On Feb. 3, 1943, four military chaplains were aboard a transport ship when it was struck by a torpedo fired from a German U-boat.

The chaplains are revered for the heroism they exhibited that brisk night near Greenland, where the icy Atlantic waters became their final resting place.

To honor the memory of the four chaplains, Chaplain Al Holm, representing the Disabled American Veterans, held a dedication ceremony Friday at the Coeur d'Alene Community-based Outpatient Clinic for veterans - a satellite of Mann Grandstaff Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Spokane.

Holm presented a bronze plaque along with a special rose bush - a dark red "Veterans' Honor Hybrid Tea Rose." The Veterans' Honor Rose was developed by the world's largest rose company, Jackson and Perkins, specifically to serve as a lasting tribute to the nation's veterans. The plaque, which was placed by Holm in the ground next to the rose, states the rose "is dedicated to the four chaplains who surrendered their lives to save others on the U.S. Army Transport Dorchester on Feb. 3, 1943 and to honor those veterans who pass through these portals."

"A lot of experts agree that the Dorchester was the worst naval disaster in American history," Holm said. "These four guys were the bravest, the greatest heroes who ever lived."

Holm, a U.S. Coast Guard and Korean War veteran, said because he is a chaplain he loves to talk about the four chaplains, so before placing the plaque and rosebush he told a story to the small crowd that had gathered outside the clinic.

Rev. George Lansing Fox, Rabbi Alex Goode, Rev. Clark Poling and Father John Washington, all ordained ministers of different faiths, were four of the 900 people aboard the ship.

Holm said it was around 1 a.m. The Dorchester was heading toward the southern tip of Greenland when the ship was struck by the torpedo. It was a mere 13 minutes before the entire ship was underwater, and in those few minutes the four chaplains did everything they could to save as many lives as possible - except their own.

In his hand, Holm held a book titled, "No Greater Glory," in which the stories of survivors who were helped or saved by the four chaplains are recounted. Six hundred people died that night, but many of the 300 survivors recalled the heroism of the four chaplains. One instance of their heroism that Holm spoke of was when the chaplains were helping people get into life boats and there were not enough life jackets.

"All four chaplains gave their life jackets to someone else, someone they knew was going to hit the water and could maybe be saved," Holm said. "So they did everything they could to save lives."

Holm choked back emotion as he described how, as the boat sank bow first, the four chaplains stood on the fantail of the ship after they helped everyone they could. They linked arms and prayed for all the people in the water who had drowned, and the ones in the water who would freeze to death or drown - and they went down with the ship.

The crowd at the Coeur d'Alene VAMC clinic consisted of about 20 people, mostly veterans and staff of the Coeur d'Alene VAMC clinic. By the time Holm finished the story, many of the audience members were visibly trying to fight back tears.

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends," Holm said, quoting John 15:13.