President Donald Trump shared a striking film stressing the close historical ties between the Arctic country and the United States on the same day Vice President JD Vance visited Greenland.
The 90-second film praises former U.S. military campaigns to defend and safeguard Greenland during World War II when the U.S. lost hundreds of deaths after a Nazi U-boat bombed and sunk the U.S. Army Transport Dorchester.
According to the Defense Department, the U-boat hit in the middle of night on February 3, 1943, killing scores immediately and hundreds more succumbed to the frigid Atlantic waters. The event recalls four Army chaplains sacrificing their lives to save others.
A relationship was created in the tundra’s frigid stillness. Not from treaties or commerce, but from blood and courage,” the clip’s narrator claims. Germany ruled Europe; the Nazis aimed for the Arctic. Greenland became an unintentional combatant and the United States intervened not to conquer but to defend.
The film points out that around 1,000 crew, civilians, and service personnel carried “hope, duty, and a quiet fear” on a trip they knew was fraught with risk. But following the assault, the cold North Atlantic seas “became a grave.”
“Those four chaplains gave their lives so that others could live to defend America and Greenland by giving up their life vests,” the announcer states. We shall always remember their sacrifices as they contributed to gain our freedom. At the summit of the globe, Americans and Greenlanders together stood as sentinels.
The Defense Department reports that 672 persons perished in the fatal assault altogether.
Securing American Greatness, a non-profit founded during the 2024 presidential campaign to assist then-candidate Trump, produced the film.
It also reveals war-related footage and Greenland scenery photos before continuing to argue the U.S. has to work with Greenland as Russia’s “aggression” and China’s “expansion” create fresh concerns for Greenland.
“Every joint mission, every Arctic patrol, every partnership created in the shadow of melting ice and rising tensions reflects our shared legacy; this is not only history,” the narrator states. Destiny. Now is the moment to unite once more for peace, for security, for the future. America is with Greenland.
Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also posted the video on X.
Trump released the video as he Friday reaffirmed his attempts to obtain Greenland for the United States for foreign security reasons. On Friday,
Trump has often expressed, going back to his first administration, a wish to acquire Greenland for the U.S. as Russian and Chinese presence expands in the Arctic even though the Danish territory has stated it is looking independence from Copenhagen and isn’t keen on joining the U.S.
Trump said to reporters on Friday, “If you look at the waterways, you have Chinese and Russian ships all over the place, and we’re not going to be able to do that,” Trump said to reporters on Friday. We’re not depending on Denmark or anybody else to handle that scenario. And we’re not discussing peace for the United States; we’re discussing world peace; we’re discussing worldwide security.
On Friday, during his visit to Pituffik Space Base, the Defense Department’s northernmost military post, Vance reaffirmed the commander and chief’s objectives for Greenland.
He claimed Denmark had not kept Greenland safe well.
Vance said in a more subdued tone than Trump’s earlier comments, “What we believe is going to happen is that the Greenlanders are going to choose, via self-determination, to become independent of Denmark.” From there, we’ll talk with the Greenlanders.
Dying in the assault were George L. Fox, a Methodist preacher; John P. Washington, a Catholic priest; Clark V. Poling, a Dutch Reformed pastor; and Alexander D. Goode, a rabbi. For their deeds that day, all of them received Distinguished Service Crosses and Purple Hearts. The Defense Department reports that Congress also established a “Four Chaplains’ Medal,” which was given to their survivors in 1961.
