On this Day a Tennessee Boy Killed 25 and Captured 132 Enemy

History Channel web page ^ | 10/08/2001 | staff

[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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[the irate magistrate]

I'll look for all of those tapes and spend the time to watch them. Thanks

[the irate magistrate]

Nice to meet you; and,...Mr. MayflowerMadam.

Thanks for the replys.

[Nimitz]

Count me in on the 127 corridor freep-venture.

[SSgt Mike]

Once, while I was home on leave I had the opportunity to take my daughter (my second one was not born yet) to visit Alvin C. York's homestead in Tennessee.

I doubt that she remembers it because she was so young but you can bet that the next time I am home I will not only take them to visit the York homestead but I will also take them to visit the Alvin C. York VA hospital in Murphesbourough (sp?).

[the irate magistrate]

I'm glad you found the thread.

We all enjoyed discussing the attributes of this fine man.

I thought you would enjoy reading about Sgt York again.

Thanks for the bump.

[SSgt Mike]

You are more than welcome for the bump.

The York homestead that he was given after the WWI is only a short drive from my in-laws.
It was one of the last places that my wife and I went before I went overseas back in 94.

I think that it is neat that Alvin C. York did not let his fame get the best of him. He lived his life after the war about the same way he did before he went to Europe.

Now that my daughters are older and might understand I hope to take them back to visit Alvin next time we get up to Tennessee.

[the irate magistrate]

"I think that it is neat that Alvin C. York did not let his fame get the best of him. He lived his life after the war about the same way he did before he went to Europe."

He was the quintessence of the citizen soldier. Too bad that our "Career" politicians don't follow the same example.

[SunkenCiv]

GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach	join list or digest view topics view or post blog bookmark post a topic subscribe
Thanks the irate magistrate. Note: this topic is from 10/08/2001. Blast from the Past. Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.

[Stymee]

there ain’t no English where I come from, only Americans!

[Joe 6-pack]

Interesting. I met Alvin's grandson, Gerald York, who was a Military Intelligence Colonel, when I was stationed in Korea. Actually had the opportunity to sit down with him and have a pretty good chat at some length.

When I got back stateside, History Channel was still airing, "Tales of the Gun," and had an episode on the firearms of WWI. Of course they had a segment on Alvin York, and interviewed COL York. I was like, "Hey, cool...I know that guy!"

[Grizzled Bear]

Bump for later!

[SunkenCiv]

Nice!

[SunkenCiv]

Praise the Lord, and Pass the Ammunition:

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... returned fire and with his marksman eye began picking off the German gunners. He then fearlessly charged the machine-gun nest... shot down six German soldiers sent out of the trench to intercept him... 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.

[Ditto]

Does anyone have a photo of Sgt. York? I love those old WWI pictures. Plus I wonder how closely Gary Cooper resembled the hero from Tennessee.

York (left) Cooper (right)

[patton]

“In today’s combat situations the skills that made Alvin York the effective soldier he was are no longer as important.”

Actually, as it turns out, country kids who grew up hunting are much more effective at spotting enemy IED emplacements.

The army actually did a study on it.