These London Plane trees were planted in memory of four chaplains of the U.S. Army, Rev. George L. Fox, Rabbi Alexander D. Goode, Rev. Clark V. Poling, and Rev. Father John P. Washington, who gave their life belts to fellow servicemen and, with arms locked and praying, went down together when the transport Dorchester was sunk by a German submarine on February 3, 1943. The trees were presented to the City of New York by Daughters of the Defenders of the Republic, U.S.A., on November 5, 1950.