Product Description

The sinking of the Dorchester in the icy waters off Greenland shortly after midnight on February 3, 1942, was one of the worst sea disasters of World War II. It was also the occasion of an astounding feat of heroism—and faith.

As water gushed through a hole made by a German torpedo, four chaplains—members of different faiths but linked by bonds of friendship and devotion—moved quietly among the men onboard. Preaching bravery, the chaplains distributed life jackets, including their own. In the end, these four men went down with the ship, their arms linked in spiritual solidarity, their voices raised in prayer. In this spellbinding narrative, award-winning author and journalist Dan Kurzman tells the story of these heroes and the faith—in God and in country—that they shared.

They were about as different as four American clergymen could be. George Lansing Fox (Methodist), wounded and decorated in World War I, loved his family and his Vermont congregation—yet he re-enlisted as soon as he heard about Pearl Harbor. Rabbi Alex Goode was an athlete, an intellectual, and an adoring new father—yet he too knew, the day Pearl Harbor was bombed, that he would serve. Clark Poling (Dutch Reformed), the son a famous radio evangelist, left for war begging his father to pray that he would never be a coward. Father John Washington (Catholic), a scrappy Irish street fighter, had dedicated himself to the church after a childhood brush with death. Chance brought the chaplains together at a Massachusetts training camp, but each was convinced that God had a reason for placing them together aboard the Dorchester.

Drawing on extensive interviews with the chaplains’ families and the crews of both the Dorchester and the German submarine that fired the fatal torpedo, Kurzman re-creates the intimate circumstances and great historic events that culminated in that terrible night. The final hours unfold with the electrifying clarity of nightmare—the chaplains taking charge of the dwindling supply of life jackets, the panic of the crew, the overcrowded lifeboats, the prayers that ring out over the chaos, and the tight circle that the four chaplains form as the inevitable draws near.

In No Greater Glory, Dan Kurzman tells how four extraordinary men left their mark on a single night of war—and forever changed the lives of those they saved. Riveting and inspiring, this is a true story of heroism, of goodness in the face of disaster, and of faith that transfigures even the horror of war.


From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57066 in eBooks
• Published on: 2004-05-11
• Released on: 2004-05-11
• Format: Kindle Book
• Number of items: 1

From Publishers Weekly
The U.S. Army Transportation Service troopship Dorchester was torpedoed in the North Atlantic, 100 miles south of Greenland, on the night of February 3, 1943. As a former luxury liner, the ship went down quickly. Of the 900 passengers and crew, 597 were military personnel, and four of those men were the ship's chaplains—Methodist senior chaplain George Lansing Fox, rabbi Alexander Goode, Dutch Reformed minister Clark V. Poling and John P. Washington, a Roman Catholic priest. Each chaplain distributed life vests as the ship went down and then gave up their own when supply ran out. (There were approximately 200 survivors.) Former Washington Post correspondent Kurzman (Fatal Voyage) follows the men from their enlistments to that fateful night, detailing their families and travails along the way. The result is the fullest reckoning yet for the men who have become known as "The Four Immortal Chaplains," who have previously been commemorated by the U.S. Postal Service, with a stamp issued in their honor.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
In the Battle of the Atlantic's catalog of tragedies, the 1943 sinking of an American troop transport stands out as a heroic vignette witnessed by survivors. They recounted how four chaplains, after pressing their life jackets on terrified young men, went down with the ship, praying. The chaplains have been commemorated over the years in various media but never in so comprehensive a fashion as in Kurzman's book. His research of primary documents associated with each chaplain's life and religious career, and interviews of people who knew them, pays off in a narrative that not only recalls the men's personalities but also the quality of their faith in God. It was slightly different for each--an intellectual decision for Protestant minister Clark Poling; a starting point for an idealistic commitment to brotherhood and democracy for the young rabbi Alexander Goode. From the chaplains' bonding in training camp to the voyage to Greenland, their duties and sacrifice are movingly commemorated in this poignant account, which is bound to connect with spiritually minded readers. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
“One of the greatest survival stories of World War II. A tale full of heroism and courage in the face of genuine horror.”
—Los Angeles Times

“Kurzman takes this gigantic tragedy and tells it in very personal terms. . . . The writing style is compelling. . . . Kurzman records dozens of tales of heroism, large and small. One can only marvel at the superhuman feats man is capable of in times of crisis.”
—Indianapolis Star

“An intensely personal moving account of the events and personalities involved in the catastrophe and its clouded aftermath.”
—Sea Power



From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews

Interfaith in action
Everyone who's already reviewed this book has said so much about it that it's hard to find anything more to say about how well it's written, what a great gripping true story it is, and the amazing heroism of the four chaplains. This book is so well-written and has such a compelling and involving story that I read it in like two days, and wished there had been even more. Additionally, this heroic tale from WWII has special meaning to many of the people in my area (New York State's Capital District) because Rev. Clark Poling's church was in nearby Schenectady, providing a local connection.

The book itself follows a somewhat nonlinear format, going back and forth between the pre-war lives of the four chaplains and their lives during the war, particularly after they boarded the Dorchester and arrived in Greenland for a very brief stay before going back on the ill-fated ship. After this point, the narrative switches entirely to a linear format, discussing the ship's final night before being torpedoed by a German U-boat and the chaos, heroism, and tragedy that ensued. Not many people could honestly say that they would give up their lifejackets if their ship went down in freezing waters in the middle of the night (Rabbi Alex Goode even gave up his gloves) or remain calm in the midst of such frantic circumstances and such a life-and-death situation. Many people back then also weren't so forward-thinking about interfaith relations, with a Reform rabbi, a Catholic priest, and two reverends from different Protestant denominations being such close friends and reaching out equally to everyone on the ship, largely being nonsectarian apart from when they did things like conduct services. This was still an era in which many Protestants and Catholics didn't associate with one another, to say nothing of the rampant institutionalised prejudice against Jews, and, in a number of areas, against Catholics as well. They set a moving and heroic example for all time, not just in the area of interfaith relations, but also in the area of selfless sacrifice. It was interesting to read in the Afterword about some of the people who have since been awarded the Immortal Chaplains Prize for Humanity Award, such as the Japanese Righteous Gentile Chiune Sugihara, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Omri Abdel-Halim al-Jadah, a Palestinian Muslim who died while saving a young Israeli Jewish boy from drowning. The Afterword also provided information on what happened to the survivors of the Dorchester sinking and the near and dear ones of the chaplains.

As we find out all throughout the book, this tragedy could have been prevented (it was kind of like a smaller-scale Titanic) if only the Dorchester had been inspected more closely or refurbished, or if there had been enough lifejackets and safety instructions provided, and even after disaster struck, the casualties could have been reduced if the nearby American ships had begun searching for survivors and bringing them onto their ships right away instead of thinking nothing serious had happened or going after the attacking U-boat first, but even in the midst of such bungling and such a chaotic disaster, the amazing heroism of the chaplains shone through as well as it would have in calmer circumstances.

A remarkable true story
With a sickening thump, an explosion wracked the troop transport S.S. Dorchester - a German torpedo had found its mark. It was shortly after midnight, February 3, 1942, and the ship was about to sink into the deadly cold waters off of Greenland. As men panicked and struggled to find a way to save their own lives, four men walked amongst them spreading calm and encouragement. Helping everyone they could find, even giving away their own precious lifejackets, the four chaplains - Rev. George Lansing Fox (Methodist), Rabbi Alex Goode, Rev. Clark Poling (Dutch Reformed) and Fr. John Washington (Catholic) - sought to serve their God and the fellow men. And when the end came, survivors saw the four chaplains, locked arm in arm, praying on the upside-down hull of the ship, just before it dove beneath the waves.

This book tells the remarkable true story of four men who joined the American military as chaplains, their experiences at their Massachusetts training camp, and their final tragic mission. It is a story that is bound to bring a tear to your eye, but it is also a great story of faith and truly living the life of godly sacrifice. Overall, I think that this is a great book, on that I highly recommend to everyone.

Great on So Many Levels
I became intrigued by this story when I was no moare than 10. I was a stamp collector and came into the possession of the stam honoring the four. In those very pre-internet days and in a very small town with few resources I was only able to learn a small amount of the story. Since then there were pieces here and there but it was not until this book that the whole story was made available to me.
I was almost uable to put this book down once I started. It's well written. It's abook that you can read for factual historical content or faith and inspiration. The story of the four chaplains is one of the many little known inspiring and interestng stories of World War Two. Don't pass this book over thinking it is just another relilgous book. It is much more.
In this day and age when we hand out superlatives like they were penny candy, the story of the Chaplains and the sinking of the Dorchester is an almost must read not just for people of faith, but all people.