“One of the least visited memorials in Washington is a waterfront statue commemorating the men who died on the Titanic. Seventy-four percent of the women passengers survived the April 15, 1912, calamity, while 80 percent of the men perished. Why? Because the men followed the principle “women and children first.” The monument, an 18-foot granite male figure with arms outstretched to the side, was erected by “the women of America” in 1931 to show their gratitude. The inscription reads: “To the brave men who perished in the wreck of the Titanic.... They gave their lives that women and children might be saved.” ... [A]lmost no one remembers those men. Women no longer bring flowers to the [Men’s Titanic] statue on April 15 to honor their chivalry. The idea of male gallantry makes many women nervous, suggesting (as it does) that women require special protection. It implies the sexes are objectively different. It tells us that some things are best left to men. Gallantry is a virtue that dare not speak its name.” (Christina Hoff Sommers, Author of The War Against Boys, as quoted in her article “Being a Man,” The Weekly Standard, April 10, 2006)

Mrs. Sommers’ point is well taken, but for one glaring error. The men of the Titanic have not been forgotten — at least not by the fathers and sons of the Christian Boys’ and Men’s Titanic Society who gather annually on the anniversary of the demise of the great ship to remember the men who gave their lives for women and children. This year, more than two hundred fathers and sons met at Phillips Flagship Seafood House on the Potomac and — following an evening of rousing song, trivia, history, and grateful remembrances — gathered down the street at the most politically incorrect monument in Washington, D.C. just before midnight to pay our respects to men who froze to death in defense of women and children. Each year, we lift our voices in prayer that God would be so kind as to revive the spirit of manly self-sacrifice in the lives of our sons.

Bill Potter hands out carnations to our sons while a violin soloist plays “Nearer My God to Thee.” We then joined in prayerful song, lifting up six verses of the great hymn to the Lord, and in honor of Titanic band-leader Wallace Hartley and his men who continued to play up to the final moments before the Titanic submerged, so as to give comfort to those who did not receive seats on the lifeboats.

My favorite baritone, and America’s greatest maritime balladeer, Mr. Charlie Zahm regaled us with hymns to Christ, songs of the Titanic, and musical stories of bold manhood. Mr. Bill Brown (featured in The League of Grateful Sons) and his son Scott, made a presentation on manhood during World War II. The evening included a trivia contest for the boys and a message I presented entitled “Manliness: What the Titanic Generation Had that We Must Reclaim.”