Interesting. I had never heard of him before. Not sure how close he was, but the reason I asked was because most pistols from that era were anything but accurate, explaining why few duels ended in death or serious injury. But thanks for the story.
It occurred about 1860 in Italy, and I had always thought he used single shot pistols. But the illustration has him using 6 shot revolvers, which were around at that time.
Gabriel was an excellent marksman and excelled in horse riding before he became a monk. According to his life, he was engaged to two young girls at the same time.
So he probably knew something of danger if he was engaged to two women at the same time.
As far as Alvin York, books about him are quite interesting.
He used the money that people gave him to build a Christian school. He grew up without any public education because there were no schools in that part of Tennessee.
That is why he established a Christian school - so there would be a school for children to go to...
I am partial to Alvin's story more, but children I have told the story of (Saint) Gabriel Possenti have been very entertained by the story...