Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Sergeant Alvin York

Episode Date: April 12, 2024

In October 1918, just weeks before the end of the First World War, one of the most incredible feats of military valor took place in the Meuse–Argonne offensive, one of the last great battles of the war.  This incredible feat of bravery and soldiering was done by a very unlikely soldier. One that didn’t even want to participate in the war on religious grounds.  His story has been the subject of books and movies and is still being told today.  Learn more about Sergeant Alvin York and his remarkable story on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Available nationally, look for a bottle of Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond at your local store. Find out more at heavenhilldistillery.com/hh-bottled-in-bond.php Sign up today at butcherbox.com/daily and use code daily to choose your free offer and get $20 off. Visit BetterHelp.com/everywhere today to get 10% off your first month. Use the code EverythingEverywhere for a 20% discount on a subscription at Newspapers.com. Subscribe to the podcast!  https://link.chtbl.com/EverythingEverywhere?sid=ShowNotes -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Benji Long & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Update your podcast app at newpodcastapps.com Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In October 1918, just weeks before the end of the First World War, one of the most incredible feats of military valor took place on the Muse Argonne Offensive, one of the last great battles of the war. This incredible feat of bravery and soldier was done by a very unlikely soldier, one that didn't even want to participate in the war on religious grounds. His story has been the subject of books and movies, and is still being told today. Learn more about Sergeant Alvin York and his remarkable heroism on this episode of Everything. everywhere daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong? ThruLine is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed.

It effectively turned day into night. And how it shaped the world now. Time travel with us every week on the ThruLine podcast from NPR. Alvin Cullum York was born on December 13, 1887 in Paul Mall, Tennessee. He was born and raised close to the Kentucky border in the Cumberland Mountains to a family that most outsiders would call hillbillies. His family was very poor, as were most of the people in his community. He was the third of 11 children, and his family lived in a one-room log cabin. For the most part, his family engaged in subsistence agriculture and hunting to provide their food.

Alvin's father, and later himself, engaged in many odd jobs just to earn some money. Elven's formal education only went through the third grade, at which point he had to give up schooling to help earn money and provide food for his family. As part of providing food for his family, he became an accomplished hunter, and as a result, he was an expert marksman. While his ability with a rifle certainly contributed to his later military success, more on that and a bit, much about his life before the military made him a very unlikely hero. Strangely enough, he made for an unlikely hero for two completely different and diametrically opposed reasons. The first had to do with the fact that York was an alcoholic with violent tendencies. He would often binge drink, getting extremely drunk, usually on locally produced moonshine and would get into fights. He hung out with what you could call a bad crowd and got into constant

trouble. This is not the sort of behavior you usually associate with a hero. And indeed, it was a the sort of behavior that eventually was this war hero. When he was well into his 20s, still unmarried, he fell for Gracie Loretta Williams. She was one of the more beautiful women in the area, but her and her parents had high standards. Given his behavior, they wouldn't let Alvin court their daughter. Alvin began going to church every week just because it was the only chance to see her. In late 1914, a close friend of his, Everett Delk, was beaten to death in a drunken fight in Kentucky. It was then he realized that if he was to avoid a fate similar to his friend, and if he was ever to have a chance with Gracie, he had to straighten up and change his ways.

In December 1914, Alvin attended a revival by a Christian minister named Reverend Melvin Herbert Russell. And on New Year's Day, 1915, Alvin had a religious conversion, which he described as saying, quote, It was as if lightning struck my soul. By all accounts, Alvin's religious conversion was very genuine. He completely changed his behavior overnight. He stopped drinking, swearing, and cavorting with the other men who were getting him into trouble. And all of his neighbors noticed the change in Alvin. When Gracie and her parents saw that Alvin's change was genuine, they agreed to let him see their daughter,

and in June of 1917, they became engaged. I mentioned that there were two diametrically different reasons why Alvin York was an unlikely hero. The first was the drinking and the fighting. However, when he changed his ways, he also became a devout pacifist, which was the second reason why he was an unlikely war hero. When the United States entered World War I, a draft was instituted. York initially refused to even register for the draft. He believed that the Bible said it was wrong to kill, and as such, he didn't think he could in good faith fight in the war. As he later said, quote, I was worried clean through.

I didn't want to go and kill. I believed in my Bible." End quote. Eventually, he was convinced by his local pastor that he should register for the draft or else he could wind up in prison. At first, he sought exemption from the draft as a conscientious subjector. On the draft form, there was a question that asks, quote, do you claim exemption from the draft specify grounds? And York wrote, yes, don't want to fight. His request for conscientious objector status was rejected because his church, the church of Christ in Christian Union wasn't a recognized established church, and they didn't explicitly

have a policy on pacifism. At the time, conscientious subjectors weren't totally exempt from military duty. It only meant that they would be assigned to a position that didn't conflict with their beliefs. Also, Elvin sought an exemption on the basis of being the sole supporter of his mother and siblings, and this too was rejected. While his appeal was still being processed, he was sent to Camp Gordon, Georgia, to begin his training with the 82nd All-American Division. He and Gracie had their wedding put off until his return from the war. While on Camp Gordon, his conscientious objector status was known to his superiors, and he had several lengthy discussions with his commanding officers about his doubts about killing for his country.

His company commander, Captain Edward Courtney Bullock Danforth Jr., and his battalion commander, Major G. Edward Buxton, were also both devout Christians and try to use the Bible to convince him of the necessity of sometimes having to use violence. They were actually extremely considerate of York's views, considering that they didn't really have to be. They granted York a 10-day leave to go back home to think about things. When York returned, he was committed to the idea that it could be acceptable to fight and that he would do his duty, and if necessary, take a life for his country.

Elvin York was shipped off to France with the rest of his division and fought in the St. Mihiel Offensive from September 12th to the 15th of 1918. York fought admirably and was promoted to the rank of corporal and given command over a small squad. However, the event that made Alvin York a household name, and the reason why a podcast episode is being done on him over 100 years later, took place on October 8th during the Muse Argonne Offensive. The Muse Argonne Offensive was the last great Allied offensive of the war and an attempt to push the Germans behind the Hindenburg line to end the conflict. York's unit was given an assignment to seize a position held by the Germans on the other side of a valley,

not far from the village of Chantel Chetharie. York was second in command of a group of 17 that was sent out to achieve the objective. What they didn't know is that it was a death trap. The Americans were vastly outnumbered, with the Germans holding several machine gun positions on the high ground overlooking the valley. The American, seeing the German position, tried to go behind the enemy lines to take them by surprise. In the process of doing so, they encountered the German command position and took most of the soldiers there captive. They were in the midst of preparing a counterattack on the Americans when they were caught.

While the Americans were trying to collect all the prisoners, German machine guns and fortified positions above them fired on the Americans, killing six and wounding three, including the senior officer, which left Corporal York, as the commander. While the remaining men returned fire and covered their prisoners, York took it upon himself to clean out the machine guns that were pinning his unit down. York took cover and began using his supreme marksmanship skills to take out the Germans in their machine gun nests one by one. As they would pop up their head to fire, York would shoot them and take them down. While he was doing this, a group of six Germans let a bayonet charge to try

to stop him. He took out his pistol and shot all six of them. As York himself later said in his biography, quote, 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 your life. I didn't have time to dodge behind a tree or dive into the bush. As soon as the machine guns opened fire on me, I began to exchange shots with them. There were over 30 of them in continuous action, and all I could do was touch the Germans off as fast as I could. I was sharpshooting. 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. End quote. One German officer, First Lieutenant Paul Juergen Vollmer, commanding the 120th Reserve Infantry Regiment's First Battalion, saw the damage that York was inflicting on his unit and surrendered the remaining soldiers to York. In the end, there were only eight men left standing from York's unit. They captured 132 German soldiers, the majority of which were captured by York single-handedly. And York personally killed at least 20 Germans who were firing on him and his unit. When he and his men marched the prisoners out, the American headquarters had a difficult time believing what had happened,

and they had no idea what to do with so many captives. The actions of Alvin York and his unit allowed the continuation of the American attack and the capture of the Decoville Railroad by the end of the day. Word of the incredible feat of Alvin York spread quickly throughout the army. He was quickly promoted to the rank of sergeant, the rank by which he was referred to for the rest of his life. He was also awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions. However, after a further investigation of what happened and how the events transpired,

his award was upgraded to the Medal of Honor. He received the Medal of Honor from the Leader of the American Forces, General John J. Pershing. That, however, was just the beginning of the honors bestowed upon him. Italy honored him with the Crochet-Almerito de Guerre. The French awarded him the Croix de Guerre, the Medell Militaire, and the Legion of Honor. His awards were presented to him personally by Marshal Ferdinand Fouke, the Supreme Allied Commander in France. He told him, quote, what you did was the greatest thing ever accomplished by any soldier by any of the armies of Europe, end quote.

In all, he received over 50 awards from various countries. However, despite all the awards, the public didn't know about his heroics. And that was until an article was published in the Saturday Evening Post on April 26, 1919. With the article telling his story, Alvin York was vaulted from obscurity to become, becoming the most famous man in America almost overnight. When he arrived back in the U.S. in New York, a welcome reception was held in his honor that was attended by thousands of people. He went to Washington, D.C., where he was given a standing ovation by the House of Representatives. He made it to Georgia where he was routed out of the army,

and then a week later he was back home where he was married to Gracie, by the governor of the state of Tennessee. He was bombarded with business opportunities, including movies, appearing on stage in vaudeville shows and endorsement deals. Adjusted for inflation, the amount of the offers he received would be in the millions of dollars today. And he turned them all down to live in a farm in the region where he grew up. He did, however, use his influence to better his community. He lobbied the state to build a road to better service town. In 1926, he founded the York Agricultural Institute, which was to provide vocational trading to young people in Tennessee.

During the Second World War, he tried to enlist again, but due to declining health, he was instead given a commission at the rank of Major in the Army Signal Corps. He spent the war touring military bases and helping to sell war bonds. After years of rejecting offers from Hollywood to tell a story, he finally relented in 1940 when he wanted to build a Bible school. The movie that was made starred Gary Cooper, and the film was released under the title, Sergeant York. Sergeant York was the highest grossing film of 1941, and it earned 11 Oscar nominations, winning two for Best Actor and Best Editing. In his later life, he came to believe that the First World War didn't particularly solve anything.

On the other hand, he also became very hawkish in his later years, even advocating the use of nuclear weapons. After decades of health claims, he passed away on September 2nd, 1964, at the age of 76. His wife Gracie died in 1984. Sergeant Elvin York's legacy is that of a humble hero who, despite his initial reservations, served his country with distinction and bravery. Despite the potential to cash in on his fame, he declined almost every opportunity just to live on his farm with his family. York's dedication to his community and his country, both during and after the war,

remains an inspiring tale of heroism and selflessness. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Ben Long and Cameron Kiefer. Today I have a couple of short reviews that were left on Spotify. The first comes from Madam Bass, or maybe Madam Bass, who writes, This is the best podcast of all time. Hello from Iowa. I can't wait to join the completionist chapter here.

The next review comes from Amanda Guthrie, who writes, Great podcast. Your delight in learning is contagious. You were like the most interesting uncle I've ever had. So yes, I've decided to adopt you. Welcome to the Guthrie clan. Well, thanks to both of you, Madam Bass, or Bass. The keys to the Iowa Completionist Club will be waiting for you when you qualify.

And Amanda, I hope to see you and Arlo at the next Guthrie family reunion. Remember that if you leave a review or send me a boostogram, you two can have it read on the show.