Alvin York in uniformThoughtCo.comGunshots fly over his head, mortar fire is heard in the distance, men are yelling all around him, screaming in pain and agony and only one thought enters Alvin York's mind: "I'm gonna make sure my comrades make it home when this is over." York lived a pretty normal life until one fateful day forever changed his life and reached the ears of every American. Alvin York was a simple country boy who was born in 1887 in the state of Tennessee. He was the third oldest child in a family of 13. He was raised Pacifist so his beliefs were opposed to war. However, he was known to be a great hunter with his .22 rifle. In 1917, he was drafted to fight in WW1 and was deployed to Germany. He did his part in the war, but on Oct. 8th 1918, he and 16 other soldiers went on a mission to flank German machine gunners that overlooked a key piece of land to winning that day's battle. They were discovered and brutally gunned down. With only 7 men still alive, York proceeded to capture 132 Germans with his excellent marksmanship. Alvin York displayed fearlessness and loyalty through his actions and has inspired Americans since then.
Alvin York showed he was fearless by charging in alone against hundreds of German soldiers raining down fire on them. October 8th, 1918, Alvin C. York and his squad had been accidentally misplaced due to a translation error since their map was written in French. While they tried to get their bearings, their ally soldiers were swept away by German machine gunners who had great cover and high ground. The American soldiers came upon the German bunker, and lost another 10 men who were shot. York analyzed the situation and decided the fate of his friends were on his back. As told by one of the remaining few in York’s squad, “He charged with great daring, a machine-gun nest which was pouring deadly and incessant fire upon his platoon'” (Birdwell). Alvin York proved he was fearless when he made the decision to charge the German platoon bunkered up on the hill. With no hesitation, York bolted towards almost definite death while still being able to keep calm and make logical decisions. When given a situation like this, full of terror and anxiety, humans kick into fight or flight mode. Looking into a barrage of bullets, the more sensible decision would be to turn tail and head for the hills. However, York knew running away would cost the lives of his comrades and other allied soldiers, so he continued to slowly ascend into the enemy base.
Painting of Alvin York fending off Germans with handgunWikipedia.orgBy some miracle, Alvin York made it up the hill without receiving any bullet wounds. He was posted up behind a patch of rocks when the Germans decided enough was enough and sent in thirteen men to take him out. As noted by a German soldier, “The German officer saw York and ordered his men to prepare for a bayonet attack. Endriss then charged out of the trench toward York, and 12 soldiers followed dutifully. Seeing this, York slid on his side, dropped his rifle and pulled out his M1911 Colt pistol. Using a hunting skill he had learned when faced with a flock of turkeys, he picked off the advancing foes from back to front” (Mastriano). Again, up against near impossible odds, Alvin York decides to stand his ground and trust his shooting abilities to get the job done. This time there was no backup, just one man vs. thirteen, and he knew this. Even the most trained soldiers in the world, when put in that situation would admit defeat and surrender, just to come out of that day alive. Even more amazing is that York kept his cool enough to come up with a plan in order to take out the soldiers running full speed at him. He connected the soldiers charging him to back in the day when he would hunt flocks of geese. He shot the soldiers in the back first so the ones in front wouldn’t realize they were being taken down and find cover. Alvin successfully eliminated the enemies with them having no idea their numbers were winding down one at a time. These quotes show that Alvin York contained fearless qualities in combat. whether it was German machine gunners or charging soldiers with bayonets, he stood his ground and used his skills to make sure his squad came out victorious.
Alvin York is known as an American hero and an inspiration because of his loyalty to his country. As a young boy, Alvin was raised alongside his 10 siblings, all with Pacifist beliefs. Being pacifist means you are completely against war or violence of any kind. For this reason, being drafted into the military caused a moral dilemma to York and made him consider what came first: patriotic duty or religious view. “Initially conflicted by the pacifist beliefs of his youth and his sense of patriotic duty, the Tennessee farm boy deployed to the Meuse-Argonne region in May 1918” (Mastriano). This shows Alvin York’s loyalty to his country because he chose to serve in the war instead of listening to what he had been taught his whole life. Alvin wasn’t forced into service, since being pacifist allows you to refuse the draft completely. York's ideals he believed in for his entire life were altered in the matter of weeks when he received the draft letter. He spent 30 years of his life with the opinion that war is bad and should be eliminated from the face of the earth; to in a couple of weeks deciding that the call of duty came above anything else in his life.
Visual depiction of Alvin taking cover from machine gunnerstaskandpurpose.comAlvin York deployed in May 1918, for France and from there to the front lines of the battle between Axis and Allied powers. “At least three machine gun crews were killed in this manner, all while York, a devout Christian who did not want to kill any more than he had to, intermittently yelled at them to "Give up and come on down"’ (Birdwell). This proves the thesis because Alvin chose to defend his country instead of going along with his personal beliefs. This shows his internal conflict because while he was dispatching the Germans before him he was shouting for them to give up in order to keep the loss of life to a minimum. York was not happy with what he was doing, in fact, he relented having to kill others. However, York knew that these enemy soldiers wanted nothing else but to harm his comrades and allies, so he did what needed to be done so they could go home to their families. This proves Alvin was loyal to his country because at any time he could've laid down his weapon and say that he wanted no part in the killing of another man. Yes, this was an option, but York was aware that if he didn’t capture this German platoon and the land they occupied, many of his fellow U.S soldiers would lose their life. These quotes prove Alvin York’s loyalty to his country because he put aside his religious opinions to serve his country and still did his job, while trying to keep the death toll as low as possible.
Alvin York displayed fearlessness and loyalty by capturing over one hundred German soldiers even though he had pacifist ideals. Alvin York showed he was fearless since he almost single handedly took out a German infantry platoon against impossible odds and kept his cool in order to save his comrades that were in great danger. Furthermore, even though he was raised with pacifist beliefs Alvin decided to serve in the war and do what was necessary to make sure America came out victorious of WW1. York is an inspiration to everyone because of his actions on October 8th, 1918. He tactically advanced on a squad of German machine gunners while also fending off a group of soldiers charging him with bayonets. This would make most men run away in fear, but Alvin York dug deep and continued attack those shooting at him. Even, when he was presented with enormous amounts of fame and potential wealth, York turned it all down to go back to his old, simple life. 132 enemy soldiers captured by a single man. They had the high ground, good cover, and outnumbered York’s squad almost 10 to 1. Countless soldiers were drafted to the military and did little. On top of that, coming from a pacifist background York was morally against war and what it took to defeat another nation in combat. He is undoubtedly one of the greatest men to walk on U.S soil and will be remembered for years to come.
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Page created on 2/14/2018 8:35:43 PM
Last edited 2/28/2018 1:35:12 AM
