Letters: Honor their memory
January 30, 2013 10:02PM
Updated: March 1, 2013 6:29AM
We’ve heard a lot about the Titanic, but little has been said about another tragic sea story, concerning the “four chaplains” of World War II. Approaching now is the 70th anniversary of the tragic event of Feb. 2, 1943.
On that evening, the U.S.A.T. Dorchester was torpedoed by a German submarine. The ship had been converted into an Army transport ship and carried 902 souls. The ship took only 20 minutes to sink beneath the icy waters of the Atlantic Ocean, between 1 and 2 a.m.
Coast Guard Cutter Comanche, Escanaba and Tampa hurried to the disaster, but could save only 230 survivors. As there was a shortage of life jackets during the confusion that followed, each of the four chaplains — Father John P. Washington, Rabbi Alexander D. Goode, Rev. George L. Fox and Rev. Clark V. Poling, gave their life jackets to other men, and remained aboard the sinking ship, shouting encouragement and praying for the men in the water as the ship disappeared to an icy grave.
Of the four chaplains, who gave their lives for others, one was a priest, one was a rabbi, one a Methodist minister and one a Baptist minister. They were last seen arm in arm, praying for the men in the water.
Let us honor the memory of these brave heroes on this anniversary.
Marvin “Buck” Balsley
Chaplain,
Joliet American Legion Post 1080
Please define treason
Am I missing something here, or what? According to Casey Lilek (OpenLine, Jan. 18), “The first bill proposed by U.S. Rep. Michelle Bachmann to the newly sworn-in Congress was to repeal ‘Obamacare.’ ” This, she speculates, is nothing more than the Republicans “… trying to destroy our economy,” which is, of course, her opinion. Bachmann’s bill follows to a “t” the processes set forth in the Constitution, and cannot be passed into law without further support, per the constitutional process…yet Casey calls this “treason from within.”
Casey ends the call with, “I can’t wait until 2014. We will have a Democratic monopoly in the House of Representatives and Senate.” The Dems already have the White House, so adding a “Democratic monopoly” in both houses of Congress could well be in direct conflict with the Constitution’s idea of the separation of powers, yet this is what Casey longs for.
Casey, might you want to reconsider which of these is closer to the idea of treason?
John Babush
Big Rock
