Posted on 10/08/2001 12:06:01 PM PDT by the irate magistrate
ALVIN YORK KILLS 25 AND CAPTURES 132:
During World War I, U.S. Corporal Alvin C. York is credited with single-handedly killing 25 German soldiers and capturing 132 in the Argonne Forest of France. The action saved York's small detachment from annihilation by a German machine-gun nest and won the reluctant warrior from backwater Tennessee the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Born in a log cabin in rural Tennessee in 1887, Alvin Cullum York supplemented his family's subsistence farming by hunting and, like his father, was soon an expert marksman. He also earned a reputation as a hell-raiser, and few imagined he would amount to anything but trouble. Around 1915, however, York experienced a religious conversion after a friend was killed in a bar brawl. He joined the fundamentalist Church of Christ in Christian Union and served as song leader and Sunday school teacher at the local church.
Two months after the United States declared war on Germany in 1917, York received his draft notice. Because his church opposed war, he asked for conscientious objector status but was denied at both the state and local level because the small Church of Christ in Christian Union was not recognized as a legitimate Christian sect. Enlisting in the 82nd Infantry Division, he was offered noncombat duty but eventually agreed to fight after being convinced by a superior that America's cause was just.
On October 8, 1918, York and 15 other soldiers under the command of Sergeant Bernard Early were dispatched to seize a German-held rail point during the Allies' Meuse-Argonne Offensive. The Americans lost their way and soon found themselves behind enemy lines. A brief firefight ensued with a superior German force, and in the confusion a group of Germans surrendered. However, German machine-gunners on a hill overlooking the scene soon noticed the small size of Early's patrol. Yelling in German for their comrades to take cover, the machine gunners opened fire on the Americans, cutting down half the detachment, including Sergeant Early.
York immediately returned fire and with his marksman eye began picking off the German gunners. He then fearlessly charged the machine-gun nest. Several of the other surviving Americans followed his lead and probably contributed to the final total of 25 enemy killed. With his automatic pistol, York shot down six German soldiers sent out of the trench to intercept him. The German commander, thinking he had underestimated the size of the American force, surrendered as York reached the machine-gun nest. York and the other seven survivors took custody of some 90 Germans and on the way back to the Allied lines encountered 40 or so other enemy troops, who were coerced to surrender by the German major that the Americans had in their custody. The final tally was 132 prisoners.
York was promoted to the rank of sergeant and hailed as the greatest civilian soldier of the war by several Allied leaders. He was given a hero's welcome upon his return to the United States in 1919 and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration. In the 1920s, he used his fame to raise funds for the York Industrial Institute (now Alvin C. York Institute), a school for underprivileged children in rural Tennessee. He later opened a Bible school. Sergeant York, the 1941 film starring Gary Cooper, was based on his life. York died in 1964.
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Do you live in driving distance of Pall Mall, Tn?
It's right on old US Route 127 just across the border from Ky. It's fairly close to the Big South Fork and also close to Wolf Creek Dam.
They have a restored town area and memorial to Sgt. York.
Pall Mall, Tn is only about an hour or so, south from Danville, Ky.
Logos and I were just talking about setting up a FReep adventure dedicated to the historic area on the US 127 corridor, which is very rich in history, where many tourists don't even give it a second glance.
Puts a lump in my throat every time I read the tale.
As I understand it, that's not what(how) they're taught to do it these days.
BTW;
Where can I get a;
There is a God.
Allah ain't Him.
Mohammed ain't His prophet.
bumper sticker.
Preferably in English and Arabic.
That'll look good on the side of your trailer.
He is definitely one of the greatest of America's heroes.
Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown
Since the use of Colt's 1911 .45ACP pistol which was designed by John Browning is no longer in doubt, I might as well mention that the 1917 Enfield was NOT chambered in .303 for our troops. We used the 1917 Enfield chambered in 30-06. You may have already known that but this is a notation for the lurkers.
Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown
Watching "Band of Brothers is an experience. Anti-gun Spielberg does know how to follow the reality of the people who were there and I have to praise him for that.
My old Enfield is a 30-06 for sure and it's deadly accurate as a hunting rifle.
As for my SASay sweeties, I hope you read this story with the accompanying posts. There's lots to be learned here from these guys.
I can't recall the films. Can you rent them in VCR?
No. Upstate NY. God's country.
(Also, my hubby posts under my screen name. I keep telling him to "get your own" -- screen name, that is -- but he just never does!)
The best book on snipers is "One Shot, One Kill" by Charles W. Sasser and Craig Roberts. It's about American Sniper giving their accounts with historical references about the development throughout the book.
I was listening to the radio the other day, and I heard one of the all-time best comeback lines in my life.
Note: This is an exact replication of National Public Radio (NPR) interview between a female broadcaster, and US Army General Reinwald who was about to sponsor a Boy Scout Troop visiting his military installation.
FEMALE INTERVIEWER: So, General Reinwald, what things are you going to teach these young boys when they visit your base?"
GENERAL REINWALD: We're going to teach them climbing, canoeing, archery, and shooting."
FEMALE INTERVIEWER: "Shooting!!! That's a bit irresponsible, isn't it?"
GENERAL REINWALD: "I don't see why, they'll be properly supervised on the rifle range."
FEMALE INTERVIEWER: "Don't you admit that this is a terribly dangerous activity to be teaching children?"
GENERAL REINWALD: "I don't see how, ....we will be teaching them proper rifle discipline before they even touch a firearm."
FEMALE INTERVIEWER: "But you're equipping them to become violent killers."
GENERAL REINWALD: "Well, you're equipped to be prostitute, but you're not one, are you?"
The radio went silent and the interview ended.
And all I could think was, "Go Army!"
In today's combat situations the skills that made Alvin York the effective soldier he was are no longer as important. I do not fear because most American youth does not grow up learning these skills. They can be taught what they need.
The strength of character that made York a warrior, not just an effective soldier, is still in America. It may seem to be hidden under a blizzard of inconsequential celebrity and material worship but it is there, and we are seeing more of it every day.....have faith.
Thank you.
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