Bill Text: NY K01073 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Memorializing Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim February 3, 2024, as Four Chaplains Day in the State of New York

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Passed) 2024-04-04 - adopted [K01073 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-K01073-Introduced.html

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Assembly Resolution No. 1073

BY: M. of A. Cunningham

        MEMORIALIZING  Governor  Kathy  Hochul to proclaim
        February 3, 2024, as Four Chaplains Day in the State
        of New York

  WHEREAS, February 3, 2024, is the 81st Anniversary of the sinking of
the United  States Army transport Dorchester, an event that resulted  in
the  loss  of  nearly  700  lives  in  1943 and for which witnesses have
recounted in the Congressional Record the heroism of Four  Chaplains  of
different  faiths,  Lieutenant  George  L.  Fox,  Methodist;  Lieutenant
Alexander D. Goode, Jewish; Lieutenant John P. Washington, Catholic; and
Lieutenant Clark V. Poling, Dutch Reformed; and

  WHEREAS, One of the four heroes, Lieutenant Alexander D.  Goode  was
born  in    Brooklyn,  New    York, on May   10, 1911; his father, Hyman
Goodekowitz, was a prominent Brooklyn rabbi; and

  WHEREAS, Each of the Four Chaplains was awarded the Purple Heart and
the Distinguished Service  Cross  posthumously;  the  citation  of  each
reads: "For extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations
against  an  enemy  of  the  United States. On the   night of the 3rd of
February, 1943, a loaded troop transport was torpedoed, without warning,
by an enemy submarine in the North Atlantic and began to  sink  rapidly.
In  the  resulting  confusion  and  darkness  some  men found themselves
without life jackets and others became helpless  through  fear  and  the
dread  of  plunging  into  the  freezing  water.  These  Four  Chaplains
heroically and calmly moved about the  deck,  encouraging  the  men  and
assisting  them  to  abandon  ship;  after  the available supply of life
jackets was exhausted, they gave up their own; they remained aboard ship
and went down with it, offering words of encouragement  and  prayers  to
the last"; and

  WHEREAS,  On  the corner of Broad and Berks Streets in Philadelphia,
in the heart of Temple University, is the Chapel of the Four  Chaplains;
it  is  a  memorial  to  the  Four  Chaplains  who went down on the S.S.
Dorchester during World War II; it is an interfaith shrine;  in  it  are
three   remembrances,  one  for  each  faith  --  Catholic,  Jewish  and
Protestant; at the entrance burns an eternal light which  calls  all  to
the unity these Four Chaplains so heroically demonstrated; chiseled deep
into the stone is this dedication:

                         Chapel of Four Chaplains
                          An Interfaith shrine
                    Here is Sanctuary for Brotherhood
                      Let it never be violated; and

  WHEREAS,  On  July  14,  1960,  the United States Congress awarded a
special medal for valor, given in memory of the Four Chaplains, never to
be repeated; a memorial tribute to the Four Chaplains in the form  of  a
commemorative  coin-medal  was  presented  to the Chapel by the National
Commemorative  Society;  numerous  stained  glass  windows,   paintings,
buildings and statues have been dedicated to the Four Chaplains; and

  WHEREAS,  It  is  the sense of this Legislative Body that these Four
Chaplains, who removed their own life jackets and gave them to others to
save their lives and who were last seen arm-in-arm in prayer on the hull
of the ship, demonstrated a unique ecumenical spirit and love for  their
fellow man and should never be forgotten; now, therefore, be it

  RESOLVED,  That  this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
memorialize Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim February 3, 2024, as  Four
Chaplains Day in the State of New York; and be it further

  RESOLVED,  That  copies  of  this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to The Honorable Kathy Hochul, Governor of the State of  New
York; and to the American Legion.