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Early Life
Born on December 13, 1887 in Pall Mall, Tennessee, near the Kentucky-Tennessee border, Alvin York was the third of eleven children. York only had a few weeks of schooling in the summer months for a few years because he had to help out on the farm the rest of the time. As he became older, he worked as a hired hand on a nearby farm and helped his father with his blacksmith work. Every Saturday, he would accompany his father to shooting competitions, where the men of the valley would gather to test their marksmanship by shooting at turkeys tethered at varying distances. Contestants and observers were allowed to distract each shooter, so both steady nerves and marksmanship were required. The grand prize was a cow that would be slaughtered on the spot with the two hindquarters and two forequarters divided among the four best shots and the hide and tallow going to the fifth best shot.

When his father died from pneumonia in 1911, York became the primary supporter of the family since the two eldest sons had already moved away. He worked as hired hand at a nearby farm, while continuing to operate his father’s forge. Brushing off his mother’s worries, he started drinking at saloons built on the border between Tennessee and Kentucky with a white line down the middle of the floor. Men would enter from their respective states and cross the line to drink in another state so that the bar would not have to pay taxes. These saloons attracted rough customers and he was one of the roughest. Since he was always armed and often drunk, his life was unlikely to be long.

However, early in the morning of New Year’s Day, 1915, his mother told her drunken son that it was time to be a man like his father and grandfather, and in a flash he saw the past three years for the waste that they had been. He immediately fell to his knees and promised to never drink alcohol again. His new found resolve was strengthened by a particularly charismatic preacher who held a week long series of revival meetings later that winter.

York became such a zealous Christian that he felt that the congregation was not sufficiently firm in their beliefs. When a new church was founded a year later, he joined as second elder, determined to ensure that teachings of the Bible’s teachings were followed exactly. His changed behavior had attracted the interest of fifteen year old Gracie Williams and he had fallen for her as well, even though her father strongly disapproved of York as a suitor. Since her parents would never give him permission to court her, they would meet on a path between their houses and plan their future. By the spring of 1917, she was certain that the conversion was complete and had agreed to marry him, so he was not happy to receive a notice on June 5, 1917, ordering him to register with his local draft board.

WWI-Conscientious Objector
As a born-again convert to Christianity, York’s religious faith was extremely deep, therefore the Sixth Commandment: Thou shalt not kill, must be obeyed in every circumstance, even war. Torn between religious faith and loyalty to his country, he turned to the head of his draft board, who was also storekeeper, postmaster, and pastor of York’s church. Answers were sought in his Bible, but he finally concluded that his best option was to register, and then request an exemption on religious grounds. Members of churches whose principles forbade its members to participate in war were exempted from service. Unfortunately, the draft board did not recognize his church as having those principles, since it simply told its members to study the Bible.

Although stunned by the decision, York knew that he had to comply. Following two months of basic training, he was assigned to the 82nd Division, also called the All-American Division because it contained people from every state in the nation. York had never gone far from his home town, and he found himself training with recent immigrants who barely spoke English, which deepened his homesickness. An experienced hunter, who had repaired rifles in his father’s blacksmith shop, York’s new rifle received a great deal of care until it met his standards.

York’s calm, disciplined nature made him stand out among the other soldiers, but he was unwilling to accept the position of corporal and the accompanying obligation to kill. Major George Buxton, his commanding officer, proved to possess an equal knowledge of the Bible, and with the support of York’s company commander, was able to convince him to at least think about it. Buxton loaned him The History of the United States to study the accomplishments of fellow Christians who had also killed in the service of their country, and gave York ten days of leave. After several days of intense discussion with his pastor, he still had not found answers, so he hiked high up in the mountains where he would be able to see the whole valley. He prayed deep into the night until he finally felt that God had let him understand that he could go to war and serve his country. Even then he only felt comfortable going off to France when his company commander said ‘blessed are the peacemakers’ and York realized that he could make peace by fighting.

Argonne Forest
When he finally reached France, York had to trade in his well-maintained rifle for an Eddystone rifle, basically a modified version of the British Enfield that could fire American ammunition. As one of the first American divisions to reach France, the soldiers were welcomed with wine and women, but York had put carousing behind him, so he stayed at the barracks to read his Bible and write in his diary. While serving in France, York wrote his sweetheart almost every day, only brief notes when he was at the front but lengthy letters when he was serving in the rear. When his division took part in the operation at St. Mihiel in early September, it was his first real introduction to war, even though his unit saw little action.

York’s unit was part of the Meuse-Argonne offensive, a combined French and American operation that was planned to break through the German lines and force the exhausted German army to capitulate. On October 18, 1918, York’s squad and two other squads were sent to knock out several German artillery guns that were preventing neighbouring divisions from advancing to protect their division’s flank. Using the dense forest as cover, the seventeen Americans were able to surprise a group of roughly twenty to thirty German soldiers eating breakfast. Tired from marching and suffering from low morale, they had ignored their commanding officer and settled down to eat before fortifying their position. The Germans immediately surrendered but a nearby unit of machine gunners opened fire on the American soldiers, killing six and wounding three, while leaving York the highest ranking soldier still alive. At the same time, German soldiers were drifting away from their positions on the line because they had been on the line too long and feared that York’s men were part of a larger force that had made its way around the rear.

After the initial shock, the American soldiers found shelter behind trees or simply lay flat on the ground, so the German machine gunners had to raise their heads to see their targets clearly. The image of the gunners raising their heads reminded York of turkey shoots where contestants were given one shot only to hit a turkey tied behind a log forty yards away. York steadily killed the gunners, pausing only to tell them to surrender, and returning to his work when they would continue shooting. Although all of the brush around him was shot to pieces, he somehow survived, and switched to his pistol after running out of ammunition for his rifle. When faced with a bayonet charge by six men, instead of shooting the first man, which would cause them to scatter, he shot the last man first and worked his forwards until the last of the six men died a couple of yards from him.

Once the machine gun fire had ended, York and his soldiers started to march their prisoners back to American lines. When First Lieutenant Paul Vollmer saw American troops approaching his flank, he naturally told his men to fire at them but had to stop because the forest made it difficult to discern the Germans from the enemy. When York and several of his men charged, the German officer presumed that he was facing the advance party of a larger force and surrendered. Since Vollmer had worked in the United States before the war, he spoke English, and offered to help persuade the rest of his unit to give up. York’s counteroffer was that he would be killed if he did not order all of his men to surrender. Vollmer agreed and all of the men gave up except for one man, who threw a grenade at the Americans. It missed but York did not.

Fearing that Vollmer would lead them into a trap, the German officer was placed at the front of the two columns of prisoners with York’s pistol pressing against his back. When the column reached the front line, Vollmer ordered the men manning machine guns to surrender, making it a total of 132 prisoners. Once they were near the American lines, York stepped in front of the column to ensure that they were not fired upon. The first American troops that reached the area where York had shot the machine gun operators found more than 20 dead Germans.

Several weeks later, after the privates who had been there had given sworn testimony about what they had seen, York was promoted to sergeant and given ten days leave. He was still on leave when he learned that the Armistice had been signed and the war was over. Once the military leadership was convinced that York’s description of the events was correct, he was given the Distinguished Service Cross on February 11, 1919. York was then assigned to travel around the American bases in France to tell his story to men who were bored and waiting to go home. A natural, confident speaker, York used the speeches as an opportunity to preach the virtues of believing in God. Selected as one of the non-commissioned officers who helped found the American Legion, he received the Medal of Honor on April 18 and the Croix de Guerre a few days later.

Fame
Despite the medals, York’s fame came by chance. Joseph Chase, a portrait painter working for World’s Work magazine, painted York following a request by the commanding officer of his division. While sharing a ride with George Pattullo, a reporter for The Saturday Evening Post, Chase mentioned York’s story, and Pattullo immediately recognized the value of a story about a conscientious objector who became a hero and received the Medal of Honor. After meeting with Buxton and York, Pattullo even observed a display of York’s marksmanship. When the article was published, it was the first anyone in his town, or family for that matter, knew of the incident.

Since the article appeared before his ship reached New York City, there was a huge crowd waiting for him at the dock. Unfortunately, they had to wait longer than expected because the shock drove York to retreat to the safety of his cabin. After twenty minutes, he summoned up the courage to face the swarm of well wishers, photographers and reporters. To his surprise, he found himself taken by limousine to the Waldorf-Astoria hotel and put in a suite. A banquet held in his honor was attended by his divisional commander and the vice admiral in charge of the fleet that had brought him home. The next day, he traveled to Washington, where his congressman had arranged for him to visit the House of Representatives, before returning to New York City and more banquets, as well as a tour of the subway. At the same time, offers to endorse products and write his autobiography for magazines poured in.

York was finally released from military service on May 29, 1919. After reuniting with his family and his pastor, he was eventually able to see his fiancé and confirm that she would still marry him. Less than a week later, he and Gracie exchanged marriage vows, and the governor of Tennessee had insisted on conducting the ceremony. Although the family was polite towards the many reporters, they would have preferred a more private ceremony. However, York accepted the governor’s offer for the entire wedding party to spend part of the honeymoon in Nashville. The train had to stop several times so that York could briefly address the local crowds, and there were still massive crowds waiting at Nashville, where York met with the Rotary Club committee that was delegated to buy him a farm. Whenever he made a public speech, he would simply thank everyone for their wishes and then thank God for bringing him home alive. The rest of the honeymoon was supposed to be a trip to Kentucky and Salt Lake City but York’s pastor feared the city’s temptations and persuaded York to cancel the trip.

Back in the valley, the newlyweds moved in with his family while his house was built next door. Even though the huge financial offers of endorsements would have meant that his family would never have to work again, he preferred the comfort of his valley, so the many people who made the trek out to his house all went home disappointed.

Fund-raising
Life in his valley had changed little in the past century but the United States was experiencing dramatic changes. Every day, letters arrived for York seeking money, help in obtaining a pardon for prisoners and more business offers. Although he was not tempted by personal financial gain, he knew he had the power to improve life for both his family and his community. Serving in the military had taught him the importance of an education, so he resolved to fund a free, year-round school for the valley. The curriculum would cover reading, writing, arithmetic, history, science, religion, and farming and carpentry for the boys, and spinning and home economics for the girls. The Rotary Club in Nashville strongly approved of York’s idea, so they arranged a lecture tour to raise funds. Refusing to earn money by talking about killing Germans, another speaker traveled with York to tell his story, while he discussed the school. Gracie, his pastor, and his best man would accompany him on the tour, which commenced in September 1919.

Interest in the war hero had not died down, so the meeting halls were packed. During his speeches, he repeated that all of the money would be used to build a school. Whenever he was asked about the war, the usual response was that he did not want to talk about it because it reminded him of all of the friends he had seen die or wounded. Although his speech lasted only a brief five minutes, his desire to give more opportunities to the next generation through education and religion proved surprisingly effective. After making its way through the south, the tour traveled north to the Great Lakes region before returning home. In three months, they had raised $40,000 in cash with another $50,000 in pledges. Once he had been reassured that the farm was still in good condition, York went to the East Coast in January, leaving Gracie behind, since she was pregnant.

While the tour was a success, the Rotary Club’s efforts to raise money to buy four hundred acres of prime land in the valley were less effective. The land had been purchased but the club had only raised half of the money needed, which meant that York was faced with a daunting debt. Aside from travel expenses, all of the income from the tour went to the fund. Worse, he had limited his ability to earn money by refusing to grow tobacco, a lucrative cash crop, and the time spent on the tour was time not spent making money.

After receiving countless offers, York and his mother had naively agreed to make testimonials on behalf of a health tonic produced by a company based in Tennessee. Since no money was involved, they decided to help a local company but the resulting full-page advertisement was largely made up of his photo and a huge headline with his name, damaging his hard-earned reputation for honesty. Although the tour continued to do well, the house had been finished, his baby was almost due and his brothers needed his direction on the farm. When he saw the ad, he ended the tour and returned home to seek compensation from the company for what he saw as misrepresentation. The company stalled on publishing an ad stating that York had not been paid but he abandoned his litigation when his son died four days after his birth.

After a brief period of mourning, he returned to the speaking tour, although he took time out to meet with author Sam Cowan, who spent six weeks in Pall Mall as research for a book on York. However, the excitement had faded and there was little interest from publishers until York was back in the news after the press learned of his financial problems and struggle to hold on to the land in his name. A large publisher agreed to put out the book, and although the book was not an overnight success when it came out on April 20, 1922, Sergeant York and His People gradually became popular. While York was anxiously waiting for his first royalty payment, the Nashville Rotary Club came through and raised enough money to pay for his new farm and a large house.

Free of financial worry, York began planning the construction of his school. The York Agricultural Institute was intended to have separate dormitories for male and female students, the main building and other buildings for woodworking and dressmaking. The total for construction costs, equipment, salaries and endowment came to $2 million. When the state legislature was persuaded to donate fifty thousand dollars for the construction, it ended up greatly complicating the decision-making process as different communities fought over the location of the school. Fortunately, his workload had been relieved by his increasing reliance on Arthur Bushing, a native of New York City, who was working at a local bank, and had volunteered his services as a financial advisor.

Tired of petty bickering with friends and supporters over the direction of his crusade, York took out a mortgage on his house to finance his fund-raising trips and pay for the early stages of construction without having to deal with squabbling factions. Working with the American Legion, he raised considerable sums in Florida, which gave him the confidence to resign from the original board with its obligations to the state government, and form a private, non-profit organization made up of members that he trusted. This direct action forced all of the members of the original board to recognize York as leader and enough land was donated to guarantee construction. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on May 8, 1926, and although he was free of the state government’s interference, he still had to raise the rest of the money to complete the school and pay off his mortgage.

Unfortunately, the speaking tours were not raising as much money as before and were taking him away from his own work. People equated fame with wealth, and he was unable to refuse the frequent requests from friends and relatives for loans and bank collateral. When his barn suddenly burned down, his financial situation became life threatening. Despite the increased hardship, he continued to struggle to build his school. Infighting between different factions on the old board finally ended when the state legislature voted to replace it with a board headed by York, which meant that he finally had access to the hundred thousand dollars that had been pledged by the state and county governments.

York’s financial situation took a turn for the better when he befriended Tom Skeyhill, an Australian writer, and consented to relate his experiences during the war, even allowing Skeyhill to consult his diary. Around the same time, York signed a contract with the Famous Speakers bureau, where he was paid $250 per speech, and an advance for the serialization rights to the upcoming autobiography enabled him to pay off his mortgage. The serialization proved surprisingly popular and he was in heavy demand as a public speaker.

The endless touring finally paid off when the school opened on February 11, 1929. The school grew steadily during the Depression, although his own finances were not as fortunate. At the same time, donors were less generous and the constant travel combined with his efforts to run his store and farm were taking their toll, and he finally resigned as head of the institute, although he continued to raise money for it.

Believing that the institute focused too much on technical skills, in July 1939, he founded the Alvin C. York Bible School.

Sgt. York-The Movie
Although pleased that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt seemed to be leading the nation out of the Depression, York worried about the rise of Nazi Germany and Japan in 1938, and pressed publicly for a stronger military that would dissuade Germany and Japan from aggressive moves.

Producer Jesse Lansky had been one of the original founders of Hollywood, but the Depression had not been kind to him, and he needed a hit. Aware of York’s strong anti-isolationist stance, Lansky thought that an appeal to York’s patriotism would convince him to finally agree to sign away the movie rights. The appeal, combined with the dangerous state of York’s finances, succeeded. After a week of negotiations, York had obtained most of the concessions that he wanted, and finally gave in after Lansky arranged a surprise press conference where they signed a dummy contract in front of the governor. York insisted that he was played by Gary Cooper, who was the right size, as well as an actual hunter and gun collector. Reluctant to play a living hero, a face to face meeting where York viewed Cooper’s gun collection failed to win him over, and Cooper only agreed when director Howard Hawks reminded him that Lansky had given him his first job.

When preparing the screenplay, the writers struggled to make sure that York’s powerful religious beliefs did not transform an action film into a religious melodrama. In addition, they had to follow exactly the Congressional Record of the battle and they needed to ensure that none of York’s neighbours objected to how they were portrayed. Cooper used York’s own muzzle-loader to give the film a more authentic flavor. A more serious problem was that part of the script was still being rewritten after filming had started but the film was completed slightly ahead of schedule. It proved to be a critical and commercial hit.

Even before Pearl Harbor, York advocated a more aggressive role for the United States, saying that the US Navy should convoy merchant ships with war material to make sure they reached England, and he used the attention generated by the movie’s premiere to spread his viewpoint. After Pearl Harbor, he became a national spokesman for the war effort.

The movie made York wealthy. The royalty checks were used mainly to fund the York Institute and the Bible school, although some of the money was used to bring running water and steam heating to his house. Appointed head of his local draft board, he still registered for the draft, despite his age, obesity and arthritis. Although he had made a large contribution to the war effort by speaking at Liberty Bond rallies, he found himself owing much more income tax than he had expected, and he was unable to use the money he had spent on the Bible school because it was not tax-exempt, while he had failed to keep records of his donations to the York Institute. The situation worsened as he suffered strokes in the late 1940s, while he still struggled to pay off all of the back taxes.

After a cerebral hemorrhage on February 24, 1954, York spent a month in the hospital, and he was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. His illness made it harder for him to fight the IRS, especially since he was unable to provide his lawyers with the required financial statements to support his case. A hard-working man, who put his faith in God, he did not help himself. Fortunately, Joe Evins, his local congressman, introduced bills for the relief of Sergeant York, and tried to persuade the IRS that York did not have the money needed to repay the government and should be left alone since he was a war hero, especially since his lifestyle showed that he was not profiting from the situation. Finally, House Speaker Sam Rayburn and Attorney General Robert Kennedy formed a Help Sergeant York Committee, which enabled the public to donate money to pay off York’s debt. After Ed Sullivan advertised the cause on his show, enough money poured in to settle the debt with $25,000 left over to form a trust fund for York and his wife.

Death
Although his financial worries had been settled, his health continued to decline and his visits to the hospital became increasingly frequent. He died in his sleep in the hospital on September 2, 1964. Thousands of people attended the funeral.

Related Movies:

Sgt. York (1941)
Directed by Howard Hawks, starring Gary Cooper and Walter Brennan
A conscientious objector from the Appalachian Mountains is drafted and overcomes his pacifism to become the most decorated American soldier in WWI when he captures a German machine gun position singlehandedly. (please click here to read the review)

Further Reading:

Sgt. York: His Life, Legend & Legacy. The remarkable untold story of Sergeant Alvin C. York-John Perry, Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997.

It is a good, well-researched book that gives the complete story of York’s life, not just the afternoon that made him famous. Perry succeeds in showing that York’s relentless dedication to making speeches to raise money for the school ensured that the fame did not gradually disappear. Oddly enough, for a man who had originally wanted to be a conscientious objector, he became quite the advocate of violence, pressing for the US to enter the war once Germany invaded France, and stating that he would press the button to fire nuclear missiles against Cuba during the missile crisis. Although the author is an unabashed admirer of York, he provides a fair if not entirely impartial examination of the man that allows the readers to make up their own minds.

York’s love for the school was laudable but he neglected his wife, leaving her to essentially raise their children on her own, with mixed results. Furthermore, he repeatedly placed his family in financial jeopardy by mortgaging all of his assets to cover the construction costs while he waited for more donations. Also, he earned a surprising amount of money over the years from his farm, store, book and movie royalties but faulty bookkeeping and an overly generous nature meant that he had to be bailed out by both the state and federal government. All of this is presented as part of his trials and tribulations, not character flaws. To be fair, a less zealous man might have avoided many of these pitfalls, but he would not have been York. Finally, York’s repeated statement that the purest strains of the Anglo-Saxon race still existed in the Tennessee mountains was a little hard to stomach. The failure to include an index is irritating and inexplicable.


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