Glen Head legion honors Four Chaplains who gave their all

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It has been 75 years since the USS Dorchester sank into the sea on its way to Greenland during World War II, but the relevance of remembering the tragedy is still alive and well today. Every year American Legion posts across the country mark the sacrifice of four men who gave their lives to save hundreds more aboard the sinking vessel.

On the morning of Feb. 3, 1943, the Four Chaplains, as history remembers them, helped panicked sailors by organizing an evacuation of the ship, which was torpedoed by a German submarine. It soon became apparent that there weren’t enough life jackets. All four gave their jackets to young sailors. As the ship went down, survivors said they could hear the four brave men, each of different religious denominations, leading those who remained in prayer and song.

“Today we remember the selfless actions of the Four Chaplains, men of different paths who on that day were touched by a common God,” said Legionnaire Fred Neilson, of Glen Cove.

To remember the legacy of the four men, Glen Head-Glenwood Landing American Legion Post 336 organized multi-denominational clergy to represent the Four Chaplains during a solemn ceremony on Sunday. This year’s participants were Rabbi Janet Liss of North Country Reform Temple, the Rev. Kirtland Watkins of United Methodist Church, Dr. Kimberly Wilson of Our Savior Lutheran Church, and the Rev. Chinthaka Perera of St. Boniface.

“We are the first post in the American Legion to honor the Muslim community at one of these ceremonies,” said Post 336 Chaplain Ralph Casey.

Habeeb Ahmed, president of the Islamic Center of Long Island, had met Casey and other legion members through interfaith gatherings, and was invited to speak at the ceremony. He called the actions of the chaplains that fateful morning “interfaith in action.”

“If men can die heroically as brothers, they can live together in good faith,” he said. “Our country is becoming more diverse, even though our president is trying not to make it so, but this will happen, and other communities will take part in this.”

In December 1993, the U.S. Army chief of chaplains requested that an insignia be created to represent Muslim chaplains. As of 2011, there were roughly 3,500 American Muslims serving in the United States military.

“For the last 60 to 70 years, [the number of Muslim servicemen] slowly had been increasing, so it was really moving and very touching to come and see history being made,” Ahmed said. “This is the first time I have attended this kind of service, and we were honored to be part of this event.”

Ralph Epstein, of Glen Cove, shared the story of his father, Benjamin, who was one of the 230 men who survived the day the Dorchester sank. He lived to be 91.

“For most of my life, he didn’t talk about it. Then, when he was in his 60s, he felt it was important to go around and talk about what the chaplains represent and what their message was,” Epstein said.

And that message is one of true heroism and deference for your fellow man, regardless of race or sexual orientation. “Today when there’s such division in the country, and the leadership in our country is tearing us apart, it is really important that we talk to each other.”

Laura Lane contributed to this story.