Untold Stories: Sgt. York, the Pacifist Turned WWI Hero

One of the most famed U.S. military heroes of World War I was a pacifist who tried to be exempted from the draft. But once he was sent to the front lines, Alvin York proved that there was no braver and bolder soldier in the U.S. Army.

There are so many inspiring, beautiful stories about the great heroes of American history which are scarcely ever told. One happens on them accidentally—buried in a thick, out-of-print biography, in small print on a museum sign, casually and fleetingly mentioned in an obscure educational video. America cannot return to greatness in the future if we do not truly understand the greatness of our past. That is why I am writing an article series to tell a few of these little-known but moving “untold stories” of American greatness. Previous articles in this series include heroic Vietnam War veterans; how the white citizens of Greencastle, PA, saved their fellow black Pennsylvanians from Confederate enslavers; trailblazing Marines throughout U.S. history; and how St. Michael saved a U.S. Marine from Korean Communists. Now, I want to describe the heroic WWI deeds Sgt. York achieved 106 years ago today.

The National Museum of the U.S. Army (NMUSA) tells the life story of Alvin Cullum York, a devout Christian, avid educator, splendid marksman, loyal patriot, and legendary soldier. This humble, sincere American never wanted to go to war, yet he lived to see his astounding deeds immortalized in the movie “Sergeant York,” starring then-hugely popular actor Gary Cooper in an Oscar-winning performance. When the moment came, York proved that he was not cowardly or incompetent; he captured over 100 German soldiers and saved his comrades from death in the midst of the deadliest military campaign in U.S. history, the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.

Alvin C. York was born to Tennessee farmers on Dec. 13, 1887, as the third of eleven kids and the eldest son of the family. William and Mary Brooks York were poor, and after William died, Alvin had to become the man of the family—and a breadwinner. Alvin had only nine months of school, but he developed practical skills as he hunted in the Tennessee mountains, according to NMUSA, including marksmanship skills. At first Alvin ran through money and was considered a local nuisance, but in 1914 he discovered the Church of Christ in Christian Union. The next year, he was a member of the Christian sect, which included among its teachings a ban on violence and thus on fighting in war.

Come 1917, the U.S. was entering the hellish, bloody fighting of WWI. That June 5, Alvin York received his notice that he was called up for military service. He filed for a religious exemption, but was denied three different times, which NMUSA attributes to his Christian sect not being officially recognized by the U.S. officials. York reported at Georgia’s Camp Gordon and was assigned to the 328th Infantry Regiment, 82nd Infantry Division, where he was a skilled marksman—and still looking for a way out of war. When York appealed to his battalion commander Maj. Edward Buxton, the major didn’t exempt York, but he did talk in York’s language, using Bible verses to convince York to stay in the Army.

Alvin York might not have been fully convinced that Buxton was right, but he decided to accept that Providence had placed him in this situation with certain responsibilities. And so Alvin York deployed to Europe, arriving in France on June 27 of 1918, where he was soon in the thick of the brutal Meuse-Argonne Offensive, which would ultimately result in 120,000 U.S. casualties. Perhaps some of York’s fellow soldiers had wondered how the pacifist would react when he faced an enemy hell-bent on killing him. But no one could have predicted what happened next.

On October 8, 1918, York and his unit of 16 Soldiers were dispatched to capture the Decauville Railroad. Unfortunately, their map was in French and the detachment ended up behind enemy lines where they ran into a German unit on guard. York and his unit won a brief firefight and captured the enemy soldiers. However, the captured Germans soon discovered the Americans’ mistake and yelled out for help. Enemy machine-gun fire immediately cut down nine American Soldiers. After losing all their sergeants, York took command of the unit. The remaining men returned fire, while York took on the machine gun alone.

York used the skills he had learned hunting in the mountains of Tennessee to work his way toward the gun, slowly and calmly approaching the enemy position. But before York could reach the gun, a group of five Germans rushed his position. He defeated the attackers without getting hit and reached the machine gun nest. York eliminated the machine gun and the German commander decided to surrender instead of losing any more men. In all, his unit captured 132 German prisoners and the remainder of his squad made it back to the American line. York was immediately promoted to sergeant and soon became a national hero.

The awards York was given included the U.S. Medal of Honor and the French Croix de Guerre. Back home in the USA, New York was ready to throw a major celebration for the returning hero. Hollywood executives wanted the rights to York’s story but York had a very different plan for his life. Back in Tennessee, he married Gracie Williams, started the York Agricultural Institute and a Bible school, and was focused on raising his large family of kids and educating others until he finally agreed to let Hollywood turn his exploits into a movie.

Actor Gary Cooper starred as “Sergeant York”, winning an Academy Award in the 1941 movie that was one of the highest-grossing U.S. films of World War II, and which is still considered a classic today (the film also earned an Oscar for Film Editing). A new generation of Americans facing the sobering realities of world war against ruthless foes found inspiration in York’s story.

Sadly, a little over a decade after this silver screen triumph, Alvin York was permanently disabled by a cerebral hemorrhage, and he died ten years later. But the life story and daring heroism of the Tennessee farm boy and former pacifist lives on, and will continue to inspire all Americans who look to the past for patriotic examples to follow in the future.