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CHAPTER TWENTY

SERGEANT ALVIN YORK⁽⁹¹John Perry, Sgt. York, His Life, Legend & Legacy, Broadman & Holman Publishers,
Nashville TN., 1997.)

“Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few,” 1 Samuel 14:6.

Alvin York was born in 1887 in Pall Mall, Tennessee. His mother and father were God fearing people. As was common, in the mountains where he lived, Alvin received only three years of formal education, but he became an excellent marksman with the rifle. Hunting was one of the main ways he and his father provided food for the family. He also often went to turkey shooting contests. The turkey’s feet were tied down behind a log. The only way to shoot the turkey was to wait until it raised its head above the log and the head provided a very small target. Alvin learned to make the sound of a turkey which would cause the turkey to raise its head. Then he would pick it off. He was so good that he could shoot a turkey in the head at 100 yards.

Alvin’s father died in 1911 when Alvin was 24 years old. After his father’s death, he became wild, had bad friends, and drank heavily. Each night as Alvin was out drinking with his buddies, his mother stayed up praying for him. On New Year’s Eve, 1924, he came home drunk. His mother told him that he was a shame to his father and grandfather. His mother’s concern so touched his heart that he fell at her knees and promised that he would never do it again. When a revival came to town that year, Alvin attended every night and on the fifth evening, he gave his life to God. He started immediately to study the Bible and to teach children’s classes.

Shortly after his conversion, Alvin received his notice of being drafted into the First World War. He didn’t want to go to war because he felt that killing was against God’s will. He wrote two letters to the draft board in hopes of being classified a conscientious objector. His request was turned down because his church was not recognized. Alvin’s preacher finally persuaded him to become a soldier.

At Camp Gordon, Georgia, Alvin was given a rifle, and he quickly proved that he could hit the bull’s eye every time. His commander was so impressed that he wanted Alvin to become an instructor on the range. However, he was still having a difficult time justifying the killing of other human beings. Eventually, he thought about how Jesus used a whip in the Temple and concluded that there are times that we must also fight. He then reasoned that the more German soldiers he killed, the quicker the war would be over; and in that way, he would actually be saving lives.

Alvin was sent to Germany on October 23, 1917. He and his regiment were soon given the responsibility of cleaning out machine gun nests. As he and the other soldiers advanced, the Germans opened fire and many of his comrades were mowed down. Alvin and 16 other soldiers were ordered to get behind the German lines and approach the nests from their rear.⁹² (⁹²John Perry, Sgt. York, His Life, Legend & Legacy, Broadman & Holman Publishers, Nashville TN., 1997, p. 9.) Indeed they got so far back that they were behind two rows of machine gun nests. Eventually, a medic saw them and he took off running toward the back row of nests. Alvin and his men took off running after the medic. When they came to a creek, they jumped over it and landed right into a German camp. Some of the soldiers were not quite dressed and others were eating. Suddenly, Alvin shouted, “Get your hands up!” The soldiers were so startled that they didn’t know what to do. They made no resistance; they dropped their plates and raised their hands. He shouted again, “Line up!!” As the POW’s lined up, a German officer shouted a command. Alvin smelled a skunk and hit the dirt. The command the German had given was, “Turn your guns in this direction.” Suddenly, the machine guns were spitting bullets right at Alvin and his soldiers. Hundreds of rounds were shot right at him. One of his companions was so riddled with bullets that his clothing was nearly torn off. Six of Alvin’s companions were killed and three were wounded. This left Alvin as the ranking officer⁹³ and left him and seven others to continue the fight. (⁹³John Perry, Sgt. York, His Life, Legend & Legacy, Broadman & Holman Publishers, Nashville, TN., 1997, p. 10.) Alvin and his men were pinned down with the 20 or more prisoners that they had just captured. The brush around Alvin was completely shot to pieces and the ground was all chopped and churned. A canteen that lay nearby had 18 bullet holes in it.⁹⁴ (⁹⁴John Perry, Sgt. York, His Life, Legend & Legacy, Broadman & Holman Publishers, Nashville, TN., 1997, p. 88.)

The men that operated the machine guns realized that they would have to shoot over their own men to get to the Americans. To do this, they had to raise their heads above their weapons to get a clear sight. Seeing their heads pop up, reminded York of his turkey shooting days back home. When a soldier raised his head, Alvin picked it off. Time and time again a soldier would raise his head, and Alvin would put a bullet though it. Every time Alvin shot, he yelled, “Come on down, I don’t want to kill anymore of you!” The soldiers behind the machine guns couldn’t tell where the bullets were coming from nor how many soldiers surrounded them. When the three clips of his rifle ammunition ran out, Alvin drew his Colt 45 and continued firing. Finally, the German commander sent six men out the other way and had them come in behind Alvin and the American soldiers. Alvin looked up just as the officer and his men charged. He didn’t have any bullets in his rifle so he used his pistol. He killed each soldier as he came toward him and when he was done he noticed that his pistol was empty. He killed the last soldier with his last bullet.

When York turned around to look at his group of prisoners, he was shocked to see that the German commander still had his pistol. He ordered him to hand it over and found that it was hot to the touch. The officer had been firing at York from behind while York faced the six soldiers who were coming at him.⁹⁵ (⁹⁵John Perry, Sgt. York, His Life, Legend & Legacy, Broadman & Holman Publishers, Nashville, TN., 1997, p. 12.) Though the officer had emptied his pistol at York at nearly point blank range not one bullet hit him.

At one point, a German officer standing near shouted to Alvin in English, “Stop shooting, you’re going to kill the whole German army! I can make them surrender.” Alvin said, “You had better do it quick.” The officer blew a whistle and gave a command. About 60 soldiers raised their hands and started walking toward them. With a gun at his back, the officer asked, “How many men do you have?” There were only seven others, but Alvin didn’t want to tell the officer that so he simply said, “I have plenty. Just keep marching.”

Another soldier shot at Alvin and missed. Alvin shot him. Eventually, Alvin and his seven men had gathered up 132 German captives.⁹⁶ (⁹⁶John Perry, Sgt. York, His Life, Legend & Legacy, Broadman & Holman Publishers, Nashville TN., 1997, p. 14.)

When they came to the American line, the soldiers there refused to take the prisoners. Alvin and the group moved on until they found a second division.

Alvin turned his captives in at the regimental headquarters at 9:25 A.M., October 8, 1918. This was three hours and 15 minutes after he and his men were given orders to get behind the German machinegun nests.

Alvin saw himself, not as a solder of America, but a soldier of Christ.⁹⁷ (⁹⁷Richard Wheeler, Sergeant York And the Great War, VHS cassette, Mantle Ministries, Buverde, TX.)

That night, York wrote in his diary, “…so you can see here in this case of mine where God helped me out. I had been living for God and working in the church some time before I came to the army. I am a witness to the fact that God did help me out of that hard battle; for the bushes were shot up all around me, and I never got a scratch.”

After getting out of the service, Alvin spent the rest of his life working toward bringing education into the hills where he lived and telling the story of how God had cared for him.

As mentioned earlier, Alvin and his soldiers had gone back so far they were behind 2 rows of machine gun nests. As they walked up behind each nest, he told the officer to command them to surrender. So he did. The German soldiers threw their weapons down and surrendered. By this time Alvin and his seven men were guarding over 100 German soldiers. Someone threw a grenade at Alvin which exploded before it reached him. Alvin shot that soldier.

Study Guide

Chapter Twenty

1. In 1 Samuel 14:6, we find the words, “Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.” Tell how this was true in Alvin’s life.

2. Give three illustrations of how 1 Samuel 14:6 can apply to your personal life.

3. How did Alvin York learn to be such a good marksman?

4. What happened to Alvin after his father’s death?

5. What motivated Alvin to give his life to the Lord?

6. What announcement did Alvin receive shortly after the revival service?

7. Why did Alvin try to get out of serving his country in the war?

8. How did Alvin try to get out of serving his country in the war?

9. What did Alvin prove when he was at Camp Gordon?

10. What became Alvin’s justification for killing Germans?