Alvin York got the publicity & civilian acclaim, but Samuel Woodfill may have stood higher in the estimation of those who were there. General Pershing himself named Woodfill the most outstanding soldier in AEF.
An enlisted man with combat experience dating back through the Philippine Insurrection, Woodfill was given an in-theater commission, but was returned to his prewar enlisted rank after the war. His exploits easily equated to York’s, and he became one of eight highly decorated war veterans (all enlisted) chosen to escort the remains of Unknown Soldier from France to the then-newly-constructed Tomb of the Unknowns.
Interested forum members will find Woodfill’s story - and that of the other seven Body Bearers - in _The Unknowns: The Untold Story of America’s Unknown Soldier and WWI’s Most Decorated Heroes Who Brought Him Home_ by Patrick K O’Donnell.