Images(3)

Medal, Commemorative

Object number2010.98.12 a,b

Date2004

Mediumgold; silk; leatherette

Credit LineChildren of the Baker-Knoll family

DescriptionGold commemorative ribbon with blue neck ribbon and black box.Dimensions(a) Width of medal: 2.125 ; Length: unknown (not removed from box)
(b) W: 4.625 ; L: 7.25
Inscriptions(a)
Embossed on obverse: "THE HEROIC SACRIFICE OF THE FOUR CHAPLAINS / FEBRUARY THIRD 1943" and on a banner, "DORCHESTER".

Embossed on reserve: "THE CHAPEL OF FOUR CHAPLAINS / UNITY WITHOUT UNIFORMITY"; engraved in center, "LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR / CATHERINE BAKER KNOLL / FEBRUARY 3, 2004".
Marks(a)
"S" inside shield; ""1-2012K".
Historical NotesOn Feb. 3, 1943, the United States Army Transport Dorchester, a converted luxury liner, was crossing the North Atlantic, transporting more than 900 troops to an American base in Greenland. Aboard the ship were four chaplains of different faiths: Reverend George Fox (Methodist), Jewish Rabbi Alexander Goode, Reverend Clark Poling (Dutch Reformed) and Father John Washington (Roman Catholic). Around 12:55 a.m., a German U-boat fired a torpedo that struck Dorchester's starboard side, below the water line and near the engine room. The explosion instantly killed 100 men and knocked out power and radio communication with Dorchester's three escort ships. Within 20 minutes, the transport sank and more than 670 men died. As soldiers rushed to lifeboats, the four chaplains spread out, comforting the wounded and directing others to safety. One survivor, Private William Bednar, later said, I could hear men crying, pleading, praying. I could also hear the chaplains preaching courage. Their voices were the only thing that kept me going. Another survivor, John Ladd, watched the chaplains distribute life jackets, and when they ran out, they removed theirs and gave them to four young men. It was the finest thing I have seen, or hope to see, this side of heaven, he recalled. As Dorchester sank, the chaplains were seen linked arm in arm, praying. Fox, Goode, Poling, and Washington were posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Purple Heart, and in 1948, Congress declared February 3 to be Four Chaplains Day. The four chaplains were also honored with a U.S. postage stamp that year. Because of the Medal of Honors strict requirements of heroism under fire, Congress authorized a one-time Chaplains Medal for Heroism on July 14, 1960. The award was presented to the chaplains next of kin January 18, 1961. On Feb. 3, 1951, President Truman dedicated a chapel in the chaplains honor at Grace Baptist Church in Philadelphia. When the building was sold, the chapel fell into disrepair, and the foundation overseeing the chapel moved it to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in 2001. The chapel was repaired in 2004 and given the name Chapel of the Four Chaplains. Part of a collection relating to the life and political career of Lieutenant Governor Catherine Baker Knoll. Born in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, Catherine Baker Knoll worked in the family business, Knoll Hotel and Restaurant, developing her people skills and beginning her political activism. In 1970, she became a state committee woman for the Democratic Party, then rose through the ranks of the state's Department of Transportation Bureau of Motor Vehicles. She was tapped by the party in 1976, to run for State Treasurer, but did not get elected to office until 1988. She easily won a second term in 1992, by a landslide vote. In 2002, she was elected as the state's first female Lieutenant Governor.

Previous owner Catherine Baker Knoll (1930 - 2008)

Related institution United States Army

Subjects