A special ceremony honoring the 75th anniversary of the heroic actions of a group of men known today as the Four Chaplains was held Saturday morning at Gloucester’s Bellamy United Methodist Church.

A number of local veteran organizations participated in and helped host the fourth year of the local program, which honored the men for helping other soldiers aboard the SS Dorchester board lifeboats after the ship was struck by a German torpedo during World War II. 

Representatives from American Legion Post 75, Gloucester, and Post 83, Mathews; the Disabled American Veterans Chapter 58, Gloucester; Marine Corps League Detachment #1317, Gloucester, and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8252, Gloucester, represented each of the four chaplains.

The four chaplains were Alexander Goode, George Fox, Clark Poling and John Washington. Witnesses describe how the chaplains spread out among the soldiers on the ill-fated ship, trying to calm the frightened, tend to the wounded and guide the d...