SENATE RESOLUTION COMMEMORATING THE 83RD ANNIVERSARY OF THE "FOUR CHAPLAINS", THE FOUR MEN OF GOD WHO SACRIFICED THEIR LIVES DURING WORLD WAR II SO THAT OTHERS MIGHT LIVE

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2026 -- S 2190
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026
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S E N A T E R E S O L U T I O N
COMMEMORATING THE 83RD ANNIVERSARY OF THE "FOUR CHAPLAINS", THE
FOUR MEN OF GOD WHO SACRIFICED THEIR LIVES DURING WORLD WAR II SO
THAT OTHERS MIGHT LIVE

Introduced By:
Senators Raptakis, Burke, and Rogers

Date Introduced:
January 21, 2026

Referred To:
Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar
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WHEREAS, Just past midnight on February 3, 1943, the SS Dorchester, a United States
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Army Troop Ship laden with 900 troops, seamen and civilians, was passing through the brutally
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cold waters of the North Atlantic, on its way to deliver support and materials to Allied bases in
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Greenland. At 12:55 a.m., the SS Dorchester, located 100 miles from Greenland, was hit by a
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torpedo fired from a German U-Boat. The massive explosion tore through the ship, causing an
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immediate loss of life. The SS Dorchester began to list with water gushing into the lower decks of
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the ship; and
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WHEREAS, Those who survived the blast were quickly in a state of panic and confusion.
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Hundreds of survivors hurried towards the deck and then struggled to find the lifeboats as the ship
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began to sink. Few of the men were wearing life vests, and knew that the frigid waters of the
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Atlantic below them meant an almost certain death; and
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WHEREAS, In the midst of this chaos four Chaplains, George Fox, a Methodist Minister,
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Alexander Goode, a Jewish Rabbi, Clark Poling, a Dutch Reformed Minister, and John
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Washington, a Roman Catholic Priest, all First Lieutenants, rushed forward to help their fellow
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shipmates. They began distributing the limited number of available life jackets and when it
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became clear that there were not enough available life jackets, they gave up their own so that
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others might live. They remained on deck until the end, assisting others, and were four of the 670
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people who perished; and
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WHEREAS, After the war, numerous memorials were created to honor these four

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Chaplains. A stained glass window in the Pentagon Chapel is dedicated to their memory. In 1960,
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Congress passed a law authorizing the President to posthumously award a decoration for
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extraordinary heroism to the four Chaplains in honor of their actions. The Four Chaplains' Medal
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was presented to their next of kin in 1961. They are also honored with inscriptions upon the Walls
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of the Missing at an ABMC memorial, the place where the American government honors all
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service members who were lost at sea. Finally, in the Battery on the southern tip of Manhattan
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Island, stands the East Coast Memorial. On this site, overlooking New York Harbor, eight large
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pylons stand with the names and service information of the 4,611 Americans, including the Four
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Chaplains, who perished in the western waters of the Atlantic Ocean during World War II; now,
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therefore be it
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RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island hereby commemorates the
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83rd Anniversary of the "Four Chaplains", the four men of God who sacrificed their lives during
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World War II so that others might live; and be it further
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RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to
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transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to Mr. Kasim J. Yarn, Director of the Rhode
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Island Department of Veterans Affairs and Jane Deptula, Rhode Island Marine Corps League
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Division Chaplain.
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