Chattanooga’s first Four Chaplains/Legion of Honor Award program, which honors individuals who foster cooperation among people regardless of differences, will honor five local residents at 4 p.m. April 22 at Chattanooga State Community College’s Humanities Auditorium.
They are John J. “Jack” Spittler, a World War II veteran who founded the Greater Chattanooga Navy League Council; Nell Mohney, an author, newspaper columnist and motivational speaker; Melvin Young (posthumously), who was an accountant and Civil War scholar; the Rev. Paul McDaniel, pastor of Second Missionary Baptist Church; and Dr. James Catanzaro, president of Chattanooga State.
The Four Chaplains organization was created after World War II in recognition of four U.S. Army chaplains — two Protestant, one Jewish and one Catholic — who were aboard the troop ship USS Dorchester when it was torpedoed.
The chaplains not only provided order and hope in the chaos, but gave their life vests to other soldiers and went down with the ship.
The program is being initiated in Chattanooga by Sylvia Wygoda, 1999 Legion of Honor Award recipient and a Chattanooga native.