July 23, 2025 • 38 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Sergeant Alvin York, the reluctant World War I infantryman who became one of America’s most decorated soldiers, has stood as a symbol of courage and sacrifice for over a century. Born in the mountains of Tennessee, Sgt. York’s early life was shaped by deep religious convictions that initially made him a conscientious objector. But on the battlefield, Alvin C. York single-handedly captured 132 German soldiers, killed 28 others, and earned the Medal of Honor along with nearly 50 additional decorations. His story inspired the classic Sergeant York movie and countless books. Is Sergeant York a true story? What did Alvin York do after the war? Here to share the real history of Alvin York is JD Phillips, host of the popular YouTube channel The Appalachian Storyteller.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib, and this is our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American People.
Sergeant Alvin York, the reluctant World War One infantryman who
became an American legend, has stood as a symbol of
American courage and sacrifice.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
For well over a century.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
The Tennessee mountaineer, whose religious convictions at first kept him
from fighting, became the recipient of the Medal of Honor
for single handedly capturing or killing an entire German machine
gun battalion.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Here to tell his story is j. D.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Phillips, who runs the popular YouTube channel The Appalachian Storyteller.
JD will be telling the story of Alvin York as
Alvin himself, using York's own words from his autobiography, Sergeant York,
Let's take a listen.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Truth be told. I couldn't tell you how long my
ancestors have called these mountains home. It's further back than
I could ever know. You see, they were the first
white people to ever set foot on this land, dating
back to my great great grandfather. When he first arrived,
he lived in a cave near the Wolf River and
(01:22):
an area now known as Pall Mall Valley in East
Tennessee after somehow getting past the Cherokeees. And since he
was the first white man here, he had the first
choice of the land. And that's how it came to
be that my family owns all the valley and most
of the mountains surrounding it. Like most mountain men back
in those days, my grandpa was a fighter. He left
(01:44):
this valley to go and fight in the Great Mexican War,
where he served with skill and honor. However, war can
kill a man even while his heart still beats, leaving
a soulless man the equivalent of a dead man walking.
And when my Grandpap returned from Mexico, he was a
shadow of himself and he soon died. Now, my Grandpap
(02:07):
on my mama's side was also a fighter, a Northerner
who fought with the cavalry. After the war, he had
made enemies with rival clans. Now, back in those days,
there was no law to speak of, and every man
put on a pistol every morning, just as sure as
he put on his pants and his boots. When one
of those leaders of the rival clan died, folks pointed
(02:29):
fingers at Grandpap, And even though there was no evidence
they killed Grandpap, they hooked a mule to his body
and they drug him through the dirt streets of Jamestown,
and they shot his body to pieces as a warning
to anyone who might ever cross them. So you see,
my ancestors were all pioneers and soldiers, god fearing people,
(02:52):
like most mountain folk. I grew up in a one
room log cabin, the same one my father and his
father before him lived in. I sat in the same
spot where our ancestors first cleared the land, hewing the
logs with the broad axe. The walls were chinked with
horse hair, mud, and sticks, and the inside of the
(03:15):
cabin walls was covered in newspapers and pages of magazines
to help keep the bitter winter cold out. My paw
was a blacksmith, and his shop was located in the
very same cave where my great great Grandpap had spent
his first night when he first came into this valley.
Like many of my ancestors, it came before me. His
(03:37):
cave is where I cut my teeth. As a blacksmith
a prentice, all work was a necessity of daily life.
My father's first love was hunting with his trusty muzzleoder.
He spent most of his days hunting and blacksmith and
at night. And Paul, he was the best shot I'd
ever seen in my life, and he taught me how
to shoot. He loved competing with other shooters, and Paul
(03:59):
would win every match. A popular game back then was
to tie a turkey behind a log, and the marksmen
will position themselves about one hundred yards away and they
would take turns shooting. Each time the turkey would poke
his head up from behind the log, the winner would
get ten cents and get to keep the turkey. And
(04:20):
Paul's advice to me would always be just be accurate
the first time. And when you shoot a muzzle loader, well,
we all learned how to make each shot count. I
love my Paw. I grew up with him, and I
worked in the blacksmith's shop with him. Like all Mountain women,
Ma Maw was a hard worker and she loved the Lord,
(04:41):
her man and her children. Even though we didn't have much,
she did her best to raise me right, and Lord
knows she had her hands full with eleven boys and
three girls. Even though I was the third oldest of
the boys. I was the biggest and the strongest of
all my brothers. All of us kids had a hard
time going to school, mainly because back in those days,
(05:05):
there were hardly any schools in these remote mountains, and
even if there was a school, it would be three
miles away through the rugged terrain on a road that
was barely more than an animal trail. Most folks needed
their kids at home helping with tend into the animals
and the crops, so school, how it was mostly an afterthought.
(05:26):
It only ran for about three months a year, but
when it was in session, there would be one hundred
or so barefooted mountain children piled into a small one
room schoolhouse with primitive bench seating with no backs. By
the time I was in the third grade, my paw
he suddenly died. Life could never be the same, so
(05:49):
I quit school and I never went back. All totaled,
I had just nine months of schooling, and with me
being the biggest boy in the house, I was suddenly
task with somehow bringing money into the household to help
us survive.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
When I wasn't.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Working on her farm or in the blacksmiths shop, Mama
would hire me out to work on neighboring farms for
forty cents a day. And by the time I was
in my teens and with my PAW's stern hand no
longer around to guide me, it wasn't long before I
started getting into trouble and developing a reputation for being
a bit of a hell raiser. Maul did her best
(06:34):
to keep me in line, but every day after work,
I'd spend all night drinking and gambling. Now, just because
I'd quit school in third grade didn't mean I couldn't read.
Oh heck, I loved to read about the outlaws like
Frank and Jesse James. I admired the way those boys
could shoot, and I still loved to shoot, just like
(06:54):
my Paul had taught me. I'd put a target up
on a tree, and I'd ride my horse around and around,
shooting it up. Before long, I could shoot as well
as my Paul ever did. And although I was working
as much as possible, my downfall proved to be the
powerful combination the moonshine cards.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
And you've been listening to J. D. Phillips, the Appalachian storyteller,
using the words of Sergeant Yorke himself. When we come
back more of this remarkable story here on Our American
Stories Lee Hubib here, and I'd like to encourage you
to subscribe to Our American Stories on Apple Podcasts, the
(07:36):
iHeartRadio app, Spotify, or wherever you get our podcasts, and
a story you missed or want to hear again can
be found there daily Again, please subscribe to the Our
American Stories podcast on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, or
anywhere you get your podcasts. It helps us keep these
(07:56):
great American stories coming. And we continue with our American
Stories and with JD. Phillips, the Appalachian Storyteller, telling the
story of Alvin York In Alvin Yorke's own words from
(08:21):
his autobiography, Let's pick up where we last left off.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Week after week, I would gamble all my money away
out all night drunk, and naturally that led to fist fighting.
Now I can't tell you how many growl men I
fought when I was a teen, but I can tell
you this. I never got whipped unless it was by
my wall, night after night, month after month. This went
(08:48):
on for nearly six years until I was in my
early twenties. Yet each time I'd stare at the bottom
of another empty bottle. I realized that no matter how
much I drank, it would never be able to feel
the void inside my soul. Folks around me were living
their lives, but I was stuck in a drunken stuber Constantly,
(09:08):
I knew I needed to change, but like so many
great men before me, I was a slave to the
poison contained in each sip of moonshine. The only person
in my life who hadn't given up on me was
my mother. There she was constantly telling me, son, you
best go easy down that road and get right with
(09:29):
the Lord. One night, my best friend was killed in
a bar of fight, and I staggered home drunk from Nome.
I got in after midnight and I found Mama sitting
up waiting for me. Ma, why aren't you in bed,
I asked, I can't. I can't never sleep for worrying
(09:51):
about the day that somebody's gonna come walking through that
door and telling me that you're dead, she said, And
in that moment, my mother stood up and she looked
deep into my eyes, and she said, son, when are
you going to become a real man like your father
and your grandfather's And those words hid me hard and
(10:14):
I promised her that night that I would never drink again.
I would never smoke, chew, cuss, or fight or gamble again.
And so it was, from that moment on, I never
drank any whiskey, touched any cards, or fought against any man.
(10:34):
Mama saved my life that night. Just like Paul in
the Bible, the things I once loved I now hate.
One night there was a revival and an evangelist from
Indiana was preaching at the small church down the road.
His words spoke to me, and for the first time
I really listened. I mean, I had grown up Methodists,
(10:57):
but there was something different about this preacher. And after
the meeting, I spent many days talking with him, and
I respected the words that this man spoke. He spoken
away I'd never heard before, and I believed what he said,
and he drew me closer to God. He always spoke
with the strict words from the scriptures. It was far
different than my Methodist upbringing. He spoke of punishment for
(11:19):
the wicked and a place of happiness for those who
lived for the Lord. And before long I got saved
in the Wolf Creek Church of Christ, and eventually I
became an elder in the church. Heck, I had always
had a good singing voice, and soon I was leading
the singing choir. Somehow I had turned my entire life
around from the road of destruction that.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
I was bound for. Now.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Even though we didn't have many newspapers or major roads
out in our little area, the railroads were quickly being built,
and they became the primary source of how folks first
got word of news going on in the outside world.
I was working on the railroad in harrim In, Tennessee,
(12:04):
when I heard about this great war that was going on.
A few weeks later, I got a postcard in the
mail telling me to go register just in case the
government wanted me to go fight in the war. There,
I was a grown man, thirty years old. I was
driving still and blasting dynamite and mountains, hoping to build
the railroad for one dollar and sixty cents a day.
(12:28):
While I loved my country, I was a devout Christian,
and I'd swore off fighting many years ago, and the
very thought of killing a man went against every fiber
of my being. I simply wrote on that postcard, but
I wouldn't go and fight because it was against my
religion and I mailed it back to him. Yet a
few months later I got an official letter notifying me
(12:51):
that the Church of Christ wasn't recognized by the government
as an official religion. Therefore, my request not to fight
was denied, and I was ordered to report to Jamestown, Tennessee,
to be shipped off to Army basic training in Atlanta,
Georgia immediately. For the next two nights, I wrestled deep
(13:13):
within my soul on what I should do. I couldn't
find assurance in the thought of fighting and killing foreign
men whom I harbored no ill will or hate for. Suddenly,
on the third day, I found myself standing on my
Grandpa's favorite spot on our farm. It was here that
after two and a half days, the voice of God
(13:34):
spoke to my heart and he assured me that the
calling was right and that it was all right for
me to go. And God assured me that I would
return to my family without a single scratch upon my head.
And while it was very hard for my mother and
my brothers and my sisters to accept, just like that,
I left the mountains of each Tennessee for the first
(13:54):
time in my life, bound for the unknown of the
other side.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
Of the world.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
Within a few days, I arrived at Camp Gordon after
several days of traveling on a train.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
I was exhausted.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
The first morning, they made all the new recruits pick
up cigarette butts in the yards. I looked around, and
I saw nothing but sandy flatness. I never realized how
much I loved those mountains that I grew up in
until that moment. Before long, they assigned me to accompany G.
Three hundred and twenty eight Infantry, the eighty second Division.
(14:31):
Now this division was made up of men from every
state in America. There were rural folk and city folk,
all just blended together. Yet I was the only mountain
man in the entire company. The only thing we all
had in common was we were all poor, or as
the drill sergeants kept telling us, the best that America
had to offer to defend freedom. They put me in
(14:53):
the bunks near a bunch of Italian and Greek men.
None of us could understand what the other fellow was
even saying night was a sleepless night. I had never
been so homesick in my entire life. Before long, they
put a gun in my hand, and they seemed proud
at the quality of the weapon, all those city boys
being with pride, most of them they had never held
(15:16):
a gun before me. My first thought was how greasy
it was. My paw taught me how to keep a
rifle as clean as a newborn baby, because back home,
our lives depended on these guns. First thing I did
was to take that thing and break it into a
million parts and clean it squeaky clean. The looks on
the drill sergeant's faces seemed like they had never seen
(15:37):
someone clean a gun like that before, and one of
them asked me how I knew how to do it,
and I replied, Sir, we make our own rifles back home.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Sir, we make our own rifles back home.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Sir Alvin York said to his commanding officer at the time,
What a scene that must have been, right, all these
city slickers holding a gun for the first time. In
here there's Yorke looking at it with semi disgust, needing,
feeling the urge to take it apart and clean it up,
and everybody just watching in amazement. What a beautiful, simple,
(16:11):
sort of hillbilly answer to a straight question.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
You're listening to J. D.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Phillips, who runs the popular YouTube channel the Appalachian storyteller,
and he's using Sergeant Yorke's own words from his autobiography,
his own life story and war diary.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
And my goodness, what a story.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Growing up in a one room log cabin, the father
of blacksmith and a great shot. When you shoot a muzzleloader,
his dad told him, you make each shot count. The
boy they did. His dad dies when he's in the
third grade. He quits school and he never goes back,
only nine months of education. But he's the oldest boy
(16:53):
in the house. He has to hit the streets, he
has to hustle, and he's got this void. He's lost
his dad, and he just starts to drink. He starts
to gamble, and he just starts getting into trouble. Then
one night his best friend gets killed. He goes home
and he sees his mom. She says to him, son,
when are you going to become a real man like
(17:15):
your father and grandfather? And those words cut through him.
The next thing you know, he was getting his life
in order. An evangelist, a traveling evangelist, came through town,
and he rediscovered his faith and a spirit in him
and just gave up the bad things in his life
and started anew. Then came the call for the military.
(17:35):
He tried to get out of it, tried to claim
a religious exemption. It didn't happen, and then he heard
this sense and voice from God. The next thing you know,
he finds himself oversees ready for war. The story of
Alvin Yorke continues here on our American stories, and we
(18:08):
continue with our American stories and with the story of
Sergeant Alvin York as told by J. D.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Phillips. Let's pick up were JD last left off.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Most of the new recruits were city boys, and I'll
tell you they couldn't hit nothing with those guns. Not
only would they miss the entire target, but they'd missed
the entire heel that the target was mounted on me.
I'd been shooting squirrels since that's five, and killing turkeys
at one hundred and fifty yards by the time I
was nine. Seems like all I remember doing in basic
(18:41):
training was shooting, but mostly hiking while carrying as much
weight as a man could possibly haul by himself. Days
of endless marching hikes and tolding that gun. I never
saw so many folks fall out from exhaustion. Yet before
long I got a letter telling me that I've been
assigned to the front lines on the other side of
(19:03):
the world in France. Before long I was on a
train to New York City, and a few days later Boston, Massachusetts.
An officer came through and he asked every man in
the company if they objected to going across the ocean
and fighting. When he asked me, I told him I
didn't object because I loved my country. However, to be honest,
(19:25):
I wasn't sure who was even in the right or
the wrong in this war. He simply replied to me
that blessed are the peace makers, and that we were
the peace makers. After hearing that, we all thought that
as soon as we got over there, we would be
keeping the peace. And I'll tell you right now nothing
could have been further from the truth. At four o'clock
(19:48):
the next morning, we all loaded onto an old ship
and we started for France. This was the first time
I'd ever seen the ocean water. Everywhere I looked water,
and when I looked back towards America, all I saw
was water. While the Greeks and Italians and the Jews
withstood the voyage just fine, the rocking back and forth
(20:10):
of the ship kept me sick the entire time. We
went to sleep wearing our full gear and life preservers
twenty four seven, just in case we were attacked. I
had never wanted to go back to those mountains more
than I did in that moment. Sixteen days later, as
the sun was setting on the water behind us to
(20:31):
the west, we arrived in Liverpool, England. Within three days
we were on the move, traveling towards France. By now
I was making friends with all the other fellows in
the company. My three friends were named Corporal Murray Savage
and Sergeant Harry Parsons. They were both from Brooklyn, New York,
and then there was Lieutenant Stuart from Georgia. Anyway, we
(20:54):
arrived in France and the first thing they gave us
with gas masks. For the first month, it seemed that
all we would do was take a train to some
small town or village and higher round until we would
suddenly get orders to board another train to some small
town or village and repeat the process. Finally, we got
orders to relieve the twenty six division boys in the
(21:16):
Montsect sector in Rambu Court. We moved during the middle
of the night and we would stay there for the
next ten days. Apparently this is where the army would
send all the new troops for one final train in
session before sending them into no man's land. Tennessee started
to seem like something I had only dreamed in my mind,
and I started to question if it ever really existed
(21:39):
or if I would ever see it again. Occasionally fire
would come in from artillery shells. Putting on gas masks
became second nature because of the constant gas shells. And
then there was the constant threat of snipers. Some of
us new meat. We would constantly be duck in our
(21:59):
heads as the sounds of bullets whizzed by. But after
a few boys were shot, we soon realized that it
was no use to duck, since no one ever hears
the bullet that hits them. At first, there was the
endless waiting in the trenches, and that seemed to be
the hard part for the Greeks and the Italians. They
wanted to go on the offensive. Every time one of
(22:19):
them would do something foolish like sneaking out of the
trench trying to get a better look at things, some
one would die. And that was the trouble with my platoon.
Every one was so antsy and they couldn't sit still.
They wanted to attack and get the war over with me.
I spent most of my time reading a small bible
that I kept in my pocket. I must have read
(22:40):
that thing at least five times. We spent the next
two months constantly moving positions in the trenches. We never
knew what was the grand scheme of things. It was
a hurry up and wait and always do what you're told. Suddenly,
without warning, we were part of a big American offensive.
We captured a small town named Norry, and we kept
(23:01):
clawing our way forward. Our whole battalion found ourselves right
in the heart of the Saint Michael Drive, and suddenly
we were on the front lines. When the enemy launched
into an all out offensive, we began losing them immediately
(23:26):
to machine gun fire. Our biggest problem was we were
too anxious to get to the enemy, and we kept
pushing forward when we should have shown more patience. I'll
say this though, those Greeks and Italians, they moved full
steam ahead, no matter what the cost was. After we
captured this town, we went house to house looking for
any prisoners or anything of value that we might use.
(23:49):
Most soldiers were looking for booze, and they quickly drank
any they found. And while we were dug in here,
there was a huge grape vineyard in the distance. And
the longer we stayed dug in those trenches, the hungrier
we all got, and the better those grapes looked. Finally,
we couldn't stand it, so we all went into the vineyard,
unaware that there was a German observation balloon high above.
(24:13):
They unleashed an assault on us, and they killed several
more of our men. And once we made it back
to the trenches, the captain ordered us all to stay
out of those grapes. But I have to tell you,
I was starving and man, I couldn't get those grapes
out of my mind. So that night I snuck back
into the vineyard as quiet.
Speaker 4 (24:32):
As a mouse went.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
Suddenly, a mortar shehell exploded near by me. I started
running for my life when I ran into another man
and we both fell to the ground. I quickly realized
that it was the captain himself. Turns out he couldn't
get those grapes off his mind either. It seems like
all of us tried hard to find some humor to
(24:56):
maintain our sanity. Constantly wearing gas masks for hours a day,
constant bombing, sharpshooters and machine gun nests killed men every day,
and when a man was dead, dying, or badly injured,
no one came for him. They lay there beside you
for days at a time. Soon we had orders to
(25:18):
move to prepare for the Battle of Argone. We hiked
for miles through the woods that were shot up something terrible.
Even the ground was all tore up from the shelling.
By daybreak we had made it to the main road
and aeroplanes were buzzing our heads while we crawled over
dead men and horses. All the while, shells were exploding
(25:40):
all around us. Somehow we made it to the side
of the road and some small holes that served as
makeshift bunkers. We weren't yet close enough for the machine
gun nests to reach us, but the constant shelling from
the aeroplanes was non stop, and I saw a lot of.
Speaker 4 (25:58):
Men just blown to pieces.
Speaker 3 (26:01):
When the orders finally came in, it was our job
to take Hill two forty and he'll two twenty three
by the next day. And that day started with with
a slow drizzle, but they didn't stop the shells from falling.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
And you've been listening to J. D.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Phillips, who runs the popular YouTube channel, The Appalachian Storyteller,
and he's telling the story of Alvin York as Alvin himself,
using Yorke's own words from his autobiography, Sergeant York, his
own life story.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
And war diary.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
And my goodness, what a story you're hearing, thinking little
in the beginning of what was to come, because well,
he hadn't seen combat yet, being moved from place to
place within the United States, seeing the ocean for the
first time, meeting people from all kinds of different ethnic backgrounds,
thinking he was going to go over there and quote,
(26:57):
keep the peace. And as he said, nothing could have
been further from the truth when he finally entered wheel combat.
And my goodness, what kind of combat those World War
One vets faced When we come back more of the
remarkable story of Sergeant Alvin York here on our American Stories.
(27:36):
And we continue with our American stories and the story
of Sergeant Alvin York. Let's pick up with J. D.
Phillips where we last left off.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Our machine gun Battalion was moving alongside on the opposite
side of the road, and we saw bomb after bomb
fall on them. The whole area looked like a tornado
tour through it all day and all night long. The
machine gun nests flashed and fired non stop. Somehow, in
(28:11):
that moment, my mind traveled back home to the other
side of the world. I was standing on the porch
of a log cabin watching an old time thunderstorm rolled
across the mountains. All I had in this moment was
my faith in God. Somehow though, we mobilized with orders
(28:33):
to take Hill two twenty three. The orders were who
began to push at six a m. Just before sunrise,
take the hill and advance across the valley to the
mountains on the other side to try to take the railroad,
which was an important lifeline for the German army supplies.
By six' ten we reached the top of the. Hill
(28:56):
The german machine guns were firing at us from both
sides and in the front of us one by. ONE
i watched as my buddies were, hit and soon we
Secured hill two twenty three and we set our eyes
towards the push towards the. Railroad but the valley was
several hundred yards, wide and machine gun nests dug in
on the opposite, sides with more guns perched on the
(29:17):
mountain planks and the. Ridges to even try and run
across that valley seemed like. Suicide the first wave Of
american troops took off across the field.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
Never cut. Down the second wave, came.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
We suffered the exact same. Fate almost every man was.
Killed suddenly the order was given to dig. In we
were stopped dead in our. Tracks the artillery shells kept
falling and thirty machine gun nests kept firing non. Stop
we were trapped and they knew exactly where we. Were
somehow we had to get to those machine guns that
(29:54):
were located about three hundred yards in front of. Us
we decided we would send a small group to try
to go around and somehow attacked the guns from the.
Back SO i was one of seventeen men in ordered
to carry out the surprise. Attack now the, valley it
had lots of trees and brush and hilly terrain for
us to move stealthily and quickly and. Quietly we moved
(30:16):
as our hearts were beating out of our. Chest before
long we had crossed over the hill and positioned ourselves
in a gully behind. Them we were now in no man's,
land behind the enemy. Lines the brush was so thick
we couldn't even see The, germans but the sound of
the machine guns was a. Nightmare we kept moving until
(30:39):
we crossed a small, stream when suddenly we stumbled upon
Fifteen germans who were eating their breakfast in the middle
of all this. Carnage they jumped, up and to our,
surprise they threw their hands up and. Surrendered, amazingly not
one shot was. Fired, however by now we'd been spotted
by the machine guns on top of the, hill and
(31:00):
they turned their guns around and started shooting at. Us
they were only thirty yards. Away six of us were
killed instantly and three more. Wounded that left only eight of.
Us my, Friend Corporal savage was among the. Dead all
of my commanding officers were. Dead that left me in,
charge AND i was all alone out in the. Open
(31:24):
the machine guns were cutting down the brush all around
me like a lawn.
Speaker 4 (31:27):
More all the, while The.
Speaker 3 (31:29):
Germans were yelling orders to one, another AND i couldn't
understand anything they were. SAYING i didn't know where my
other seven men, were but most of them were holding
guns on The german. PRISONERS i knew that The germans
would have to pop their heads up to see WHERE
i was and point their machine gun at, me and
some calm came over me like a rush of hot.
Water AS i laid there in the, GRASS i began
(31:51):
to fire back at the machine gun NEST i never,
blinked and every TIME i saw A german pop his
head up from behind those sand, bags it was LIKE
i was shooting turkey tied behind a log back in the,
mountains except Those german heads were much bigger than turkey,
heads and there was no WAY i could miss any
time one of them is so much as, MOVED i,
(32:11):
fired AND i never missed the. Mark it all went
on for nearly five, minutes nearly thirty machine guns firing
all around. ME i emptied several, clips and the barrel
of my gun was red. Hot, suddenly Six germans jumped
up out of a nearby trench about twenty five yards,
away and they charged me with bayonets attached to their.
Rifles they were screaming and running full. SPEED i only
(32:35):
had about a half a clip left of my, rifle
SO i pulled out my, pistol AND i shot every
one of. THEM i immediately returned to firing with my
rifle at those machine. Guns by NOW i had killed
over twenty of them before A german major appeared with
his hands up out of the trench in front of,
me Yelling, English, english AND i, replied No, american and he,
(32:58):
yelled if you'll stop, Firing i'll make them. SURRENDER i
quickly pointed my rifle at, him AND i, said if
you don't make them, surrender i'll blow your head. Off
the major began blowing.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
A, whistle.
Speaker 3 (33:10):
And one by one they came down with their hands,
up and he threw down their guns and their. Belts
one man was taking off his belt when he threw
a hand grenade at, me and it exploded in the
air right in front of. Me SOMEHOW i wasn't, hurt
AND i killed him, instantly seeing that every man on
the hill, surrendered nearly one hundred of. Them and AS
(33:32):
i stood and looked around, me every, tree every, bush
and every bit of grass was. Gone every area except
the spot WHERE i hid during the assault had been shot.
Up THERE i stood without a hair harmed on my.
Speaker 4 (33:46):
Head god had truly kept me from Harm.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
All told boy From East, Tennessee Alvin york had captured
one hundred and thirty Two german soldiers and one of
the greatest battles Of World War. One he returned home
To america held as the greatest war hero in, history
and for his actions he was awarded The medal Of.
HONOR A hollywood movie was made about.
Speaker 5 (34:20):
Him, yeah suppose of these yeh? Cartridges is a flock
of wild turkey's a flying across the, ridge coming this a,
way see right at? Me, now which one of them
would you? Shoot Fust i'd take a crack at all
of them and trust to. Luck but he wouldn't have
no luck that. Way push?
Speaker 2 (34:34):
You oh, well THEN i picked the. Monument so what the?
Speaker 5 (34:39):
Monument the guy out in? Front, well that ain't right.
Either if you want to get more than one, TURKEY
i wish one has got the most mean of. Them,
yeah what's the. Answer, well if you shoot this one,
here the, leader the rest of them will see him
dropp and fly. Off see so you drawed down on
the last turkey yet and then the next one see
kind of coming from back to. Front then the rest
(35:02):
of them won't know there's being. Hit and, if of,
course they might flare off some when the shooting, Starts
but if a feller's got himself a repeating, rifle he's
got a good chance of getting the whole. Flock sounds all,
Right take he's sure he's dumb, Animals seems you picked
up a good bet down the.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
Hills.
Speaker 5 (35:17):
Alan anybody that's done any hunt knows that.
Speaker 3 (35:23):
In every consumer product In america wanted his. Endorsement Yet
alvin turned his back on all of the fame and
he returned home to his farm In. Tennessee he dedicated
the remainder of his life establishing schools and educational opportunities
for the mountain children Of East.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
Tennessee and a terrific job on the, editing production and
storytelling by our Own Greg, Hengler and a.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Special thanks TO. J.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
D phillips who runs the popular YouTube Channel The Appalachian.
Storyteller and again a special thanks TO. J. D phillips
for playing the part Of alvin and reading from and
performing parts of his remarkable life.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
Story and what a story it.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
Was the description of those battlefield scenes are, remarkable those
machine gun, nests the flashing lights from those machine guns
going day and, night and all the while memories rekindled about,
home And alvin, said ALL i had in these moments
was my faith In. God and of course he was
(36:31):
relying on his faith In god facing the full force
of a Mighty german army and a Mechanized german, army
and the world had never seen mechanization like this, before
combined with the savagery Of. Bayonets so it was sort
of an old War World War, one and a new,
war and the combination and horrors of. Both, remember the
(36:51):
first thing he was issued was a gas, mask because
the use of gas in this war was prominent as,
well a, barbaric a type of war that The Geneva
convention outlawed In World WAR ii was not used the
way it might.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
Have because of, that and because of the experience with nerve.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
Gas then what he was known for that remarkable battle
in which essentially he captured over one hundred and Thirty
germans almost single. Handedly for his, Bravery york was awarded
The medal Of, honor and all because of that crack
shooting that he learned in the hill country of Tennessee turkey.
(37:30):
Hunting as he put, it the heads of The germans
were a lot bigger than those turkey. Heads when he
came back, home every consumer product company in the world
wanted his, image wanted his, likeness wanted his. Endorsement that
he turned his back on, Fame Sergeant Alvin york, did
returned home to his farm In tennessee and spent his
(37:53):
adult life working on educational opportunity for The East Tennessee
mountain kids who've grown up just like. Him the story
Of Sergeant Alvin york here on Our American stories
This is Lee Habib, and this is our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American People.
Sergeant Alvin York, the reluctant World War One infantryman who
became an American legend, has stood as a symbol of
American courage and sacrifice.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
For well over a century.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
The Tennessee mountaineer, whose religious convictions at first kept him
from fighting, became the recipient of the Medal of Honor
for single handedly capturing or killing an entire German machine
gun battalion.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Here to tell his story is j. D.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Phillips, who runs the popular YouTube channel The Appalachian Storyteller.
JD will be telling the story of Alvin York as
Alvin himself, using York's own words from his autobiography, Sergeant York,
Let's take a listen.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Truth be told. I couldn't tell you how long my
ancestors have called these mountains home. It's further back than
I could ever know. You see, they were the first
white people to ever set foot on this land, dating
back to my great great grandfather. When he first arrived,
he lived in a cave near the Wolf River and
(01:22):
an area now known as Pall Mall Valley in East
Tennessee after somehow getting past the Cherokeees. And since he
was the first white man here, he had the first
choice of the land. And that's how it came to
be that my family owns all the valley and most
of the mountains surrounding it. Like most mountain men back
in those days, my grandpa was a fighter. He left
(01:44):
this valley to go and fight in the Great Mexican War,
where he served with skill and honor. However, war can
kill a man even while his heart still beats, leaving
a soulless man the equivalent of a dead man walking.
And when my Grandpap returned from Mexico, he was a
shadow of himself and he soon died. Now, my Grandpap
(02:07):
on my mama's side was also a fighter, a Northerner
who fought with the cavalry. After the war, he had
made enemies with rival clans. Now, back in those days,
there was no law to speak of, and every man
put on a pistol every morning, just as sure as
he put on his pants and his boots. When one
of those leaders of the rival clan died, folks pointed
(02:29):
fingers at Grandpap, And even though there was no evidence
they killed Grandpap, they hooked a mule to his body
and they drug him through the dirt streets of Jamestown,
and they shot his body to pieces as a warning
to anyone who might ever cross them. So you see,
my ancestors were all pioneers and soldiers, god fearing people,
(02:52):
like most mountain folk. I grew up in a one
room log cabin, the same one my father and his
father before him lived in. I sat in the same
spot where our ancestors first cleared the land, hewing the
logs with the broad axe. The walls were chinked with
horse hair, mud, and sticks, and the inside of the
(03:15):
cabin walls was covered in newspapers and pages of magazines
to help keep the bitter winter cold out. My paw
was a blacksmith, and his shop was located in the
very same cave where my great great Grandpap had spent
his first night when he first came into this valley.
Like many of my ancestors, it came before me. His
(03:37):
cave is where I cut my teeth. As a blacksmith
a prentice, all work was a necessity of daily life.
My father's first love was hunting with his trusty muzzleoder.
He spent most of his days hunting and blacksmith and
at night. And Paul, he was the best shot I'd
ever seen in my life, and he taught me how
to shoot. He loved competing with other shooters, and Paul
(03:59):
would win every match. A popular game back then was
to tie a turkey behind a log, and the marksmen
will position themselves about one hundred yards away and they
would take turns shooting. Each time the turkey would poke
his head up from behind the log, the winner would
get ten cents and get to keep the turkey. And
(04:20):
Paul's advice to me would always be just be accurate
the first time. And when you shoot a muzzle loader, well,
we all learned how to make each shot count. I
love my Paw. I grew up with him, and I
worked in the blacksmith's shop with him. Like all Mountain women,
Ma Maw was a hard worker and she loved the Lord,
(04:41):
her man and her children. Even though we didn't have much,
she did her best to raise me right, and Lord
knows she had her hands full with eleven boys and
three girls. Even though I was the third oldest of
the boys. I was the biggest and the strongest of
all my brothers. All of us kids had a hard
time going to school, mainly because back in those days,
(05:05):
there were hardly any schools in these remote mountains, and
even if there was a school, it would be three
miles away through the rugged terrain on a road that
was barely more than an animal trail. Most folks needed
their kids at home helping with tend into the animals
and the crops, so school, how it was mostly an afterthought.
(05:26):
It only ran for about three months a year, but
when it was in session, there would be one hundred
or so barefooted mountain children piled into a small one
room schoolhouse with primitive bench seating with no backs. By
the time I was in the third grade, my paw
he suddenly died. Life could never be the same, so
(05:49):
I quit school and I never went back. All totaled,
I had just nine months of schooling, and with me
being the biggest boy in the house, I was suddenly
task with somehow bringing money into the household to help
us survive.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
When I wasn't.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Working on her farm or in the blacksmiths shop, Mama
would hire me out to work on neighboring farms for
forty cents a day. And by the time I was
in my teens and with my PAW's stern hand no
longer around to guide me, it wasn't long before I
started getting into trouble and developing a reputation for being
a bit of a hell raiser. Maul did her best
(06:34):
to keep me in line, but every day after work,
I'd spend all night drinking and gambling. Now, just because
I'd quit school in third grade didn't mean I couldn't read.
Oh heck, I loved to read about the outlaws like
Frank and Jesse James. I admired the way those boys
could shoot, and I still loved to shoot, just like
(06:54):
my Paul had taught me. I'd put a target up
on a tree, and I'd ride my horse around and around,
shooting it up. Before long, I could shoot as well
as my Paul ever did. And although I was working
as much as possible, my downfall proved to be the
powerful combination the moonshine cards.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
And you've been listening to J. D. Phillips, the Appalachian storyteller,
using the words of Sergeant Yorke himself. When we come
back more of this remarkable story here on Our American
Stories Lee Hubib here, and I'd like to encourage you
to subscribe to Our American Stories on Apple Podcasts, the
(07:36):
iHeartRadio app, Spotify, or wherever you get our podcasts, and
a story you missed or want to hear again can
be found there daily Again, please subscribe to the Our
American Stories podcast on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, or
anywhere you get your podcasts. It helps us keep these
(07:56):
great American stories coming. And we continue with our American
Stories and with JD. Phillips, the Appalachian Storyteller, telling the
story of Alvin York In Alvin Yorke's own words from
(08:21):
his autobiography, Let's pick up where we last left off.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Week after week, I would gamble all my money away
out all night drunk, and naturally that led to fist fighting.
Now I can't tell you how many growl men I
fought when I was a teen, but I can tell
you this. I never got whipped unless it was by
my wall, night after night, month after month. This went
(08:48):
on for nearly six years until I was in my
early twenties. Yet each time I'd stare at the bottom
of another empty bottle. I realized that no matter how
much I drank, it would never be able to feel
the void inside my soul. Folks around me were living
their lives, but I was stuck in a drunken stuber Constantly,
(09:08):
I knew I needed to change, but like so many
great men before me, I was a slave to the
poison contained in each sip of moonshine. The only person
in my life who hadn't given up on me was
my mother. There she was constantly telling me, son, you
best go easy down that road and get right with
(09:29):
the Lord. One night, my best friend was killed in
a bar of fight, and I staggered home drunk from Nome.
I got in after midnight and I found Mama sitting
up waiting for me. Ma, why aren't you in bed,
I asked, I can't. I can't never sleep for worrying
(09:51):
about the day that somebody's gonna come walking through that
door and telling me that you're dead, she said, And
in that moment, my mother stood up and she looked
deep into my eyes, and she said, son, when are
you going to become a real man like your father
and your grandfather's And those words hid me hard and
(10:14):
I promised her that night that I would never drink again.
I would never smoke, chew, cuss, or fight or gamble again.
And so it was, from that moment on, I never
drank any whiskey, touched any cards, or fought against any man.
(10:34):
Mama saved my life that night. Just like Paul in
the Bible, the things I once loved I now hate.
One night there was a revival and an evangelist from
Indiana was preaching at the small church down the road.
His words spoke to me, and for the first time
I really listened. I mean, I had grown up Methodists,
(10:57):
but there was something different about this preacher. And after
the meeting, I spent many days talking with him, and
I respected the words that this man spoke. He spoken
away I'd never heard before, and I believed what he said,
and he drew me closer to God. He always spoke
with the strict words from the scriptures. It was far
different than my Methodist upbringing. He spoke of punishment for
(11:19):
the wicked and a place of happiness for those who
lived for the Lord. And before long I got saved
in the Wolf Creek Church of Christ, and eventually I
became an elder in the church. Heck, I had always
had a good singing voice, and soon I was leading
the singing choir. Somehow I had turned my entire life
around from the road of destruction that.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
I was bound for. Now.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Even though we didn't have many newspapers or major roads
out in our little area, the railroads were quickly being built,
and they became the primary source of how folks first
got word of news going on in the outside world.
I was working on the railroad in harrim In, Tennessee,
(12:04):
when I heard about this great war that was going on.
A few weeks later, I got a postcard in the
mail telling me to go register just in case the
government wanted me to go fight in the war. There,
I was a grown man, thirty years old. I was
driving still and blasting dynamite and mountains, hoping to build
the railroad for one dollar and sixty cents a day.
(12:28):
While I loved my country, I was a devout Christian,
and I'd swore off fighting many years ago, and the
very thought of killing a man went against every fiber
of my being. I simply wrote on that postcard, but
I wouldn't go and fight because it was against my
religion and I mailed it back to him. Yet a
few months later I got an official letter notifying me
(12:51):
that the Church of Christ wasn't recognized by the government
as an official religion. Therefore, my request not to fight
was denied, and I was ordered to report to Jamestown, Tennessee,
to be shipped off to Army basic training in Atlanta,
Georgia immediately. For the next two nights, I wrestled deep
(13:13):
within my soul on what I should do. I couldn't
find assurance in the thought of fighting and killing foreign
men whom I harbored no ill will or hate for. Suddenly,
on the third day, I found myself standing on my
Grandpa's favorite spot on our farm. It was here that
after two and a half days, the voice of God
(13:34):
spoke to my heart and he assured me that the
calling was right and that it was all right for
me to go. And God assured me that I would
return to my family without a single scratch upon my head.
And while it was very hard for my mother and
my brothers and my sisters to accept, just like that,
I left the mountains of each Tennessee for the first
(13:54):
time in my life, bound for the unknown of the
other side.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
Of the world.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
Within a few days, I arrived at Camp Gordon after
several days of traveling on a train.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
I was exhausted.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
The first morning, they made all the new recruits pick
up cigarette butts in the yards. I looked around, and
I saw nothing but sandy flatness. I never realized how
much I loved those mountains that I grew up in
until that moment. Before long, they assigned me to accompany G.
Three hundred and twenty eight Infantry, the eighty second Division.
(14:31):
Now this division was made up of men from every
state in America. There were rural folk and city folk,
all just blended together. Yet I was the only mountain
man in the entire company. The only thing we all
had in common was we were all poor, or as
the drill sergeants kept telling us, the best that America
had to offer to defend freedom. They put me in
(14:53):
the bunks near a bunch of Italian and Greek men.
None of us could understand what the other fellow was
even saying night was a sleepless night. I had never
been so homesick in my entire life. Before long, they
put a gun in my hand, and they seemed proud
at the quality of the weapon, all those city boys
being with pride, most of them they had never held
(15:16):
a gun before me. My first thought was how greasy
it was. My paw taught me how to keep a
rifle as clean as a newborn baby, because back home,
our lives depended on these guns. First thing I did
was to take that thing and break it into a
million parts and clean it squeaky clean. The looks on
the drill sergeant's faces seemed like they had never seen
(15:37):
someone clean a gun like that before, and one of
them asked me how I knew how to do it,
and I replied, Sir, we make our own rifles back home.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Sir, we make our own rifles back home.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Sir Alvin York said to his commanding officer at the time,
What a scene that must have been, right, all these
city slickers holding a gun for the first time. In
here there's Yorke looking at it with semi disgust, needing,
feeling the urge to take it apart and clean it up,
and everybody just watching in amazement. What a beautiful, simple,
(16:11):
sort of hillbilly answer to a straight question.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
You're listening to J. D.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Phillips, who runs the popular YouTube channel the Appalachian storyteller,
and he's using Sergeant Yorke's own words from his autobiography,
his own life story and war diary.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
And my goodness, what a story.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Growing up in a one room log cabin, the father
of blacksmith and a great shot. When you shoot a muzzleloader,
his dad told him, you make each shot count. The
boy they did. His dad dies when he's in the
third grade. He quits school and he never goes back,
only nine months of education. But he's the oldest boy
(16:53):
in the house. He has to hit the streets, he
has to hustle, and he's got this void. He's lost
his dad, and he just starts to drink. He starts
to gamble, and he just starts getting into trouble. Then
one night his best friend gets killed. He goes home
and he sees his mom. She says to him, son,
when are you going to become a real man like
(17:15):
your father and grandfather? And those words cut through him.
The next thing you know, he was getting his life
in order. An evangelist, a traveling evangelist, came through town,
and he rediscovered his faith and a spirit in him
and just gave up the bad things in his life
and started anew. Then came the call for the military.
(17:35):
He tried to get out of it, tried to claim
a religious exemption. It didn't happen, and then he heard
this sense and voice from God. The next thing you know,
he finds himself oversees ready for war. The story of
Alvin Yorke continues here on our American stories, and we
(18:08):
continue with our American stories and with the story of
Sergeant Alvin York as told by J. D.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Phillips. Let's pick up were JD last left off.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Most of the new recruits were city boys, and I'll
tell you they couldn't hit nothing with those guns. Not
only would they miss the entire target, but they'd missed
the entire heel that the target was mounted on me.
I'd been shooting squirrels since that's five, and killing turkeys
at one hundred and fifty yards by the time I
was nine. Seems like all I remember doing in basic
(18:41):
training was shooting, but mostly hiking while carrying as much
weight as a man could possibly haul by himself. Days
of endless marching hikes and tolding that gun. I never
saw so many folks fall out from exhaustion. Yet before
long I got a letter telling me that I've been
assigned to the front lines on the other side of
(19:03):
the world in France. Before long I was on a
train to New York City, and a few days later Boston, Massachusetts.
An officer came through and he asked every man in
the company if they objected to going across the ocean
and fighting. When he asked me, I told him I
didn't object because I loved my country. However, to be honest,
(19:25):
I wasn't sure who was even in the right or
the wrong in this war. He simply replied to me
that blessed are the peace makers, and that we were
the peace makers. After hearing that, we all thought that
as soon as we got over there, we would be
keeping the peace. And I'll tell you right now nothing
could have been further from the truth. At four o'clock
(19:48):
the next morning, we all loaded onto an old ship
and we started for France. This was the first time
I'd ever seen the ocean water. Everywhere I looked water,
and when I looked back towards America, all I saw
was water. While the Greeks and Italians and the Jews
withstood the voyage just fine, the rocking back and forth
(20:10):
of the ship kept me sick the entire time. We
went to sleep wearing our full gear and life preservers
twenty four seven, just in case we were attacked. I
had never wanted to go back to those mountains more
than I did in that moment. Sixteen days later, as
the sun was setting on the water behind us to
(20:31):
the west, we arrived in Liverpool, England. Within three days
we were on the move, traveling towards France. By now
I was making friends with all the other fellows in
the company. My three friends were named Corporal Murray Savage
and Sergeant Harry Parsons. They were both from Brooklyn, New York,
and then there was Lieutenant Stuart from Georgia. Anyway, we
(20:54):
arrived in France and the first thing they gave us
with gas masks. For the first month, it seemed that
all we would do was take a train to some
small town or village and higher round until we would
suddenly get orders to board another train to some small
town or village and repeat the process. Finally, we got
orders to relieve the twenty six division boys in the
(21:16):
Montsect sector in Rambu Court. We moved during the middle
of the night and we would stay there for the
next ten days. Apparently this is where the army would
send all the new troops for one final train in
session before sending them into no man's land. Tennessee started
to seem like something I had only dreamed in my mind,
and I started to question if it ever really existed
(21:39):
or if I would ever see it again. Occasionally fire
would come in from artillery shells. Putting on gas masks
became second nature because of the constant gas shells. And
then there was the constant threat of snipers. Some of
us new meat. We would constantly be duck in our
(21:59):
heads as the sounds of bullets whizzed by. But after
a few boys were shot, we soon realized that it
was no use to duck, since no one ever hears
the bullet that hits them. At first, there was the
endless waiting in the trenches, and that seemed to be
the hard part for the Greeks and the Italians. They
wanted to go on the offensive. Every time one of
(22:19):
them would do something foolish like sneaking out of the
trench trying to get a better look at things, some
one would die. And that was the trouble with my platoon.
Every one was so antsy and they couldn't sit still.
They wanted to attack and get the war over with me.
I spent most of my time reading a small bible
that I kept in my pocket. I must have read
(22:40):
that thing at least five times. We spent the next
two months constantly moving positions in the trenches. We never
knew what was the grand scheme of things. It was
a hurry up and wait and always do what you're told. Suddenly,
without warning, we were part of a big American offensive.
We captured a small town named Norry, and we kept
(23:01):
clawing our way forward. Our whole battalion found ourselves right
in the heart of the Saint Michael Drive, and suddenly
we were on the front lines. When the enemy launched
into an all out offensive, we began losing them immediately
(23:26):
to machine gun fire. Our biggest problem was we were
too anxious to get to the enemy, and we kept
pushing forward when we should have shown more patience. I'll
say this though, those Greeks and Italians, they moved full
steam ahead, no matter what the cost was. After we
captured this town, we went house to house looking for
any prisoners or anything of value that we might use.
(23:49):
Most soldiers were looking for booze, and they quickly drank
any they found. And while we were dug in here,
there was a huge grape vineyard in the distance. And
the longer we stayed dug in those trenches, the hungrier
we all got, and the better those grapes looked. Finally,
we couldn't stand it, so we all went into the vineyard,
unaware that there was a German observation balloon high above.
(24:13):
They unleashed an assault on us, and they killed several
more of our men. And once we made it back
to the trenches, the captain ordered us all to stay
out of those grapes. But I have to tell you,
I was starving and man, I couldn't get those grapes
out of my mind. So that night I snuck back
into the vineyard as quiet.
Speaker 4 (24:32):
As a mouse went.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
Suddenly, a mortar shehell exploded near by me. I started
running for my life when I ran into another man
and we both fell to the ground. I quickly realized
that it was the captain himself. Turns out he couldn't
get those grapes off his mind either. It seems like
all of us tried hard to find some humor to
(24:56):
maintain our sanity. Constantly wearing gas masks for hours a day,
constant bombing, sharpshooters and machine gun nests killed men every day,
and when a man was dead, dying, or badly injured,
no one came for him. They lay there beside you
for days at a time. Soon we had orders to
(25:18):
move to prepare for the Battle of Argone. We hiked
for miles through the woods that were shot up something terrible.
Even the ground was all tore up from the shelling.
By daybreak we had made it to the main road
and aeroplanes were buzzing our heads while we crawled over
dead men and horses. All the while, shells were exploding
(25:40):
all around us. Somehow we made it to the side
of the road and some small holes that served as
makeshift bunkers. We weren't yet close enough for the machine
gun nests to reach us, but the constant shelling from
the aeroplanes was non stop, and I saw a lot of.
Speaker 4 (25:58):
Men just blown to pieces.
Speaker 3 (26:01):
When the orders finally came in, it was our job
to take Hill two forty and he'll two twenty three
by the next day. And that day started with with
a slow drizzle, but they didn't stop the shells from falling.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
And you've been listening to J. D.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Phillips, who runs the popular YouTube channel, The Appalachian Storyteller,
and he's telling the story of Alvin York as Alvin himself,
using Yorke's own words from his autobiography, Sergeant York, his
own life story.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
And war diary.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
And my goodness, what a story you're hearing, thinking little
in the beginning of what was to come, because well,
he hadn't seen combat yet, being moved from place to
place within the United States, seeing the ocean for the
first time, meeting people from all kinds of different ethnic backgrounds,
thinking he was going to go over there and quote,
(26:57):
keep the peace. And as he said, nothing could have
been further from the truth when he finally entered wheel combat.
And my goodness, what kind of combat those World War
One vets faced When we come back more of the
remarkable story of Sergeant Alvin York here on our American Stories.
(27:36):
And we continue with our American stories and the story
of Sergeant Alvin York. Let's pick up with J. D.
Phillips where we last left off.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Our machine gun Battalion was moving alongside on the opposite
side of the road, and we saw bomb after bomb
fall on them. The whole area looked like a tornado
tour through it all day and all night long. The
machine gun nests flashed and fired non stop. Somehow, in
(28:11):
that moment, my mind traveled back home to the other
side of the world. I was standing on the porch
of a log cabin watching an old time thunderstorm rolled
across the mountains. All I had in this moment was
my faith in God. Somehow though, we mobilized with orders
(28:33):
to take Hill two twenty three. The orders were who
began to push at six a m. Just before sunrise,
take the hill and advance across the valley to the
mountains on the other side to try to take the railroad,
which was an important lifeline for the German army supplies.
By six' ten we reached the top of the. Hill
(28:56):
The german machine guns were firing at us from both
sides and in the front of us one by. ONE
i watched as my buddies were, hit and soon we
Secured hill two twenty three and we set our eyes
towards the push towards the. Railroad but the valley was
several hundred yards, wide and machine gun nests dug in
on the opposite, sides with more guns perched on the
(29:17):
mountain planks and the. Ridges to even try and run
across that valley seemed like. Suicide the first wave Of
american troops took off across the field.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
Never cut. Down the second wave, came.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
We suffered the exact same. Fate almost every man was.
Killed suddenly the order was given to dig. In we
were stopped dead in our. Tracks the artillery shells kept
falling and thirty machine gun nests kept firing non. Stop
we were trapped and they knew exactly where we. Were
somehow we had to get to those machine guns that
(29:54):
were located about three hundred yards in front of. Us
we decided we would send a small group to try
to go around and somehow attacked the guns from the.
Back SO i was one of seventeen men in ordered
to carry out the surprise. Attack now the, valley it
had lots of trees and brush and hilly terrain for
us to move stealthily and quickly and. Quietly we moved
(30:16):
as our hearts were beating out of our. Chest before
long we had crossed over the hill and positioned ourselves
in a gully behind. Them we were now in no man's,
land behind the enemy. Lines the brush was so thick
we couldn't even see The, germans but the sound of
the machine guns was a. Nightmare we kept moving until
(30:39):
we crossed a small, stream when suddenly we stumbled upon
Fifteen germans who were eating their breakfast in the middle
of all this. Carnage they jumped, up and to our,
surprise they threw their hands up and. Surrendered, amazingly not
one shot was. Fired, however by now we'd been spotted
by the machine guns on top of the, hill and
(31:00):
they turned their guns around and started shooting at. Us
they were only thirty yards. Away six of us were
killed instantly and three more. Wounded that left only eight of.
Us my, Friend Corporal savage was among the. Dead all
of my commanding officers were. Dead that left me in,
charge AND i was all alone out in the. Open
(31:24):
the machine guns were cutting down the brush all around
me like a lawn.
Speaker 4 (31:27):
More all the, while The.
Speaker 3 (31:29):
Germans were yelling orders to one, another AND i couldn't
understand anything they were. SAYING i didn't know where my
other seven men, were but most of them were holding
guns on The german. PRISONERS i knew that The germans
would have to pop their heads up to see WHERE
i was and point their machine gun at, me and
some calm came over me like a rush of hot.
Water AS i laid there in the, GRASS i began
(31:51):
to fire back at the machine gun NEST i never,
blinked and every TIME i saw A german pop his
head up from behind those sand, bags it was LIKE
i was shooting turkey tied behind a log back in the,
mountains except Those german heads were much bigger than turkey,
heads and there was no WAY i could miss any
time one of them is so much as, MOVED i,
(32:11):
fired AND i never missed the. Mark it all went
on for nearly five, minutes nearly thirty machine guns firing
all around. ME i emptied several, clips and the barrel
of my gun was red. Hot, suddenly Six germans jumped
up out of a nearby trench about twenty five yards,
away and they charged me with bayonets attached to their.
Rifles they were screaming and running full. SPEED i only
(32:35):
had about a half a clip left of my, rifle
SO i pulled out my, pistol AND i shot every
one of. THEM i immediately returned to firing with my
rifle at those machine. Guns by NOW i had killed
over twenty of them before A german major appeared with
his hands up out of the trench in front of,
me Yelling, English, english AND i, replied No, american and he,
(32:58):
yelled if you'll stop, Firing i'll make them. SURRENDER i
quickly pointed my rifle at, him AND i, said if
you don't make them, surrender i'll blow your head. Off
the major began blowing.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
A, whistle.
Speaker 3 (33:10):
And one by one they came down with their hands,
up and he threw down their guns and their. Belts
one man was taking off his belt when he threw
a hand grenade at, me and it exploded in the
air right in front of. Me SOMEHOW i wasn't, hurt
AND i killed him, instantly seeing that every man on
the hill, surrendered nearly one hundred of. Them and AS
(33:32):
i stood and looked around, me every, tree every, bush
and every bit of grass was. Gone every area except
the spot WHERE i hid during the assault had been shot.
Up THERE i stood without a hair harmed on my.
Speaker 4 (33:46):
Head god had truly kept me from Harm.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
All told boy From East, Tennessee Alvin york had captured
one hundred and thirty Two german soldiers and one of
the greatest battles Of World War. One he returned home
To america held as the greatest war hero in, history
and for his actions he was awarded The medal Of.
HONOR A hollywood movie was made about.
Speaker 5 (34:20):
Him, yeah suppose of these yeh? Cartridges is a flock
of wild turkey's a flying across the, ridge coming this a,
way see right at? Me, now which one of them
would you? Shoot Fust i'd take a crack at all
of them and trust to. Luck but he wouldn't have
no luck that. Way push?
Speaker 2 (34:34):
You oh, well THEN i picked the. Monument so what the?
Speaker 5 (34:39):
Monument the guy out in? Front, well that ain't right.
Either if you want to get more than one, TURKEY
i wish one has got the most mean of. Them,
yeah what's the. Answer, well if you shoot this one,
here the, leader the rest of them will see him
dropp and fly. Off see so you drawed down on
the last turkey yet and then the next one see
kind of coming from back to. Front then the rest
(35:02):
of them won't know there's being. Hit and, if of,
course they might flare off some when the shooting, Starts
but if a feller's got himself a repeating, rifle he's
got a good chance of getting the whole. Flock sounds all,
Right take he's sure he's dumb, Animals seems you picked
up a good bet down the.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
Hills.
Speaker 5 (35:17):
Alan anybody that's done any hunt knows that.
Speaker 3 (35:23):
In every consumer product In america wanted his. Endorsement Yet
alvin turned his back on all of the fame and
he returned home to his farm In. Tennessee he dedicated
the remainder of his life establishing schools and educational opportunities
for the mountain children Of East.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
Tennessee and a terrific job on the, editing production and
storytelling by our Own Greg, Hengler and a.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Special thanks TO. J.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
D phillips who runs the popular YouTube Channel The Appalachian.
Storyteller and again a special thanks TO. J. D phillips
for playing the part Of alvin and reading from and
performing parts of his remarkable life.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
Story and what a story it.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
Was the description of those battlefield scenes are, remarkable those
machine gun, nests the flashing lights from those machine guns
going day and, night and all the while memories rekindled about,
home And alvin, said ALL i had in these moments
was my faith In. God and of course he was
(36:31):
relying on his faith In god facing the full force
of a Mighty german army and a Mechanized german, army
and the world had never seen mechanization like this, before
combined with the savagery Of. Bayonets so it was sort
of an old War World War, one and a new,
war and the combination and horrors of. Both, remember the
(36:51):
first thing he was issued was a gas, mask because
the use of gas in this war was prominent as,
well a, barbaric a type of war that The Geneva
convention outlawed In World WAR ii was not used the
way it might.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
Have because of, that and because of the experience with nerve.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
Gas then what he was known for that remarkable battle
in which essentially he captured over one hundred and Thirty
germans almost single. Handedly for his, Bravery york was awarded
The medal Of, honor and all because of that crack
shooting that he learned in the hill country of Tennessee turkey.
(37:30):
Hunting as he put, it the heads of The germans
were a lot bigger than those turkey. Heads when he
came back, home every consumer product company in the world
wanted his, image wanted his, likeness wanted his. Endorsement that
he turned his back on, Fame Sergeant Alvin york, did
returned home to his farm In tennessee and spent his
(37:53):
adult life working on educational opportunity for The East Tennessee
mountain kids who've grown up just like. Him the story
Of Sergeant Alvin york here on Our American stories
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