This officer then offered to surrender and York accepted. The German officer responsible for the machine gun position had emptied his pistol while firing at York but failed to hit him. York and the other Americans attacked the machine gun position, killing several German soldiers. Several of the Americans returned fire while others guarded the prisoners. After the American patrol had captured a large group of enemy soldiers, German small arms fire killed six Americans and wounded three. In October 1918, Private First Class (Acting Corporal) York was one of a group of seventeen soldiers assigned to infiltrate German lines and silence a machine gun position.
Persuaded that his religion was not incompatible with military service, York joined the 82nd Division as an infantry private and went to France in 1918.
York was drafted during World War I he initially claimed conscientious objector status on the grounds that his religious denomination forbade violence. After a 1914 conversion experience, he vowed to improve and became even more devoted to the Church of Christ in Christian Union. Despite being a regular churchgoer, York also drank heavily and was prone to fistfights. After the death of his father, York assisted in caring for his younger siblings and found work as a blacksmith.
The eleven York children had minimal schooling because they helped provide for the family, including hunting, fishing, and working as laborers. His parents farmed, and his father worked as a blacksmith. York was born in rural Tennessee, in what is now the community of Pall Mall in Fentress County. He earned decorations from several allied countries during WWI, including France, Italy and Montenegro. York's Medal of Honor action occurred during the United States-led portion of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in France, which was intended to breach the Hindenburg line and force the Germans to surrender. He received the Medal of Honor for leading an attack on a German machine gun nest, gathered 35 machine guns, killing at least 25 enemy soldiers and capturing 132 prisoners. Superintendent of the Cumberland Mountain State ParkĪlvin Cullum York (December 13, 1887 – September 2, 1964), also known as Sergeant York, was one of the most decorated United States Army soldiers of World War I.
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