Good Morning: Hillybilly Heroics
October 8, 1918: U.S. soldier Alvin York displays heroics at Argonne
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90 years ago, on this day in 1918, United States Corporal Alvin C. York reportedly kills over 20 German soldiers and captures an additional 132 at the head of a small detachment in the Argonne Forest near the Meuse River in France. The exploits later earned York the Congressional Medal of Honor.
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York's home, presented to him by the People of Tennessee
Born in 1887 in a log cabin near the Tennessee-Kentucky border, York was the third of 11 children in a family supported by subsistence farming and hunting. After experiencing a religious conversion, he became a fundamentalist Christian around 1915.
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His statue stands near the corner of Charlotte and Sixth Avenue North in downtown Nashville, more than adequate defense for the southeast corner of the Tennessee State Capitol grounds.
Two years later, when the United States entered World War I, York was drafted into the U.S. Army. After being denied conscientious-objector status, York enlisted in the 82nd Infantry Division and in May 1918 arrived in France for active duty on the Western Front. He served in the successful Saint-Mihiel offensive in September of that year, was promoted to corporal and given command of his own squadron.
The events of October 8, 1918, took place as part of the Meuse-Argonne offensive—what was to be the final Allied push against German forces on the Western Front during World War I.
York and his battalion were given the task of seizing German-held positions across a valley; after encountering difficulties, the small group of soldiers—numbering some 17 men—were fired upon by a German machine-gun nest at the top of a nearby hill. The gunners cut down nine men, including a superior officer, leaving York in charge of the squad.
As York wrote in his diary of his subsequent actions:
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"[T]hose machine guns were spitting fire and cutting down the undergrowth all around me something awful…. I didn’t have time to dodge behind a tree or dive into the brush, I didn’t even have time to kneel or lie down…. As soon as the machine guns opened fire on me, I began to exchange shots with them. In order to sight me or to swing their machine guns on me, the Germans had to show their heads above the trench, and every time I saw a head I just touched it off. All the time I kept yelling at them to come down. I didn’t want to kill any more than I had to. But it was they or I. And I was giving them the best I had."
Several other American soldiers followed York’s lead and began firing; as they drew closer to the machine-gun nest, the German commander—thinking he had underestimated the size of the enemy squadron—surrendered his garrison of some 90 men.
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On the way back to the Allied lines, York and his squad took more prisoners, for a total of 132. Though Alvin York consistently played down his accomplishments of that day, he was given credit for killing more than 20 German soldiers. Promoted to the rank of sergeant, he remained on the front lines until November 1, 10 days before the armistice. In April 1919, York was awarded the highest American military decoration, the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Lauded by The New York Times as "the war’s biggest hero" and by General John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), as "the greatest civilian soldier" of World War I, York went on to found a school for underprivileged children, the York Industrial Institute (now Alvin C. York Institute), in rural Tennessee.
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In 1941, his heroism became the basis for a movie, Sergeant York, starring Gary Cooper. Upon York’s death in 1964, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson called him "a symbol of American courage and sacrifice" who epitomized "the gallantry of American fighting men and their sacrifices on behalf of freedom."
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York gravesite in Pall Mall, TN
Re: Good Morning: Hillybilly Heroics
Oh No
Theres a cross on his Grave Homey
We need to File a Law suit :rolleyes:
Re: Good Morning: Hillybilly Heroics
Shhhhhh- the ALCU maybe reading these Posts!
Re: Good Morning: Hillybilly Heroics
My main man from the 82nd. I dig that old-style unit patch.
Re: Good Morning: Hillybilly Heroics
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Originally Posted by
olevetonahill
Oh No
Theres a cross on his Grave Homey
We need to File a Law suit :rolleyes:
Homey and I will assume it's private property and we can let Sgt. York enjoy his honorable thread posthumously. :D
Re: Good Morning: Hillybilly Heroics
http://www.doctormacro1.info/Images/...York%29_01.jpg
You be a sure to a tell Alllllllllvin I said a helloooooooooo.
Re: Good Morning: Hillybilly Heroics
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Originally Posted by
C&CDean
My main man from the 82nd. I dig that old-style unit patch.
"All-Americans" So-named because the division was formed from guard units culled from several states. Perhaps the first division made up of Americans from Brooklyn to Barstow. Now the norm of course, but pretty amazing in 1917.
Re: Good Morning: Hillybilly Heroics
I had two uncles that fought in WW1.
A great-grandfather fought in the American Civil War. Kin fought on both sides in that one, possible in WWI as well.
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Re: Good Morning: Hillybilly Heroics
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Originally Posted by
C&CDean
My main man from the 82nd. I dig that old-style unit patch.
Were you in the 82nd Dean?
I did some time in the 1st of the 505th.
Re: I am me, who are you?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
annablack
Hi everyone
Another newbie here. I've joined on the recommendation of a friend on here. Looks like there are lots of interesting threads.
I love gardening and messing about with the camera so you should see me joining in with those for starters.
so how is everyone doing??, Anna from
http://www.faxlessonlineloans.net website!!
i want to hear more about these loans!
Re: Good Morning: Hillybilly Heroics
Homey....
You are missed.
Re: I am me, who are you?
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Originally Posted by
yermom
i want to hear more about these loans!
Yea I were hopin fer a Pic of a Hot broad
Re: I am me, who are you?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
yermom
i want to hear more about these loans!
There's another over on the Obammy forum...go read it.
Re: I am me, who are you?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Turd_Ferguson
There's another over on the Obammy forum...go read it.
This broad was 4 years ago,
Re: Good Morning: Hillybilly Heroics
Welcome back, Homey! I've missed these posts!
Re: Good Morning: Hillybilly Heroics
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Cheerin' 4 OU
Welcome back, Homey! I've missed these posts!
Homey says hes glad you paid attention when he posted this 4 years ago.:monkey:
Re: Good Morning: Hillybilly Heroics
I noticed that as well but Alvin York is one of my heroes.
Plus I love Gary Cooper movies.
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Re: Good Morning: Hillybilly Heroics
Some more details from Wikipedia article:
During the assault, six German soldiers in a trench near York charged him with fixed bayonets. York had fired all the rounds in his M1917 Enfield rifle,[19] but drew his .45 Colt automatic pistol[20] and shot all six soldiers before they could reach him.[21]
German First Lieutenant Paul Jürgen Vollmer, commander of the First Battalion, 120th Landwehr Infantry, emptied his pistol trying to kill York while he was contending with the machine guns. Failing to injure York, and seeing his mounting losses, he offered in English to surrender the unit to York, who accepted.[22] By the end of the engagement, York and his seven men marched 132 German prisoners back to the American lines. His actions silenced the German machine guns and were responsible for enabling the 328th Infantry to renew its attack to capture the Decauville Railroad.[23]
The article also mentions that for religious reasons he stated he was a conscientious objector, but was drafted anyway. He tried to enlist during WWII, but was too old, at 54. He was then commissioned as a major in the signal corps, and toured around the states.
Re: Good Morning: Hillybilly Heroics
Quote:
Originally Posted by
olevetonahill
Homey says hes glad you paid attention when he posted this 4 years ago.:monkey:
Doh! Thanks for pointing that out, Vet :) Maybe he'll get the hint and return anyway.
Re: Good Morning: Hillybilly Heroics
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Cheerin' 4 OU
Doh! Thanks for pointing that out, Vet :) Maybe he'll get the hint and return anyway.
Heh. He dont post much of anywhere anymore. Cept Facebook. He will make an appearance at the hideout from time to time.
Re: Good Morning: Hillybilly Heroics
Quote:
Originally Posted by
C&CDean
You betcha. 2/504. Devils in baggy pants. Also was with 2/321 FA. Forward observer.
That has to be one of the funnest jobs in the army. Growing up I wanted so bad to be in the military and get into armor, but paratroops always amazed me.
Re: Good Morning: Hillybilly Heroics
Quote:
Originally Posted by
hawaii 5-0
I noticed that as well but Alvin York is one of my heroes.
Plus I love Gary Cooper movies.
5-0
Hey Turd, why did you neg spek me on this one???
Why call me a douchbag for praising an American Hero? What's the matter with you?
Don't you like war heroes? Don't like Gary Cooper.
What do you dislike about this post? And why do you stalk me?
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