WQCS Local
(2012-02-06)
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FORT PIERCE, FL
(wqcs) -
In 1943, the troopship Dorchester was hit by a German torpedo and began to sink in the icy North Atlantic. Four chaplains of different faiths tended to the injured and gave away their lifejackets to men who didn't have them. The chaplains - a Catholic priest, a Jewish rabbi, a Methodist minister and a Dutch Reformed minister - then joined arms, recited prayers and sang hymns as they went down with the ship. The Four Chaplains have been honored with chapels, stained-glass windows, statues and a U.S. postage stamp. Soon a granite monument will be dedicated to them in Sebastian. It stands on Indian River Drive. On it are images of the ship and the Four Chaplains. Two men have worked on this project for eight years. They are Ernest Heaton of Vero Beach, a survivor of the sinking, and Larry Wapnick, president of the Monument Committee. On Sunday, January 29th, Heaton told at an interfaith gathering at St. Sebastian Catholic Church that the Four Chaplains "gave up their life jackets to men without them, knowing they would go down with the ship." The dedication of the monument to the Four Chaplains will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday, February 14th. On that same day, Ernest Heaton will turn 89. For 88.9 FM, this is Paul Janensch.
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Treasure Coast essayist Paul Janensch was a newspaper reporter and taught journalism at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut.
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