Ben Epstein was born in April 1921 in Brooklyn, New York, the youngest of four sons of Russian immigrants. His father was a house painting contractor, and later the owner of a paint store, but during the Great Depression, Epstein said, "everything folded." Epstein's parents were politically aware, and his mother, a "strong, wonderful" woman, gave her family incentive to go on, telling them, "don't ever give up." The family listened to President Roosevelt's [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] fireside chats, that Epstein said instilled confidence in the future. Epstein went through the public school system, and attended City College of New York for four years, majoring in Business Administration. He was in college when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], and his notice to go into the armed forces came in 1942. His father had died in 1939, and his mother was apprehensive about his going to war, but appreciated the fact that the Army allowed Epstein to finish his last semester of college before inducting him, and "hoped that all would be well." He entered the armed forces at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and after a short time was sent to Miami Beach, Florida for testing to determine his area of specialization. It looked at first like he would go into radio school, but after Epstein pointed out that he had a college degree in accounting, he was sent to Denver, Colorado for Army Air Corps administrative school. Epstein had never been very far away from Brooklyn, and found Denver a "gorgeous" place to go to school for a few months.

When he finished administrative school in Denver, Colorado, Ben Epstein was shipped to Saint Louis, Missouri to a replacement center. He had had no basic training, had never held a gun in his life, but he was scheduled to ship out overseas. Epstein said it was a trying time, the unprepared Army needed men, and the soldiers understood the situation. In Denver he had made a buddy, who became his good friend. They were both sent to Presque Isle, Maine, and from there to Camp Myles Standish in Massachusetts, then to New York where they boarded the SS Dorchester. Epstein did not know his destination, and was confused by the equipment he was issued, but said he "just followed orders." On 22 January 1943 the Dorchester, an old cruise ship that had been taken out of retirement and converted into a transport ship, sailed with 902 men on board for Greenland. Epstein said the vessel was not fit for North Atlantic passage, and almost everyone on board got seasick. They made one stop at Saint John's, Newfoundland, which Epstein later learned was a German spy center. On 3 February 1943, at one o'clock in the morning, a German u-boat [Annotator's Note: German submarine] torpedoed the Dorchester, and 672 of its passengers perished in no time at all. Epstein called it "quite a tragedy."

Describing the journey on the SS Dorchester, Ben Epstein said it was a terrible trip. But he pointed out that in every tragedy there is a little humor. He recalled that an older seaman recommended eating strawberry jam, because it would taste good coming back up. When Epstein and his buddy first went aboard, they were assigned to hammocks in the bottom of the boat. During their first fire drill, they were instructed to climb up stairs to the top of boat, and Epstein compared the feeling to looking down from the top of the Empire State Building. They were told that in case of emergency they were to jump overboard. Epstein said many of the men questioned the sanity of the order; they said they would go for a lifeboat. At some point, Epstein and his buddy, because they were in charge of records, were transferred to a stateroom on the port side of the ship and assigned to a lifeboat. Even in the better quarters, Epstein was seasick. His buddy claimed it was all mental, and went to the mess hall for a big meal. He was sick when he got back to the cabin, crawled to his bunk, and told Epstein not to speak to him again until they were on land. On the night of 2 February 1943, the ship's captain made the announcement that a submarine was following the Dorchester. He instructed the men to sleep in their clothes, and told them to pray. If they made it through the night they would be near enough to Bluie West One Airfield [Annotator's Note: now Narsarsuaq Airport] on Greenland to get air cover into port. Epstein said he went to sleep, but in the middle of the night was awakened by a big boom, and he knew they were hit; the Dorchester had taken a torpedo on its starboard [Annotator's Note: right] side. Epstein led his buddy to their deck station, and there was ice all over the boat. Epstein said his adrenaline set in and as he held on to the rail, he told his buddy to follow his lead. He jumped over the rail and slid down a rope into a lifeboat, all the while yelling for his buddy to come along. But he never saw him again. Epstein's explanation is that many men were frozen in fear and refused to abandon ship. When he hit the lifeboat, it was still attached to the ship by cables and it was overloaded. The lifeboat capsized with most of the evacuees caught underneath, but Epstein was thrown clear. When he surfaced, he didn't see anybody else. He had read that a sinking ship creates a suction, and figured he'd better get away from the hull. Not knowing what else to do, he started swimming away in water so cold it was painful. Although he still suffers from cold feet, he declares he is still here because of sheer luck.

It couldn't have been long afterward, any longer and he would have died of hypothermia, that Ben Epstein reached one of only two lifeboats that successfully launched off the SS Dorchester. He tried to raise himself out of the water, but had to ask for help to get on board. When he looked around, he saw the ship, and thought it looked like a Christmas tree, dotted as it was with the red lights of the soldiers' life preservers. It is a vision that he will never forget; every light represented a soldier whose life would be lost, and he couldn't help them. The lifeboat started to row away, guided by a black crewmember from the Dorchester who seemed to know how to proceed. He instructed them to sing, stopping them briefly because he thought he saw a periscope, and then starting them up again. They continued until they sighted two American Coast Guard cutters, the Escanaba (WPG-77) and the Comanche (WPG-76). Epstein was frozen and couldn't climb up the rope ladder; so two guys came down and carried him on board the Escanaba. There was a doctor on board, who undressed Epstein and had corpsmen rub his arms and legs until he regained feeling in his limbs. Epstein said it was a joyful tingling. He recalled that there were four chaplains aboard the Dorchester, all of whom gave their life preservers to men who needed them, knowing that without them they had no chance of survival. Every year those four men are remembered for their heroism. Epstein believes the message they left is that men should learn to live with one another. He is sure it is the only way we can have peace on earth.

A number of years ago, Ben Epstein recalled, he was part of a survivors' organization that found two survivors of the submarine that torpedoed the SS Dorchester. The two men were brought to America for meeting, and claimed they were 17 at the time of the attack, and had no real idea of what was going on. Epstein said he didn't look forward to the meeting, but went along in the interest of peace. Afterward, he kept up a correspondence with one of the men he met on that occasion. Asked if surviving the sinking had an effect on his later life, Epstein said it affected him in many ways; it completely changed his way of looking at life and at his neighbors. Tough as it was to forgive, he had to do it for life to go on. He still thinks of his lost buddy every day, and still wonders what happened to him on that night. There have been documentaries and magazine articles written about the Dorchester's demise and Epstein has had other experiences as a result of his name coming up in the stories.

Ben Epstein reiterated that his mother's influence, and her mantra "Don't ever give up," saved his life the night the SS Dorchester sank [Annotator's Note: 3 February 1943]. He said that while he was in the water, he never gave thought to how he was going to get out of the situation. He just kept going. He urges all young people to make it their motto. Epstein has been invited to speak about his experiences in the Second World War, and once when he was addressing 150 seventh graders in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he kept them fascinated for over an hour. He left them with the message that they should never give up.