Featuring Research Volunteer Contributions

Four Chaplains Issue

refer to caption
3-cent Four Chaplains single

A 3-cent black stamp was issued on May 28, 1948, to honor four chaplains who sacrificed their lives in the sinking of the S. S. Dorchester. The chaplains—George L. Fox, Clark V. Poling, John P. Washington, and Alexander D. Goode—are pictured above the sinking ship in the central design. The chaplains, who represented Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish faiths, gave up their life preservers to other crew members and went down with the ship. The Dorchester, an aging luxury liner that had been converted for troop transport, was sailing from New York to Greenland when it was destroyed by a German U-boat's torpedo on February 2, 1943.

About U.S. Stamps