LI ceremony honors four WWII chaplains

Ben Epstein will never forget how, as a 22-year-old private bobbing in the freezing North Atlantic ocean, he watched as the Dorchester troop transport ship sank.

There were tiny red blinkers he likened to Christmas tree lights flashing on board. Each one, he recalled Sunday, represented a fellow soldier wearing a life vest and going under.

That they perished before his eyes and he survived - picked up later by a Coast Guard cutter - humbles Epstein.

The lesson he took from that horrific event: "Never to give up. One must keep going. Don't think negatively. Think positively," he said. "And to appreciate life. It's so valuable."

One of the few remaining survivors of that 1943 attack during World War II, Epstein, now 89 and a Glen Cove resident, attended a ceremony in Bellmore held in honor of four chaplains who gave their lives to save others aboard the Dorchester. The ship was torpedoed by a German submarine off Newfoundland, as it was making its way to Greenland.

The chaplains helped troops on the sinking Dorchester board lifeboats, gave up their life vests when the supply ran out and then went down with the ship.

Rabbi Alexander Goode, the Rev. George L. Fox, the Rev. Clark V. Poling and the Rev. John P. Washington are honored annually nationwide for their acts of heroism and because, said attendees, they represent a universal symbol of unity and diversity.

Goode, who was born in Brooklyn, was Jewish, Fox was a Methodist minister, Poling was a Dutch Reformed minister and Washington was a Roman Catholic priest. And they were also close friends.

"I think they left a personal message to the world, that we must all learn to live with one another," Epstein told the audience at the Bellmore Presbyterian Church at a ceremony sponsored by the Nassau County American Legion.

Nearly 700 soldiers were lost during the attack, including Epstein's best friend.

It's not clear how many survivors remain today. More than 900 soldiers were aboard the Dorchester when it left the shores of New York.

Epstein's wife, Miriam, 91, said she is grateful he survived. In August, the couple will celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary.

"Our youngest son, he said to us one day: 'I'm such a lucky guy - that [Epstein] survived,' " she said. The couple has two sons, Ralph, 58, and Paul, 62.

Frank Colon Jr., commander at the Nassau County American Legion, called Epstein's presence at the event "phenomenal." The 58-year-old retired Army first sergeant said such stories should be told over and over.

"It tells us of the sacrifices of the Greatest Generation," he said. "If it wasn't for them we wouldn't have the freedoms we have today."