WW II Dorchester survivor Ben Epstein dies at 91
Photo credit: Charles Eckert | Ben Epstein attends a ceremony at the Bellmore Presbyterian Church for the four chaplains that offered their life jackets, and prayed arm in arm as the USAT Dorchester sank. (Feb. 6, 2011)
LI notable deaths
Notable Long Islanders who died in 2011
Ben Epstein was a young Army draftee aboard the transport ship Dorchester when it was sunk by a German U-boat during World War II. Of the 902 onboard, 672 died including four chaplains who gave up their life jackets to others.
Epstein, thrown clear of the ship by the explosion, went on to a long career as an accountant and is believed to have outlived all of the other Dorchester survivors.
The...
