He was born on a Tuesday, on the thirteenth day of the month, of December in the year of our 1887, in a two-room log cabin near Pall Mall, Tennessee, under the name of Alvin Cullum York. He was one of eleven siblings. He would spend most of his youth drinking and fighting. On a Friday, on the first day of the month of January, in the year of our Lord 1915, in a revival meeting at the church his family had attended for years, Alvin York came to know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.
Then, in 1917, came America's entry into the conflict that we now refer back to as World War II. At the time it was fought, and up until World War II, it was known as "The Great War." On June 5, 1917, at the age of 29, Alvin York registered for the draft as all men between 21 and 31 years of age did on that day. When he registered for the draft, he answered the question "Do you claim exemption from draft (specify grounds)?" by writing "Yes. Don't Want To Fight." When his initial claim for conscientious objector status was denied, he appealed. He was eventually sent to serve in Company G, 328th Infantry Regiment, 82 Infantry Division at Camp Gordon, Georgia, and then later was sent to the front in Europe.
During an attack by his battalion to secure German positions along the Decauville rail-line north of Chatel-Chehery, on October 8, 1918, York's actions earned him the Medal of Honor He recalled:
The Germans got us, and they got us right smart. They just stopped us dead in our tracks. Their machine guns were up there on the heights overlooking us and well hidden, and we couldn’t tell for certain where the terrible heavy fire was coming from… And I'm telling you they were shooting straight. Our boys just went down like the long grass before the mowing machine at home. Our attack just faded out… And there we were, lying down, about halfway across [the valley] and those German machine guns and big shells getting us hard.
The events surrounding his conversion and his service in the war would be later immortalized in a 1941 motion picture starring Gary Cooper. Cooper would go on to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal.
SELAH
2 Timothy 2:3-4
Share in suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
No soldier get entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.
2 Timothy 2:3-4
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