The Faces Behind the Bases

This book is dedicated to those who never had a base or hall named after them, but who served and in many, many instances gave their lives. Since it is impossible to name those millions, the author has selected four to represent them. Those four are Father John Washington, Rabbi Alexander Goode, and Reverends Clark Polling and George Fox. These Chaplains were all aboard the USAT Dorchester serving the spiritual needs of the soldiers who were being transported to fight the enemy. A German torpedo hit the ship and within minutes it began to sink. The soldiers made their way on deck and began to assemble and put on the scattered life preservers as best they could find them. The four Chaplains tried to calm the personnel and help them into life rafts. In less than thirty minutes the ship was on its way down and many of the soldiers had no life preservers. The four Chaplains removed their own vests and gave them to the last of the troops. Two hundred and thirty were rescued out of the nine hundred and two aboard. As they were being plucked from the frigid waters they could see the four Chaplains, Washington, Goode, Polling and Fox standing on the deck with their arms linked together, singing hymns as the ship disappeared under the sea.