The week of February 3, 1960, marked a new observance on the Civitan calendar, thanks to Frank Swan of the Albuquerque Breakfast Civitan Club (New Mexico). Some 17 years earlier, four Army chaplains distinguished themselves in the most selfless way possible during World War II. In the early morning hours of February 3, 1943, the United States troopship Dorchester was torpedoed in frigid waters off the coast of Greenland. Chaplains George L. Fox, Alexander D. Goode, Clark V. Poling, and John P. Washington helped calm the panic following the blast and passed out lifejackets until none were left. Each chaplain then gave his own lifejacket to a desperate soldier. They were last seen by survivors standing on the ship’s deck, arms locked together, singing and praying for the men leaving the vessel. Civitans observe the week of February 3 as Clergy Appreciation Week.