Goode, Alexander D.
- Date of birth:
- May 10th, 1911 (Brooklyn/New York, United States)
- Date of death:
- February 3rd, 1943 (North Atlantic Ocean)
- Mentioned on:
- East Coast Memorial U.S.A.
- Nationality:
- American
Biography
Alexander D. Goode was born on 10th May 1911. He was one of four children of a Rabbi from Brooklyn. After his graduation from the University of Cincinatti and the Hebrew Union College in 1937 he became a rabbi himself. He was married in 1935 to Terese Flax. He received his Ph.D. in 1940 at the John Hopkins University. He and his wife had one daughter, Rosalie. Alexander Goode served as a Rabbi in Marion, Indiana and York, Pennsylvania.
In 1941 he tried to join the U.S. Navy as a chaplain but was turned down. In 1942 he was exepted in the same profession with the U.S. Army after a brief stay at Camp Myles Standish in Taunton, Massachusetts he was posted at Harvard University to attend the Chaplain School. After his study there, to be deployed to Europe, he was briefly stationed at Goldsboro Airbase, North Carolina. In October he joined Chaplains George L. Fox, Clark V. Poling and John P. Washington to be embarked on the U.S.A.T. Dorchester, destined for Greenland and United Kingdom. The four embarked in January 1943 together with over 900 soldiers. On 2nd February 1943 the ship was torpedoed by U-223. Alexander D. Goode stayed, together with the other three chaplains with the men that could not leave the ship and died.
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- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Rank:
- First Lieutenant
- Unit:
- Army Chaplain Service
- Awarded on:
- 1944
Synopsis:
"For extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy in action against enemy forces on 3 February 1943. Chaplain Goode was one of four Army Chaplains aboard the U.S.A.T. Dorchester which was torpedoed in the North Atlantic. He and his comrades bravely brought order to panicked soldiers as the ship was sinking and, when no more life jackets were available, he gave up his own life jacket to another man. Chaplain Goode's intrepid actions, personal bravery and zealous devotion to duty exemplify the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army."
War Department, General Orders No. 93 (1944).
Awarded posthumously.
Awarded posthumously for brave conduct, beyond the call of duty, during the sinking of the U.S.A.T. Dorchester.
On 2nd February 1943 the U 223 spotted a convoy. The U boat closed in and fired 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, Methodist Reverent George L. Fox, Rabbi Alexander D. Goode, Reformed Reverent Clark V. Poling and roman Church Fryer John P. Washington, began to organize frightened soldiers. They distributed life jackets from a locker and 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.
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