Immortal four chaplains of World War II include Lewistown native

George L. Fox. (Photo courtesy of Stories Behind the Stars)
(Editor’s Note: This story was originally published in the Feb. 2, 2024 edition of the The Sentinel)
Feb. 3 is the 81st anniversary of the sinking of the USAT Dorchester in the north Atlantic by a German U-boat. The disaster also created one of World War II’s most enduring symbols of valor, service, and sacrifice: the four chaplains who gave up their own life vests and remained on board to comfort and pray for the hundreds with whom they would perish. Of the 902 service men, merchant seamen and civilian workers aboard the Dorchester, 672 died. The efforts of the immortal four chaplains resulted in 230 surviving. One of those heroic clergymen, George L. Fox, was a native of Mifflin County.
George Lansing Fox was born in Lewistown on March 15, 1900 and had four siblings: Gertrude, Bert, Leo and John. The family relocated to Altoona. Unfortunately, Fox was raised in a troubled household at the hands of an abusive father. When his home life became intolerable, Fox left high school early and cajoled the Marine Corps into an underage enlistment in 1917. He was deployed as a medical corps assistant to France during World War I and became highly decorated for bravery, earning the Silver Star, Purple Heart and Croix de Guerre.
Upon returning home, Fox finished high school and held several jobs before entering Moody Bible Institute in Illinois in 1923. He graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1931 while he worked as an itinerant Methodist minister and held a student pastorate. Fox became an ordained Methodist minister in 1934 after graduating from Boston University School of Theology. While in New England, Fox fell in love and married Isadore Hurlbut. The couple welcomed the births of their son Wyatt and daughter Mary Elizabeth. The family eventually settled in Gilman, Vermont where Fox was a pastor.
After Pearl Harbor, Fox was drawn back into the military and returned to active duty on the same day his son entered the Marine Corps, Aug. 8, 1942. Fox was assigned to chaplain school at Harvard where he met Jewish chaplain Alexander Goode, Dutch Reformed chaplain Clark Poling, and Catholic chaplain John Washington. They would be reunited on the fateful voyage aboard the USAT Dorchester. Fox was ordered to report to the 411th Coast Artillery Battalion at Camp Davis, North Carolina followed by assignment to Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts.
Fox embarked on USAT Dorchester’s fifth north Atlantic voyage from St. John’s, Newfoundland on Jan. 29, 1943. The troop ship was bound for Great Britain via Greenland in a convoy with two freighters and three Coast Guard cutters. The vessels hit foul weather as soon as they reached open water. Four German U-boats awaited the convoy along its foggy route.
Nazi submarine U-233 was on its maiden voyage and was floating on the surface in the fog to evade sonar detection. At 12:55 a.m. on Feb. 3, the enemy sub launched three torpedoes from 1,000 yards away. One slammed into Dorchester, igniting an explosion that ripped a hole from below the water line to the top deck. Nearly one-third of those aboard died in the first moments of the attack.
During the panic of the disaster, the four chaplains organized evacuees, distributed life jackets from storage, and tended to the wounded. They were seen giving their own life vests to young soldiers before linking arms and praying for those remaining on board. Twenty-five minutes after being struck by the torpedo, Dorchester slid below the waves.
The remains of the four chaplains were never recovered. Fox was memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing, East Coast Memorial, Battery Park, New York City, NY. The four chaplains were posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and Purple Heart. Congress designated February 3 as Four Chaplains Day and created a medal in their honor. A US postage stamp commemorating the Four Chaplains was issued in 1948. Many more memorials were established throughout the United States to honor the Four Chaplains.
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This article was prepared for the Lewistown Sentinel by Stories Behind the Stars. The non-profit organization is dedicated to honoring all 421,000 fallen Americans from World War II, including 31,000 from Pennsylvania. To volunteer or to get more information, contact Kathy Harmon at kharmon@storiesbehindthestars.org or visit www.storiesbehindthestars.org.