Service honors four chaplains

As "Taps" played at the Balsam Valley Chapel in Jonesboro on February 11 to honor the four chaplains, Rodney Sienkiewicz saluted. His father Henry had been a civilian contractor aboard the USAT Dorchester when it was torpedoed by a German submarine about 80 miles off the coast of Greenland on February 3, 1943. Henry Sienkiewicz, who survived and made it to Greenland, witnessed the heartbreak as the ship sank and saw first hand the work of the four chaplains -- Methodist minister George L. Fox, Rabbi Alexander D. Goode, Dutch reform minister Clark V. Poling and Roman Catholic priest John P. Washington.
Rodney Sienkiewicz came all the way from Freedom with his daughters, Cindi Sienkiewicz Kinney, also of Freedom, and Patti Ross of Cornville, to attend the Four Chaplains Memorial Service at Balsam Valley Chapel. Rodney said the service, hosted by Wreaths Across America, was emotional.
"I never thought the four chaplains thing would ever go that far. It's something that should be out there more," he says, adding many people aren't familiar with personal stories like these that make up history. He says he often tries to visualize what his father saw -- men's freezing bodies bobbing in the 19‑degree seawater -- while being unable to do anything about it.
Chaplain Major David Sivret of Alexander thanked the chaplains for their service and urged everyone to remember the price for the freedom citizens of the United States enjoy. "They are heroes to save and protect us all," he said. "We call them heroes because they go in our place."
Sivret says the chaplains served as a calming presence during the chaos that ensued after the ship was struck. They gave away their own life jackets in order to save others. They remained on deck, "arms linked in prayer until the ship sank," said Sivret, a chaplain himself who was wounded during an attack while serving in Mosul, Iraq. Despite being wounded, he and an assistant ministered to the wounded and dying. "We did what we were called to do," he said.
Kinney spoke during the service, recounting her grandfather's story as it had been told to her and for which her father had made notes. When World War II broke out, Henry Sienkiewicz wanted to join the military, but he was too old to be accepted. So instead, he served as a military contractor and was on his way to Greenland to work on the base there, she says.
Sienkiewicz made it on to one of only two lifeboats, out of a total of 14, which were successfully launched. Because the boats could hold only about a dozen people, those in them tried to physically hold on to those who had jumped into the sea in order to escape the sinking ship. "Hypothermia set in, and we were forced to let go," she recalled her grandfather saying.
Kinney reminded those attending the service that communications during World War II were quite different than they are today. A telegram was sent to the family saying simply that Henry Sienkiewicz had arrived in Greenland. Her grandmother and the rest of the family never knew the Dorchester had been attacked until after her grandfather returned from the war more than two years later and told his story.
After the service, Rodney Sienkiewicz showed off documents related to his father's service as well as photos of his bearded father taken the day he returned to their home in Stamford, Conn. Kinney said her grandfather had always been clean shaven, and seeing the beard was quite a shock for his family. She says she grew up hearing his war stories and now wishes she had listened harder. "It means much more now that we're older. We grasp it better." She says her grandfather loved life and didn't take anything for granted. He died in 1987.
Speaker Debbie Kelley told those in attendance that, when the attack took place, the Dorchester was part of a convoy. Two Coast Guard ships disregarded orders to continue on with the convoy and returned to the scene of the attack to rescue Dorchester passengers and crew.
As part of the service, Coast Guard Steward's Mate Charles Walter David Jr. was honored for jumping into the water to save some of those who had been aboard the Dorchester as well as other Coast Guard crew who had become exhausted during rescue efforts. He died of pneumonia six weeks later.
Kelley says the Germans were after the captain of the Dorchester for revenge because of a previous battle. However, he was on leave and wasn't on board at the time of the attack.
Wreaths Across America representative Susan Patten says the organization dedicated a tree in memory of the four chaplains in 2017. "WAA hopes to continue the annual observance of the four chaplains and the sinking of the USAT Dorchester as part of our mission to remember, honor and teach," she says.