Timothy and the rest of these ungrateful bastards need a history lesson
Alvin York - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
York was drafted into the
United States Army and served in Company G, 328th Infantry Regiment,
82nd Infantry Division at
Camp Gordon, Georgia. Deeply troubled by the conflict between his pacifism and his training for war, he spoke at length with his
company commander, Captain Edward Courtney Bullock Danforth (1894–1974) of
Augusta, Georgia and his battalion commander,
Major Gonzalo Edward Buxton (1880–1949) of
Providence, Rhode Island, a devout Christian himself. Biblical passages about violence ("He that hath no sword, let him sell his cloak and buy one." "Render unto Caesar ..." "... if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight.") cited by Danforth persuaded York to reconsider the morality of his participation in the war. Granted a 10-day leave to visit home, he returned convinced that God meant for him to fight and would keep him safe, as committed to his new mission as he had been to pacifism.
[13][15] He served with his Division in the
St Mihiel Offensive.
During an attack (Meuse-Argonne) by his battalion to capture German positions near Hill 223 (
49.28558°N 4.95242°E) along the
Decauville rail-linenorth of
Chatel-Chéhéry,
France, on October 8, 1918, York's actions earned him the
Medal of Honor.
[16] He recalled:
[17]
The Germans got us, and they got us right smart. They just stopped us dead in our tracks. Their machine guns were up there on the heights overlooking us and well hidden, and we couldn't tell for certain where the terrible heavy fire was coming from ... And I'm telling you they were shooting straight. Our boys just went down like the long grass before the mowing machine at home. Our attack just faded out ... And there we were, lying down, about halfway across [the valley] and those German machine guns and big shells getting us hard.
Under the command of Sergeant Bernard Early, four non-commissioned officers, including recently promoted Cpl. York,
[18] and thirteen privates were ordered to infiltrate the German lines to take out the machine guns. The group worked their way behind the Germans and overran the headquarters of a German unit, capturing a large group of German soldiers who were preparing a counter-attack against the U.S. troops. Early's men were contending with the prisoners when machine gun fire suddenly peppered the area, killing six Americans
[19] and wounding three others.
[20] The fire came from German machine guns on the ridge. The loss of the nine put Corporal York in charge of the seven remaining U.S. soldiers.
[21] As his men remained under cover, guarding the prisoners, York worked his way into position to silence the German machine guns. York recalled:
[22]
And those machine guns were spitting fire and cutting down the undergrowth all around me something awful. And the Germans were yelling orders. You never heard such a racket in all of your life. I didn't have time to dodge behind a tree or dive into the brush... As soon as the machine guns opened fire on me, I began to exchange shots with them. There were over thirty of them in continuous action, and all I could do was touch the Germans off just as fast as I could. I was sharp shooting... 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.
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,
[23] but drew his
M1911 automatic pistol[24] and shot all six soldiers before they could reach him.
[25]
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.
[26] By the end of the engagement, York and his seven men marched 132 German prisoners back to the American lines. Upon returning to his unit, York reported to his brigade commander, General Julian R. Lindsey, who remarked "Well York, I hear you have captured the whole damn German army." York replied "No sir. I got only 132." His actions silenced the German machine guns and were responsible for enabling the 328th Infantry to renew its attack to capture the Decauville Railroad.
[27]
York was promptly promoted to Sergeant, and received the
Distinguished Service Cross. A few months later, an investigation by York's chain of command resulted in an upgrade of his Distinguished Service Cross to the
Medal of Honor, which was presented by the commanding general of the
American Expeditionary Forces,
General John J. Pershing. The
French Republic awarded him the
Croix de Guerre and the
Legion of Honour. When decorating York with the Croix de Guerre, Marshal
Ferdinand Foch told York "What you did was the greatest thing ever accomplished by any soldier by any of the armies of Europe."
In addition to his French medals,
Italyawarded York the
Croce al Merito di Guerra and
Montenegro decorated him with its War Medal.
[28][29] He eventually received nearly 50 decorations.
[29]York's Medal of Honor citation reads:
[30]
After his platoon suffered heavy casualties and 3 other noncommissioned officers had become casualties, Cpl. York assumed command. Fearlessly leading seven men, he charged with great daring a machine gun nest which was pouring deadly and incessant fire upon his platoon. In this heroic feat the machine gun nest was taken, together with 4 officers and 128 men and several guns.
In attempting to explain his actions during the 1919 investigation that resulted in the Medal of Honor, York told General Lindsey "A higher power than man guided and watched over me and told me what to do." Lindsey replied "York, you are right."
[31]