Alvin York

Born: December 13, 1887, Pall Mall, Tennessee
Died: September 2, 1964 (aged 76), Nashville, Tennessee

Alvin Cullum York was a United States soldier, famous as a World War I hero. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for leading an attack on a German machine gun nest, taking 32 machine guns, killing 28 German soldiers and capturing 132 others during the U.S.-led Meuse-Argonne Offensive in France.

1. Until a few years before the war, York was a hard drinker and prone to fighting in saloons. His mother, a member of a pacifist Christian denomination, tried to convince York to change his ways to no avail. During a night of heavy drinking when he and a friend got into a fight with other saloon patrons, York's friend was killed. The event shook York so much that he finally followed his mother and became a Christian, no longer fighting or drinking.

• Fact or Myth?

2. On June 5, 1917, Alvin York received a notice to register for the draft. How old was York when drafter?

• 19
• 29
• 39

3. What unit was he a member of?

• Company G, 328th Infantry Regiment, 82nd Infantry Division
• Company A, 32th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division
• Company M, 28th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division

4. During a mission to secure the German Decauville rail-line on October 8, 1918. Seventeen men under the command of Sergeant Bernard Early (which included York) infiltrated behind the German lines to take out the machine guns. Fire came from German machine guns on the ridge, which turned their weapons on the US soldiers. How many causalities did York's unit receive?

• 5
• 9
• 15

5. Now in command, York ordered Percy Beardsley to take the machine gun nest while they controlled the German prisoners.

• Fact or Myth?

6. York was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his heroism. What was the award upgrade to?

• Medal of Honor
• Silver Star
• Bronze Star

7. After the action, what was York's rank?

• Private
• Sergeant
• Lieutenant

8. York's story was told in the 1941 movie with Gary Cooper in the title role. What was the movie?

9. Alvin York died at the Veterans Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 2, 1964. What was the cause of death?

• Cerebral hemorrhage
• Cardiac arrest
• Lung cancer

10. Where was Alvin C. York buried?

• Wolf River Cemetery, Pall Mall, Tennessee
• Mount Vernon Methodist Church Cemetery, Hiltons, Virginia
• Greenwood Cemetery, New Orleans, Louisiana

Answers

• 1. Fact
• 2. 29
• 3. Company G, 328th Infantry Regiment, 82nd Infantry Division
• 4. 9
• 5. Myth. As his men remained under cover, and guarding the prisoners, York worked his way into position to silence the German machine guns.
• 6. Medal of Honor
• 7. Sergeant
• 8. Sergeant York
• 9. Cerebral hemorrhage
• 10. Wolf River Cemetery's Pall Mall, Tennessee

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