Charles Walter David Jr. COLUMBIA FALLS, Maine — On Feb. 3, Wreaths Across America will recall the sacrifice of the American heroes who died helping others to survive the sinking of the United …
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COLUMBIA FALLS, Maine — On Feb. 3, Wreaths Across America will recall the sacrifice of the American heroes who died helping others to survive the sinking of the United States Army Transport Dorchester in 1943. “The Four Chaplains” will be remembered on Facebook live at 12 p.m. from the Balsam Valley Chapel and tip lands located in Downeast Maine. Included in the event will be honors for Coast Guardsman Charles Walter David Jr., who gave his life rescuing survivors of the sinking United States Army Transport Dorchester.
On Jan. 23, 1943, the USAT Dorchester left New York harbor bound for Greenland carrying more than 900 officers, servicemen and civilian workers. The ship had been a coastal steamer requisitioned and operated by the War Shipping Administration for use as a troop ship.
She was one of three ships with the same name. The first Dorchester was built in 1893, and was acquired by the U.S. Navy on Aug. 24, 1917. USS Dorchester was a 50-foot Schooner Patrol Vessel assigned to the Chesapeake Bay, under the command of the 5th Naval District. The ship was decommissioned on Nov. 26, 1918, and returned to the Conservation Commission the same day.
The Second Dorchester, USAT Dorchester, was one of three identical ships built and launched on March 20, 1926. Originally called the SS Dorchester, she was designed to haul 314 passengers along with 90 crew along the East Coast.
Hit by U-boat
The ship was requisitioned by the Army in February of 1942. At that time, the ship was converted to a troop transport to carry 751 men, along with 153 crew.
This 368-foot ship had four 20mm guns, a 3-inch cannon fore and a 4” gun aft. Despite the heavy weaponry, on Feb. 3 1943, she was torpedoed by German U-boa U-223 as it was transiting the Labrador Sea. The damage caused loss of power, which prevented the sounding of emergency whistles or use of radios to the other ships in the area. The ship sank and 675 people on board lost their lives.
During the remembrance ceremony, participants will hear messages and stories about the crew of the Dorchester, especially Lt. George L. Fox (Methodist) from Pennsylvania, Lt. Alexander D. Goode (Jewish) from New York, Lt. Clark V. Poling (Dutch Reformed) from Ohio and Lt. John P. Washington (Roman Catholic) from New Jersey, “The Four Chaplains.”
Amidst the chaos to save 230 lives, the 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.
There will also be remembrances of African-American Coast Guardsman Charles Walter David Jr. The young father and husband from New York jumped into icy Greenland waters, from the nearby cutter Comanche, to save two men from drowning.
He then continued to help rescue a total of 93 survivors from lifeboats. After his heroic acts, 54 days later Charles Walter David Jr., succumbed to pneumonia stemming from those icy waters. Today there is a USCGC Sentinel class cutter named the Charles David Jr. in his honor, homeported in Key West, Florida.
At the close of this ceremony, there will be a remembrance tree tour of the Four Chaplains section of the Wreaths Across America tip land, where replica dog tags hang on live balsam trees in honor of their lives, duty and commitment to all of these American Heroes.
David joins Coast Guard
Charles Walter David Jr. was born on June 20, 1917 in New York City. Little is known about his childhood, but as an African-American man, he had few economic opportunities. In March 1941, he decided to enlist in the US Coast Guard despite having a wife and three-year-old son. In the segregated American military, David was assigned to do menial work in ship kitchens. Nevertheless, he labored diligently and was promoted to steward’s mate first class.
After the United States entered World War II, David was assigned to the Coast Guard cutter USCGC Comanche. Aboard the Comanche, David was responsible for maintaining officers’ quarters, but in his off-duty hours he entertained the crew by playing his harmonica.
At 12:55 a.m. on Feb. 3, 1943, the Comanche and three other cutters were escorting three transport ships carrying US troops and civilian contractors from the United States to Greenland. Off the coast of Greenland, the German submarine U-233 torpedoed the USAT Dorchester, which was carrying more than 900 men.
The Dorchester rapidly began sinking and panic spread among the soldiers aboard. Hundreds were forced to jump into the frigid ocean because not all the lifeboats could be launched in time. Aboard the Dorchester, four Army chaplains — Methodist minister the Reverend George L. Fox, Rabbi Alexander D. Goode, Catholic priest Father John P. Washington, and Reformed Church in America minister the Reverend Clark V. Poling — guided soldiers trapped below deck to escape hatches. The chaplains passed out life vests and when the supply ran out, they gave their own life vests to men who had none.
When the chaplains had done all they could, they linked arms to pray and sing hymns as the Dorchester slipped beneath the waves, less than 20 minutes after the torpedo struck the former civilian ocean liner.
Going into action
Sailors aboard the other vessels in the convoy watched the tragedy unfold. The captain of the Comanche chose to ignore the obvious danger of another torpedo attack and maneuvered his ship to pick up survivors.
Even so, hundreds of men from the Dorchester died within minutes from exposure in the cold water. The men aboard lifeboats faced a similar fate if they could not be quickly hauled aboard the Comanche.
The Comanche’s crew lowered rope climbing nets to the lifeboats, but many of the Dorchester’s survivors were too weak from the cold to climb to safety. Ten foot waves also threatened to toss soldiers into the icy water if they slipped or if their lifeboats capsized.
Witnessing the crisis, David and several other men voluntarily climbed down into the lifeboats where they helped lift the shivering men up onto the Comanche’s deck. Even though David was one of the lowest ranking men on his ship and his own nation considered him a second-class citizen, he willingly put his life at risk to save his fellow Americans.
During the precarious operation, the Comanche’s executive officer, Lieutenant Langford Anderson, fell overboard. Without hesitation, David dived into the deadly waters to save Anderson.
‘A tower of strength’
David then helped lift a second shipmate, David Swanson, back onto the Comanche when Swanson had grown too weak from helping other men. Swanson recalled that David was a “tower of strength” who shouted encouragement to his fellow sailors during the harrowing ordeal. In addition to the two men whom David single-handedly saved, he and his shipmates successfully rescued 93 survivors from the Dorchester.
Although the Comanche and other ships rescued a total of 230 men from the Dorchester, nearly 700 others lost their lives. Shortly after David’s heroics, he contracted pneumonia from his time in the water. Fifty-four days later, on March 23, 1943, he succumbed to the illness in a hospital in Greenland.
His crewmates did not learn of his death until weeks later. The Coast Guard posthumously awarded David the Navy and Marine Corps Medal. David’s widow and young son received the medal from Rear Admiral Stanley V. Parker and Lieutenant Anderson, the man David had pulled to safety. In 2010, the US Coast Guard named a Sentinel Class cutter in David’s honor.
Wreaths Across America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded to continue and expand the annual wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery begun by Maine businessman Morrill Worcester in 1992.