WHY I AM A ROTARIAN
AUGUST 15, 2006
 I would like to you to encourage club members to invite their
respective "clergy person" to a Rotary meeting.
I would like to tell the story of the loss of four U.S. Army
Military Chaplains when the Nazi’s torpedoed the USAT
Dorchester's and it went down in the North Atlantic on February
3, 1943. This story has been often repeated; it was featured on
the Hallmark television channel and has been used by many to
illustrate sacrifice in military service.
The Four Chaplains, seemingly, symbolically represented the
religious faiths in the USA during WW II: Father John
Washington, a Roman Catholic priest; two protestant clergy, Rev.
Geo Fox, a Methodist clergyman, Rev. Clark Poling, a Dutch
Reformed minister; and Rabbi Alexander Goode, a Jewish
clergyman.
These men had been a constant source of encouragement during
their voyage, but, will be forever remembered for their selfless
acts of each giving up their life jackets to some young soldier
as the ship was going down. Their final scene was witnessed and
well documented by survivors - as they stood at the rail, arms
locked together and praying and singing... and giving strength
to each other for support. One survivor stated, "It was the
finest thing I have ever seen this side of heaven."
This illustrates the ultimate of military service to fellow man
and fulfills the Biblical injunction of "greater love has no man
than this, that he lay down his life for his brother." This also
serves as an illustration of "Service Above Self"
You may not have known........... The Rabbi, Alexander Goode,
was a Rotarian. That is true "Service Above Self"
Wm. E. (Bill) Ballou
PDG D5630
Nebraska
USA
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