On February 3, 1943, 902 men were aboard the U.S.A.T. Dorchester when an enemy torpedo struck the starboard side. As people scrambled to leave the sinking vessel plunging into icy Atlantic waters, four chaplains remained, handing their life jackets to those without and preaching courage as they calmly and altruistically faced imminent death.

On May 5, 2009, Anthony J. Galasso Jr., born and raised at 11th and Jackson streets, was given the Legion of Honor, an award established in the four chaplains’ memory.

“It really surprised me when I got it. It was totally unexpected and I don’t know how it came about,” Galasso said of the distinction bestowed for a lifetime commitment to selfless service and societal advancement handed out after a rigorous selection process.

Though the tribute may have been unforeseen by Galasso, friends and family likely saw it coming a mile away.

Since entering the Marine Corps at the tender age of 18, Galasso has made service — whether to his country, the handicapped or the Boy Scouts — his occupation of choice.

“Our neighborhood was mostly blue collar and it seemed like most kids went [to Vietnam],” Galasso, who did two tours between ’67 and ’69, said. “I didn’t have a bad experience. I was with the 1st Marines, which is the best unit.”

Backing this claim are the many medals Galasso has to line his uniform lapels, though none of them mean as much to him as one solid truth.

“I’m most proud of the fact none of my men were killed. All 13 of us made it back,” the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines squad leader said.

The list goes on and on of merit awards Galasso piled up during active duty — the purple heart and the bronze star among them — but they do not fully express the thoughtful and compassionate nature of the 61-year-old vet.

“It’s a pity — I turned 20 in Vietnam — and I see these guys and they are younger than my sons,” Galasso said of visits made to injured vets in Bethesda, Md. “You see your own son laying there and it breaks your heart.”

The most recent humanitarian honor comes closer to encompassing his lifetime contribution to service — including his work with the handicapped and the Boy Scouts as important reasons why he was chosen as a recipient — and the significance is not lost on Galasso.

“After all these years to finally get recognition that most Vietnam vets don’t get, its really nice and much appreciated,” he said.

When Galasso isn’t in his dress blues, it’d be hard to distinguish him from any other local.

Though he now makes his home in Washington Township, N.J., he lived next door to his mother’s 11th-and-Jackson-street home for 20 years with his first wife.

“People would always recognize me and go, ‘Oh, ya, you’re Julie’s kid!’” Galasso said of the same-named corner store his mother manned across from the family’s parish, Epiphany of Our Lord, for 27 years.

When Galasso’s first wife succumbed to ovarian cancer and his parents passed, the neighborhood he loved so much held too many ghosts.

“The reason I loved [South Philly] was because there were just so many memories and they just weren’t there anymore,” Galasso said.

A move across the bridge in ’90 was in the cards and “South Philly South,” as Galasso affectionately refers to his current neighborhood, held surprises for the future.

“I stopped at Whitman Diner at 7 a.m. and Linda was getting back from the gym and picking up breakfast for the kids,” Galasso, who retired May 1 after 27 years with the Port Authority as a bridge master, said of how he met his current wife. “An old waitress there, Alice, we’ll never forget that, she introduced us.”

Linda, a Goretti grad, grew up six blocks from Galasso and it seemed like things were going to work out for the two Italian-American kids from South Philly.

“When I first met Linda, [her twin sons] were about 8 years old. I never had any children so I said to her I was in the scouting program, let’s go to the Cub Scouts and see how we bond,” Galasso, who was an assistant scout master with a troop for the mentally and physically handicapped from ’66 to ’67, said. “Well, we bonded real well.”

After taking his two sons — John and Daniel, now 25 — to New Jersey-based Troop 81, Galasso became scoutmaster in ’98. During his tenure, 38 scouts have made it to the highest rank of Eagle — an amazing accomplishment and something the leader is proud to be a part of.

“I’m enjoying it so much I plan to stay at least another 10 years. As long as I’m healthy,” Galasso, who was invited to New Mexico this August for an exclusive scoutmaster-only retreat to plan the organization’s direction over the next 100 years, said. “I’m still camping all these years.”

His children now grown, Galasso laments they didn’t have the same neighborhood experience he has carried with him through his many adventures.

“The kids don’t have the culture we had, going to grandma’s after church for lunch. The traditions don’t exist here,” Galasso, who boasts proudly of his sons’ and 27-year-old daughter Angela’s accomplishments, said. “They don’t know growing up playing half ball.

“So many things we’d do that they don’t have. Eleventh and Daly after Sunday Mass for pizza was a big tradition. They’d line up a half block, actually.

“I used to get on the Broad Street line up to Lehigh Avenue and walk to see the Phillies. They would never comprehend that,” he added, referring to the old digs at Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium.

Even if his kin won’t know what it’s like to love a sports team the way he does, Galasso travels back to his old stomping grounds to take in some of the neighborhood flavors he’s used to at Chickie’s and Pete’s or Marra’s.

“We call it the Linda Club. I have four friends and we all married Lindas,” the ’66 Neumann grad said. “We stayed friends since the first grade and we try and meet once a month.”

Galasso has weaved an intricate network across continents and through many military, scouting and personal organizations, but manages to keep all the lives he’s impacted as part of his greater family.

And though he continues to garner recognition for his enduring service, it remains his humility that sets him apart.

“My granddaughter, Krista, she’s the apple of my eye. She’s my only boss now that I’m retired,” Galasso, who hopes to reach his personal goal of graduating 50 Eagle scouts in the coming couple of years, said of his 6-year-old progeny.

“Somebody up there likes me cause it’s worked out real well for me over the years.”