ALVIN YORK KILLS 25 GERMANS, TAKES 132 POWS SINGLEHANDEDLY
The Western Front (JFK+50) On October 8, 1918, Corporal Alvin C. York* of Pall Mall, Tennessee led 16 American doughboys in an attack on a German held position in the Argonne Forest near Cornay.
Leaving his men to guard captured Germans, York manged to kill 25 enemy soldiers with his rifle and pistol before forcing 132 more to surrender. Ironically, Corporal York, a pacifist and lay deacon of his church, had been denied exemption from service on religious grounds and was drafted into the 328th Regiment, 82nd Infantry.
Alvin C. York was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and the French Croix de Guerre. When he arrived in New York City, York was given the key to the city and a ticker-tape parade. The people of Tennessee presented him with a farm in honor of his accomplishments.
Shortly after his heroics, Alvin was asked by a general how he possibly could have done what he did. York responded....
"Sir, it was not man power. It was divine power that saved me. Before I went to war I prayed to God, and He gave me my assurance that so long as I believed in Him, not one hair of my head would be harmed. Even in front of them machine guns, He (knew) I believed in Him."
*Alvin Cullum York (1887-1964) was born near Pall Mall, TN. He attended school only 9 months quitting to work on the family farm. He later worked on the railroad and as a logger.
SOURCE
"SGT. YORK, His Life, Legend and Legacy," by John Perry, Broadman and Holman Publishers, Nashville, TN, 1997."
Leaving his men to guard captured Germans, York manged to kill 25 enemy soldiers with his rifle and pistol before forcing 132 more to surrender. Ironically, Corporal York, a pacifist and lay deacon of his church, had been denied exemption from service on religious grounds and was drafted into the 328th Regiment, 82nd Infantry.
Alvin C. York was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and the French Croix de Guerre. When he arrived in New York City, York was given the key to the city and a ticker-tape parade. The people of Tennessee presented him with a farm in honor of his accomplishments.
Shortly after his heroics, Alvin was asked by a general how he possibly could have done what he did. York responded....
"Sir, it was not man power. It was divine power that saved me. Before I went to war I prayed to God, and He gave me my assurance that so long as I believed in Him, not one hair of my head would be harmed. Even in front of them machine guns, He (knew) I believed in Him."
*Alvin Cullum York (1887-1964) was born near Pall Mall, TN. He attended school only 9 months quitting to work on the family farm. He later worked on the railroad and as a logger.
After WWI, York refused to take advantage
of many opportunities to profit from his war experiences and instead
established a foundation to increase educational opportunities for the
youth of Tennessee.
"SGT. YORK, His Life, Legend and Legacy," by John Perry, Broadman and Holman Publishers, Nashville, TN, 1997."
Sergeant Alvin C. York
Alvin C. York Home
Pall Mall, Tennessee
Photo by Brian Stansberry (2009)
