From the VA Medical Center:
VA Western New York Healthcare System will hold a service for veterans, employees and the community, Sunday, February 1 at 2 p.m. at the Buffalo site, 3495 Bailey Avenue in Freedom Hall, room 301 in remembrance of the Four Chaplains who lost their lives during an extraordinary act of heroism during World War II. Lt. Colonel Allen Douglas Ferry, New York Air Reserve National Guard (retired), and Bronze Star Recipient for combat service and Legion of Merit will deliver the keynote address. At this special event, the Legion of Honor award presentation will also take place.
The four Chaplains, a Methodist Minister, Jewish Rabbi, Dutch Reformed Church, and Catholic Priest were on a US Army transport ship hit by a German torpedo off the icy waters of Greenland in February 1943. When it became apparent there were not enough life jackets, the four US Army Chaplains removed theirs and handed them to frightened young soldiers, and chose to go down with the ship. They locked arms together and prayed in the tradition of their own faith. Of the 902 on board, there were only 227 survivors. They demonstrated throughout the voyage and in their last moments, interfaith compassion in their relationship with the men on board and with each other.
