Alexander D. Goode

Infobox Military Person
name= Alexander D. Goode
born= birth date|1911|5|10
died= death date and age|1943|2|3|1911|5|10
placeofbirth= Columbus, Ohio
placeofdeath= USAT "Dorchester", Atlantic Ocean


caption=
nickname=
allegiance= flagicon|USA United States of America
serviceyears= 1942 to 1943
rank= Chaplain lieutenant
branch= flagicon|USA United States Army
commands=
unit=
battles= World War II
awards=Chaplain's Medal for Heroism·Distinguished Service Cross·Purple Heart
laterwork=

Alexander D. Goode (May 10, 1911 – February 3, 1943) was a rabbi and a lieutenant in the United States Army. He was one of the Four Chaplains who gave their lives to save other soldiers during the sinking of the USAT "Dorchester" during World War II

Life

Born in 1911, one of four children to a Brooklyn rabbi, Goode excelled at sports at high school in Washington D.C. He became a rabbi after graduating from the University of Cincinnati and in 1937 Hebrew Union College. In 1940 he received his Ph.D from Johns Hopkins University. He was married in 1935 to Teresa Flax, niece of Al Jolson, with whom he had one daughter, Rosalie.

Goode served as a rabbi in Marion, Indiana and York, Pennsylvania.

In 1941, he applied to become a Navy chaplain but was turned down. The following year he was accepted into the Army, being posted to Harvard where he studied at the chaplain's school in preparation for deployment to Europe followed by brief service at an airbase in Goldsboro, North Carolina. In October 1942 he joined the other members of the Four Chaplains and was detailed to embark on the "Dorchester" a few months later.

Death

In late 1942, Goode was transferred to Camp Myles Standish in Taunton, Massachusetts and attended Chaplains School at Harvard University. There he met fellow chaplains George L. Fox, Clark V. Poling and John P. Washington. In January 1943, the chaplains embarked on board the USAT "Dorchester", which was transporting over 900 soldiers to the United Kingdom via Greenland.

On February 2, 1943 the German submarine U-223 spotted the convoy on the move and closed with the ships, firing a torpedo which struck the "Dorchester" shortly after midnight. Hundreds of men packed the decks of the rapidly sinking ship and scrambled for the lifeboats. Several of the lifeboats had been damaged and the four chaplains began to organize frightened soldiers. They distributed life jackets from a locker; when the supply of life jackets ran out, each of the chaplains gave theirs to other soldiers. When the last lifeboats were away, the chaplains prayed with those unable to escape the sinking ship. 27 minutes after the torpedo struck, the "Dorchester" disappeared below the waves with 672 men still aboard. The last anyone saw of the four chaplains, they were standing on the deck, arms linked and praying together.cite web |url=http://www.fourchaplains.org/story.html |title=The Saga of the Four Chaplains |accessdate=2008-02-05 |publisher=The Four Chaplains Memorial Foundation]

Remembrance

The four chaplains were all awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Purple Heart and received national acclaim for their courage and self-sacrifice. A chapel in their honor was dedicated on February 3, 1951 by President Harry S. Truman at Grace Baptist Church in Philadelphia. In 1961 the Chaplain's Medal for Heroism was commissioned specifically for these four officers.

References

Persondata
NAME=Goode, Alexander D.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= US army chaplain killed in action
DATE OF BIRTH=May 10, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH=Brooklyn, New York
DATE OF DEATH=3 February, 1943
PLACE OF DEATH=USAT "Dorchester", Atlantic Ocean