Category: Four Chaplains' Medal

Categories: Personal Decorations, US Military Decorations

This category is managed by the Military and War Project in association with the Categorization Project. For assistance with this or related categories ask in G2G making sure to tag your question with both categorization and Military_and_War.


The Four Chaplains' Medal was a decoration approved by an Act of Congress on July 14, 1960.

The decoration recognizes the heroic actions of four Army Chaplains during World War II.

The statute awarding the medal is listed as follows:

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President is authorized to award posthumously appropriate medals and certificates to Chaplain George L. Fox of Gilman, Vermont; Chaplain Alexander D. Goode of Washington, District of Columbia; Chaplain Clark V. Poling of Schenectady, New York; and Chaplain John P. Washington of Arlington, New Jersey, in recognition of the extraordinary heroism displayed by them when they sacrificed their lives in the sinking of the troop transport Dorchester in the North Atlantic in 1943 by giving up their life preservers to other men aboard such transport. The medals and certificates authorized by this Act shall be in such form and of such design as shall be prescribed by the President, and shall be awarded to such representatives of the aforementioned chaplains as the President may designate.

Also known as the Chaplain's Medal of Honor and the Chaplain's Medal for Heroism, its design commemorates the actions of the Four Chaplains who gave their lives in the line of duty on February 3, 1943.

It was presented posthumously to their next of kin by Secretary of the Army Wilber M. Brucker at Fort Myer, Virginia, on January 18, 1961.

Wikipedia:Four_Chaplains'_Medal



Person Profiles (4)

abt 15 Mar 1900 Lewistown, Pennsylvania, United States - 03 Feb 1943 photo
10 May 1911 Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States - 03 Feb 1943 photo
07 Aug 1910 Ohio, United States - 03 Feb 1943 photo
18 Jul 1908 Newark, Essex, New Jersey, United States - 03 Feb 1943 photo




This page was last modified 16:23, 3 February 2018. This page has been accessed 136 times.