Dear Editor:

This Saturday, Feb. 1, Post 36 will be conducting the 4 Chaplain Ceremony at the Hall. The ceremony is a moving tribute to four Army chaplains who gave up their lives for army troops and crew, including civilians, abandoning a sinking troop ship on Feb. 3, 1943 in the North Atlantic. The 4 chaplains were from different faiths, a Roman Catholic Priest, Methodist minister, Dutch Reformed minister, and a Jewish Rabbi. 672 soldiers and crew of the 902 people on board died, including 39 Mainers. In 1944, the Distinguished Service Cross and Purple Heart were awarded posthumously to the chaplains’ next of kin, and in 1961, President Eisenhower awarded a special Medal for Heroism, a one-time award authorized by Congress and intended to have the same weight and importance as the Medal of Honor.

Service organizations all around the country will be performing this ceremony this weekend. Please join us! The doors will open at 9:30 a.m. and the ceremony will start at 10. Following the ceremony, approximately 10:30, light refreshments will be available.

David Patch

Commander

American Legion Post 36