On February 3, 1943, a German U-boat torpedoed the USAT Dorchester off the coast of Greenland. As the ship began to sink, the four Army chaplains that were on board; George Fox (Methodist), Alexander Goode (Jewish), John Washington (Catholic) and Clark Poling (reformed), were witnessed giving their life jackets to four men that had none. As a result of their sacrifice, all four men perished that day. The day of their personal sacrifice has been celebrated by Legion posts across the country and is known as “Four Chaplains Day.”

The selfless sacrifices exemplified by these four religious men are something that members of The American Legion adhere to as we serve our communities and the veterans, whether they're Legionnaires or not. A fellow veteran is and always will be a brother/sister notwithstanding the absence of a Legion card. I am proud to belong to this post as we continue to serve our community with dedication and selfless actions on a daily basis.

Our National Commander, Dan Seehafer, has a great column in this month’s American Legion Magazine in which he writes about the Four Chaplains, their sacrifice and the preamble that we hold fast, “For God and Country.” Please take a few minutes to read this column if you can. This day in our Legion history is important to the mission that The American Legion strives for.

Lastly, a few weeks ago, I had the distinct honor of accompanying Comrades Fortini, Hacker and Adrian to the January meeting of the Cape Fear Blue Star Mothers. We met with two families that had sons die by suicide. We presented a donation to this organization and made many new friends this evening. The "Be the One” program, our Legion initiative that will be led in this state by Past Commander Hacker and a new initiative that we learned about, “Stop Soldier Suicide,” benefitted by our donation. We learned about the latter due to a mother and father being at the meeting, whose Army Ranger son died by suicide a few months after his return from Afghanistan. We hope to be able have a professional and personal relationship with both organizations from this point on. I have already committed to their golf tournament.

Please keep all of our members that are sick and not well in your prayers. Also, I’m asking that you please keep in your prayers the three Army soldiers that were killed this week in the Middle East.

I remain in comradeship, God bless all. Jim McAvoy, Chaplain Post 68, Leland, NC