YORK, Pa. — Hundreds filled the ballroom of the Wyndam Gardens in West Manchester Township, York County, for the 31st annual Four Chaplains Prayer Breakfast on Wednesday.
The breakfast, started in 1993, is organized by the Four Chaplains Memorial of York County to honor the legacy of four chaplains aboard the USAT Dorchester during World War II.
This annual event now hosts hundreds of attendees, keynote speakers and will hand out thousands of dollars' worth of scholarships to local students.
The Four Chaplains, or Immortal Chaplains, died on Feb. 3, 1943 when their ship was hit and sunk by the Germans during World War II. The ship was transporting U.S. troops from New York to Greenland. There were 902 people on board; 230 of them survived and 674 died.
The Four Chaplains were all of different faiths. George Fox was a Methodist minister from Lewistown, Mifflin County. Alexander Goode was a Jewish rabbi who left his pulpit at York's Temple Beth Israel to serve. John Washington was a Catholic priest. Clark Poling was a reformed church minister.
The four of them gave their own lifejackets to other men and linked arms as the ship went down. They said prayers and sang hymns.
"I think they represented the unity that was necessary during the war years," said Gordon Freireich, one of the founders of The Four Chaplains Memorial of York County.
The selflessness displayed by the Chaplains inspired Freireich and other men in the York community to create an organization in their honor.
To learn more about The Four Chaplains Memorial of York County, click here.
To get involved and donate to the cause, click here.