'The Four Chaplains,' ties to Central Pa., will be honored by Wreaths Across America

The Four Chaplains, long honored in York by an annual prayer breakfast and an elementary school named for Rabbi Alexander Goode, will be honored by Wreaths Across America with a special Facebook live event Feb. 3 at 12 p.m. from Downeast Maine, according to a press release by wreathsacrossamerica.org

More:Video: Watch a video about the Four Chaplains published by Wreaths Across America

More:No Greater Glory: The Four Chaplains and the Sinking of the USAT Dorchester

According to the release, On Jan. 23, 1943, the U.S.A.T. Dorchester left New York harbor bound for Greenland carrying over 900 officers, servicemen and civilian workers when it was torpedoed by a German U-boat Feb. 3 of the same year. The ship sank and 675 people on board lost their lives. 

Amidst the chaos to save 230 lives, four chaplains guided soldiers trapped below deck to escape hatches and gave away their life jackets to save others on that fateful day. When the chaplains had done all they could, they linked arms to pray and sing hymns as the Dorchester slipped beneath the waves.

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Two of the chaplains touched Central Pennsylvania. Rabbi Alexander D. Goode served York's Temple Beth Israel from 1937 to 1942, according to York Daily Record archives, and Methodist minister George Lansing Fox was born in Lewistown.

Each December on National Wreaths Across America Day, the organization coordinates wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as at more than 2,100 additional locations in all 50 U.S. states, at sea and abroad, according to its website.

To connect to the live ceremony use this this facebook events link.