Alvin C. York(1887-1964)
- Writer
Alvin Cullum York was born in rural Pall Mall, Tennessee. Raised in the mountains, he learned to shoot guns when he was
just a boy, becoming an expert with both a pistol and rifle before his
teens. Under the influence of his high school girlfriend--and his
future wife--Gracie Williams, he also became a devout born-again
Christian and gave up the drinking, brawling, smoking, gambling and
bare-knuckle fighting that marked his early days. When the US declared
war on Germany in April 1917, York was drafted into the army, where he
sought exemption as a conscientious objector, but was turned down.
Inducted into the 328th Infantry Regiment on November 24, 1917, he
distinguished himself in basic training until he was ordered to shoot
at human forms on the target range. After days of soul-searching, York
reconciled himself to military service and completed his training, and
his unit sailed to France the following spring. His regiment was
assigned to the Meuse-Argonne salient during the final great Allied
offensive from September to the war's end on November 11, 1918. On
October 8, 1918, York, then a corporal, was part of a company assigned
to attack a heavily defended hill near Chatel-Chehery. Pinned down by
intense machine-gun fire, York joined a squad of 17 men that attempted
to outflank the German position from the rear of the hill. After
capturing 20 German soldiers, the Americans were discovered by other
German troops in neighboring trenches, who opened fire on them. Within
minutes the squad was down to seven unwounded men, York included. The
squad's officers and NCOs had all been killed or wounded, meaning that
York was now in charge of the squad's survivors. He took his rifle and
worked his way to a point near the occupied German trenches that were
firing on his squad. From that position he shot and killed 17 Geman
soldiers one after the other, then shot eight more with his pistol,
killing three and wounding five. The surviving Germans had had enough
and surrendered en masse to York; the final tally of captured German
soldiers, counting the 20 the squad had taken earlier, was 132. Alvin
York managed to work his way with his squad and the 132 prisoners
through the bombed-out wasteland and back to the headquarters of the
328th Regiment. York was promoted to sergeant and awarded the
Congressional Medal of Honor for his amazing feat. At the end of the
war he returned to Tennessee, in 1919, married Gracie and settled on a
farm presented to him by his home state. The modest hero turned down
many offers for endorsements, claiming "this uniform ain't for sale,"
and used the proceeds from the book and movie of his life
Sergeant York (1941)) to establish
schools for poor mountain children. During World War II York served on
the Tennessee draft board and was a colonel in the Tennessee State
Guard, commanding the 7th Regiment. Alvin York died in his home in
Nashville, Tennessee, on September 2, 1964.