> 0:24:49.541 then froze into sheets of ice. Ernie Heaton got lucky 0:24:49.581 --> 0:24:52.701 for a sort of crazy reason. When he jumped off 0:24:52.701 --> 0:24:56.421 of the boat, he was coated in oil. It soaked 0:24:56.421 --> 0:25:00.661 through his clothing and insulated him against the cold. As 0:25:00.701 --> 0:25:03.461 he was drifting, he saw a cluster of little red 0:25:03.541 --> 0:25:07.461 lights shining in the distance. He decided to swim towards it. 0:25:07.981 --> 0:25:10.380 I started swim as good as I could, and finally 0:25:10.421 --> 0:25:13.461 I got it was a lifeboat. It was a full 0:25:13.541 --> 0:25:16.061 I couldn't get in, so I told a god it 0:25:16.101 --> 0:25:19.221 was setting pushed to me. I said, let me stick 0:25:19.301 --> 0:25:21.581 my arm in there, and you lean against my arm, 0:25:22.141 --> 0:25:25.741