Alvin C. York (December 13, 1887 - September 2, 1964)

Alvin Cullum York ended the First World War as one of America's most famous soldiers, with fame and popular recognition assured following a remarkable act of courage and coolness in October 1918. Having grown up in poverty in rural Tennessee, York honed his skills as a crack marksman, a useful talent for use in hunting food for himself and his family and one put to high effect during the war. Despite his remarkable reputation for bravery and the win-at-all-costs attitude displayed during his wartime service York was and remained a pacifist. Following a religious conversion in 1911 he became lay deacon of a local pacifist sect and declared himself a convinced pacifist. Consequently, with the U.S. entry into World War I, York initially returned his draft papers before they were summarily resent to him by the draft board at which stage he was drafted into 328th Regiment, 82nd Infantry. During training however he was convinced by his battalion commander, Gonzalo Edward Buxton, a fellow Bible student, that the Bible sanctioned active service. Once in France the semi-literate York earned lifetime fame for his part in an attack in the Argonne Forest against German machine gun positions on 8 October 1918. York, an acting Corporal, led 17 men in action against a German stronghold, the aim being to secure the position and return with German prisoners. Initially successful without coming under fire, the small expedition took a number of prisoners before the Germans launched a heavy counterattack. With 11 of York's men guarding the captured prisoners (and with the other six killed) York resolved to proceed alone and tackle the German gunners ranged against them. Having shot some 17 gunners via sniping, York was charged by seven German soldiers who realized that he was operating on his own. He killed them all with his pistol. With the aid of a German Major captured earlier, York brought in a total of 132 German prisoners. He received lavish press coverage at home and the Congressional Medal of Honor, in addition to the French Croix de Guerre (and a fulsome citation from Supreme Allied Commander Ferdinand Foch). Returning home to a New York City parade, York was awarded a gift of a farm by his home state of Tennessee. In the 1920s, York formed the Alvin C. York Foundation with the mission of increasing education opportunities in his region of Tennessee. Plans called for a non-sectarian institution providing vocational training to be called the York Agricultural Institute. York suffered from health problems throughout his life. He had gall bladder surgery in the 1920s and suffered from pneumonia in 1942. By 1945 he weighed 250 pounds and in 1948 he had a stroke. More strokes and another case of pneumonia followed and he was confined to bed from 1954, further handicapped by failing eyesight. He was hospitalized several times during his last two years. Alvin York died at the Veterans Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 2, 1964, of a cerebral hemorrhage.