MANALAPAN — Dan Kurtzman, author of "No Greater Glory: The Four Immortal Chaplains of World War II and the Sinking of the Dorchester," will discuss his book at the Monmouth County Library Headquarters, 125 Symmes Drive, at 2 p.m. June 27. A color guard will present the flag and there will be a short program of patriotic music.
During the night of Feb. 3, 1943, the U.S. Army Transportation Service troop ship Dorchester was pushing through the frigid seas off the coast of Greenland when a torpedo shattered her starboard side. Some of the 904 men aboard managed to struggle onto lifeboats, but many did not have life jackets and panicked as the ship began to sink. They would have drowned if not for the four chaplains aboard — the Rev. George L. Fox (Methodist), the Rev. Clark V. Poling (Dutch Reformed), the Rev. John P. Washington (Roman Catholic) and Rabbi Alexander Goode (Jewish). The four chaplains calmed the panic, distributed the life jackets and in the end, gave up their own life jackets and went down with the ship.
Kurtzman is a former foreign correspondent for The Washington Post, the author of 15 books and winner of five major literary and journalistic awards. There is no charge. Copies of Kurtzman’s book will be available for purchase.