170217-F-RI741-467
Army Col. Daniel Thompson, Chaplain of the Montana National Guard from Helena, Mont., and the guest speaker for the Four Chaplains Memorial Service held at the base chapel Feb. 17, 2017, at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont. talks about the bravery and sacrifice of the four chaplains who gave their lives to save others. The ceremony was held in remembrance of four chaplains who served on an Army transport ship, the Dorchester, in World War II. The ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat Feb. 2, 1943, in the North Atlantic Ocean while traveling to Greenland. As the ship was rapidly sinking and the surviving crewmembers abandoned ship, the four chaplains maintained calm throughout the panicking soldiers even giving up their own life preservers in the process. Ultimately, the chaplains perished within the icy waters of the Atlantic as the ship sank. (Air Force photo/Jason Heavner)