Entered the Fray!
Saving the Day!
82nd ALL THE WAY!

Found this at the Great New York State Fair back in September and finally have a chance to watch it. For those who don't know

Alvin Cullum York (played by Gary Cooper in the movie) is an American Infantryman who served with Company G, 328th Infantry Regiment, 82nd Infantry Division between 1917 to 1919 with his actions making him America's most decorated Soldier of The First World War. Joining as a Private he was soon drafted and his appeal to be exempted from the draft over pacifism was denied and he was shipped over to France with the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) and part took in the Battle of Saint Mihiel (of which one of my Battery's howitzers is named after) and The Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Deeply troubled between his religious beliefs and his training he would find himself in the front of one of the deadliest battles the United States would face in The Great War, The Meuse-Argonne Offensive. In early October 1918 (less than one month before the ceasefire that would end the war) The 328th Infantry was advancing to capture strategic positions near and around Hill 223 (named for its elevation) when his unit (unclear if Battalion or Company level due to writing but hints to Battalion) was suddenly attacked by well hid machine gun nests and emplacement from Hill 223. Corporal (Acting Sergeant) Barnard Early, 4 other NCOs including Acting Corporal York, and 13 Privates were given orders to cut through the German lines to take care of the Machine Guns. Circling around the German lines the small unit captured a headquarters unit (most likely Company level) that was planning a counter attack on the 328th and took large amounts of prisonsers. While contending with the POWs German machine guns racked the area killing 6 Americans and wounding 3 others. Several Americans returned fire while other guarded the POWs, York from his advantageous position fought the Germans with his Colt M1911 writing in his journal

"And those machine guns were spitting fire and cutting down the undergrowth all around me something awful. And the Germans were yelling orders. You never heard such a racket in all of your life. I didn't have time to dodge behind a tree or dive into the brush ... As soon as the machine guns opened fire on me, I began to exchange shots with them. There were over thirty of them in continuous action, and all I could do was touch the Germans off just as fast as I could. I was sharp shooting ... All the time I kept yelling at them to come down. I didn't want to kill any more than I had to. But it was they or I. And I was giving them the best I had."

With the Germans failing to kill or incapacitate York, the Commanding Officer of the German 1st Battalion, 120th Reserve Infantry Regiment, 1st Lieutenant Pual Jürgen Vollmer emptied is Service Pistol (Walther P08 Luger) offered to surrender the unit over which was accepted. After escorting the Prisoners back to American lines York reported to Brigadier General Julian Robert Lindsey who remarked on the action

"Well York, I heard you Captured the Entire German Army"

Which was followed by York quipping

"No Sir, I only got 132"

Yorks actions and gallantry silenced the guns from Hill 223 and allowed the 328th Infantry to advance and capture the vital Decauville Railroad and earned York a promotion to Sergeant and the notorious Congressional Medal of Honor. His other medals during the War included The 1914-1918 Croix de Guerre with Palm, World War I Victory Medal with 3 Bronze Stars, The French Legion of Honor, The French Military Medal, The Itlaian War Cross, and the Montenegro Order of Prince Danilo I. He would be in honorary service during World War II and reach the rank of Major (Honorary) in the Army of the United States and would retire a Colonel in the Tennessee State Guard in 1947 where he would earn 2 additional medals of the World War II Victory Medla and the American Campaign Medal. Sergeant York would pass away in Nashville, Tennessee on September the 2nd, 1964 at age 76 and is buried in Wolf River Cemetery in Pall Mall, Tennessee and remains a legendary hero to the state to this Day and what it means to be an "All American".