Sergeant Alvin York was reluctantly a Christian soldier.
The battlefield heroism of the born-again, however, is not lost on the backwoodsman. Tennessee sharpshooterEven the most hardened soldiers in World War I were shocked.
According to reports, he was told by: “What you did was one of the greatest things accomplished by any private soldier from all the armies in Europe.” French military heroMarshal Ferdinand Foch is the commander for the Allies in the Great War.
York’s actions for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor are still astonishing to Americans today.
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Leading seven men behind enemy lines — the remnants of a U.S. Army platoon slaughtered in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive on Oct. 8, 1918 — York killed an estimated 20 Germans, took 132 prisoners and silenced as many 25 machine guns.
He boldly marched his captors through enemy trenches to the American lines.
Full-length portrait by Sergeant Alvin C. York (1887-1964), who was part of the 328th infantry regiment. With the assistance of 17 men, he captured 132 German prisoners. He became one of the most decorated American soldiers in World War I. It was taken near Cornay, France. February 1919. The hill on which the raid took places is shown in the location of the photograph.
(Photo by Interim Archives/Getty Images).
Sergeant York received the national acclaim.
Yet, he was unable to stop his personal battle for much of his adult life. He feared condemnation. In the eyes GodFor taking other people’s lives.
His grandson, Gerald York, a retired U.S Army Colonel, said that Alvin York had “lived a life full of gambling, drinking, and smoking.”
Around 1915, “His fortunes were changed when he gave up his life to Christ.”
“I wanted a good Christian and a great American. — Sergeant Alvin York
York refused to fight in World War I, 1917 when the United States entered World War I. York filed as a conscientious objectionor but eventually submitted to Uncle Sam.
His World War I heroismThis inspired the World War II generation.
His life was portrayed in the film “Sergeant York”, which was released on silverscreens in 1941.
It received 11 Nominations for Academy AwardIt was also the highest-grossing movie in the year, with two Oscar nominations, including Best Actor for Cooper.
“Sergeant York,” a movie showing the story, was in theaters Dec. 7, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. America entering World War II.
Marshall Ferdinand Foch, France, at his desk. U.S. Army Staff Sergeant. Alvin York’s heroic capture and capture of 132 Germans by U.S. Army Sgt. was “the greatest thing done by any private soldier in all the armies Europe.”
(Getty Images)
The Knoxville Focus reported that there were many reports of young men leaving theaters to enlist in the military.
York may have doubted his deadly actions — but never his patriotism. Woodrow Wilson (Sam Houston), Andrew Jackson and Betsy Ross are among his eight children.
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“He was just daddy for me,” Betsy Ross York (now 89) said to Fox News Digital. She is a Bowling Green resident.
“He never did talk about the war, and we didn’t ever ask him.”
Born in backwood poverty
Alvin Cullum York, a son of William and Mary (Brooks) York, was born in Pall Mall (Tennessee) Dec. 13, 1887.
“The Yorks struggled in poverty, which only worsened when York’s father died in 1911,” writes the National Museum of the Army.
Sergeant York poster, Gary Cooper on half-sheet poster “Style A”, 1941.
(Photo by LMPC via Getty Images).
York only completed nine months of schooling and had already acquired many skills in exploring the mountains of Tennessee and hunting for game. York trained as a marksman and worked around Pall Mall for his family.
He was made an elder member of the Church of Christ in Christian UnionFollowing his awakening, he converted to pacifism.
“He said to producers that he felt struck by lightning when Christ came to him.”
The movie shows York’s conversion come as he was nearly struck by lightning. Hollywood’s dramaticization of the event was not accurate.
“He said to producers that he felt struck by lightning when Christ came to him,” Gerald York, his grandson, stated.
The future Sergeant York was of fighting age — 29 — when the U.S. entered World War I.
Preview of “Sergeant York”, a film at Knickerbocker Theater, Nashville, Tennessee, July 1941. Left to right: Joe Oehmig (Gov. Prentice Cooper, Mrs. Gracie York, Sergeant Alvin York, Mayor Thomas L. Cummings.
(Courtesy Sergeant York Patriotic Foundation
York described his inner conflict as saying, “My religion and experience… told I not to go to war. The memory of my ancestors… told me to get a gun and fight.”
“I wanted to be a good Christian, and an American too. I was not a Sunday Christian. I believed in God and tried to live by it in my own way.
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Uncle Sam was very accommodating.
Alvin C. York, a man who never if ever left rural Tennessee’s little corner of heaven, was sent across the ocean to hell.
Mowed like grass blades
York entered the war in France as a member of the 82nd Division — which become The 82nd Airborne Divisionparatroopers. They became famous by their bravery in landing on Normandy in World War II.
He awoke in the early hours of the morning on Oct. 8, 1918 to find himself in the midst a brutal battle. This he documented in a 1922 journal.
Portrait of U.S. Army Sergeant Alvin York (1887-1964), seated in his military uniform between 1915 and 20.
(Photo by Library of Congress/Interim Archives/Getty Images
His unit was hit by artillery, gas attacks, and marched on to a German position heavily fortified using machine guns.
The hillbilly soldier metaphorically wrote, “Our boys just fell down like the long grass prior to the mowing machine home,” referring to his fellow soldiers being killed.
“Our boys went down like long grass before the mower at home. — Sergeant York
“I knew we couldn’t continue until the machine guns were removed. So we tried to capture them with a surprise attack from the rear. We figured there must have been over 30,” he also wrote — meaning 30 machine guns.
York was responsible for the remaining men, after all their officers had been killed.
York, fearfully outnumbered and behind enemy line, found a firing position and started picking off German soldiers one-by-one.
Photograph of the 326th Infantry (82nd Division) advancing on enemy positions at Choloy in France. Photograph taken in 1918.
(Photo: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
“Every time a head come up, I done knocked it down … I was giving them the best I had.”
He compared it to how he shot turkeys at home.
“In the middle of the fight a German officer and five men done jumped out of a trench and charged me with fixed bayonets … I only had about half a clip left in my rifle; but I had my pistol ready. I quickly flipped it and teched them all off.
After seeing six men fall so fast, the Germans were shocked. They surrendered in masse fearing an American unit larger than they were.
Gary Cooper (center), an American actor, is seen on set of “Sergeant York”, directed by Howard Hawks.
(Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images
The surrender was facilitated by a German major who could speak fluent English.
“There were so many [Germans]York said that there was the danger that our own artillery could mistakenly attack us as a German counter-attack, and open up on us.”
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“Lieutenant Woods came to the aid of 132 prisoners. And when he counted them he said, ‘York, have you captured the whole German army?’ And I told him I had a tolerable few.”
York’s exploits became legend on the battlefront. York never told his story back home in the many letters he wrote.
Close-up view of American soldiers in the 18th Infantry of the 1st Division, huddled up on Hill 240, Ardennes, during Operation Meuse-Argonne, France, October 11, 1918.
Photo taken by PhotoQuest/Getty Images
His heroics were only discovered by his family when they read the Saturday Evening Post’s April 26, 1919 edition, which was one of America’s most popular publications at the time.
George Pattullo, a Canadian war correspondent, exclaimed that he “outfought the machine gun battalion using his rifle and an automatic pistol.”
“It stands out as the greatest individual feat of the war, not only because of the amazing things he did that day, but because of the man’s deep religious convictions and scruples.”
‘Sense of peace before he died’
Sergeant Alvin C. York, a long-term illness that had left him incontinent in his later years, died in Nashville on September 2, 1964.
Alvin C. York, a World War I hero. George Pattullo, Canadian war correspondent, exclaimed that he “outfought” the machine-gun battalion using his rifle & automatic pistol.
(Getty Images)
A long list of dignitaries attended President Lyndon B. Johnson’s funeral.
York is buried at Pall Mall, his hometown.
His legacy is alive in an amazing number of small and large ways.
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In his later years, the 82nd Airborne gave a 1957 Pontiac to one of its most renowned veterans. The York family treasures and still owns the automobile.
Sergeant York used the royalties from the movie for support of his church and to fund a brief Bible school.
The 82nd Airborne Division presented Sgt. Alvin York was gifted a 1957 Pontiac by the 82nd Airborne Division in his later years. The vehicle is still kept as a family treasure. The vehicle is pictured with his two children, Andrew Jackson York and Betsy Ross York.
(Courtesy York Family)
In 1926, he also established the Alvin C. York Institute. It was eventually transferred to the state management in 1937. The institute still teaches high-school students today.
According to the school’s website, “It is only comprehensive secondary school in America that is financed by and operated by a government.”
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The Sgt. Alvin C. York State Historic Park in Tennessee includes the York Farm, which is a National Historic Landmark.
The Sergeant York Patriotic Foundation is now run by his descendants. Pall Mall hosts a Veterans Day Celebration on his property every November 11. His family will also be present.
York Avenue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side appears to be just another New York City landmark attributed to its namesake community in England. But, Sergeant York was the original name.
On October 2, 2018, a book and movie, as well as a sketch and post-stamps, featuring Alvin York, an American sergeant in World War I were on display at a table near Alexandria, Virginia. Sergeant York was awarded a Medal of Honor for his actions in attacking a German machine-gun nest during the United States’-led Meuse Argonne Offensive. This attack took 35 machine guns and killed at least 25 enemy troops.
(EVA HAMBACH/AFP via Getty Images
York’s second child, George Edward Buxton, was named for the sergeant’s commanding officer in the army.
George accepted the call to Christ and became an ordained minister. According to Col. Gerald York, Sergeant York asked for forgiveness from his son for his sins during battle.
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He said to his dad, “You did it out of love for your country and your fellow soldiers. You did it not out of hate or malice. It was done to save lives and stop the destruction of your own men.
Colonel York said, “I think that it helped.” It gave my grandfather peace before his death, I believe.”
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