Staff photo / Bob Coupland ABOVE: John Chittock of American Legion Post 737 in Lake Milton speaks at a program on the Four Chaplains who are pictured at front of the podium. The four Army chaplains gave their lives 83 years ago when the USS Dorchester was torpedoed and sank. At left is Rabbi Seth Sternstein of Temple El Emeth, where the program took place.

LIBERTY — The memory of the four U.S. Army chaplains who gave their lives so that others could live was shared at a special gathering at Temple El Emeth to honor the four men of God.

The recent Shabbat morning service welcomed members of American Legion Post 737 in Lake Milton who told the story of the four chaplains — Clark Poling of the Reformed Church of America, Alexander Goode who was Jewish, George Fox who was Methodist and John Washington who was Roman Catholic.

The event happened on Feb. 3, 1943, when a troop transport ship, the USS Dorchester, had 904 men aboard and was heading for Greenland during World War II when it was hit by a torpedo and began to sink.

The four chaplains aboard sacrificed their lives by giving their life jackets to the soldiers on the ship. They were last seen linking arms and praying as the ship sank.

Chaplain John Chittock of Weathersfield and a member of American Legion Post 737, who organizes the event every year, said what happened to the four chaplains was a historic moment.

“This is the first time we have held this program in a synagogue and it is a great honor for us to be here,” Chittock said.

He said the Legion has hosted the program for 76 years, starting in the late 1940s.

“It is our hope that after this program, you will have a greater understanding of the importance of why we honor these four special men of God,” Chittock said.

Goode was 31, Poling was 32, Washington was 34 and Fox was 42 when they died. In addition to the four chaplains, 600 men on the USS Dorchester died that day.

Temple El Emeth Rabbi Seth Sternstein said he remembers reading about the four chaplains and felt it is a story that must be told.

“I was very moved by their story. This is the anniversary of their deaths so it is appropriate that we hold this program,” Sternstein said.

He said it was an honor for Temple El Emeth to be selected to host the program.

Sternstein read a poem, “Four Lives Lost” that told about the decision the four chaplains made that day.

Elyse Silverman, program director at Temple El Emeth, said one of the chaplains was a rabbi, which was one of the reasons the event was hosted at the synagogue this year.