Alvin Cullum York What its like being a soldier! Is it fun? Is it hard?

Do they do it because they have to or do they do it because they want to? Well today Im going to tell you about a soldier who was not only known for his braveness but the fact that he gave up his life for his country.

Alvin Cullum York was born in a two-room log cabin near Jamestown, Tennessee on December 13th 1887. He was the third of the eleven children born to Mary Elizabeth Brooks and William Uriah York. His parents were both travellers from Buncombe County North Carolina. The York children were in order: Henry Singleton, Joseph Marion, Alvin Cullum, Samuel John, Albert, Hattie, George Alexander, James Preston, Lillian Mae, Robert Daniel and Lucy Erma. The York family stayed in the Indian Creek of Fentress County. When the US declared war on Germany in April 1917, Alvin was drafted into the Army. Shooting guns came easier for him as he learned that when he was just a boy. He always had a strange passion for war and when he was selected to go he couldnt wait. It was said that Alvin was a hard-working man. He went to war because he felt the need to do something proud for his country and that made him feel happy and not thinking of what was ahead of him. On November 24, 1917 he distinguished himself in basic training until he was ordered to shoot at human forms on the target range. Alvin reconciled himself to military service and completed his training, and his unit sailed to France the following spring. On October 8, 1918 Alvin, then a corporal was part of a company assigned to attack a heavily defended hill near Chatel-Chehery. Pinned down by intense machine-gun fire, Alvin joined a squad of 17 men that attempted to outflank the German position from the rear of the hill. After capturing 20 German soldiers, the Americans were discovered by other German troops neighbouring trenches, which opened fire on them. Within several deadly minutes the squad was down to seven wounded men, Alvin included. The squads officers and NCOs had all been killed or wounded, meaning that Alvin was in charge of the squads survivors and their last bit of hope. He took his rifle and worked his way to a point near the occupied German trenches that were firing on his squad. From that exact position with

his hands tightened around the gun he shot and killed 17 German Soldiers one after the other his hands refusing to stop until the last of the German soldiers died. He shot eight more and wounded 3. The surviving Germans had had enough and surrendered in masse to Alvin. The final tally of captured German soldiers, counting the 20 the squad had taken earlier, was 132. Alvin York managed to work his way with his squad and the 132 prisoners through the bombed-out waste land and back to the headquarters of the 328th Regiment. It was this brave and courageous action that brought Alvin his fame. He was made Sergeant and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour for his amazing feat. At the end of war he returned to Tennessee in 1919, married Gracie and settled on a farm presented to him by his home state. During WW2 he served on the Tennessee draft board and was a colonel in the Tennessee State Guard, commanding the 7th Regiment. His action were unnoticed in the United Sates press, even in Tennessee until the publication of the April 26 issue of the Saturday Evening Post which had a circulation in excess of 2 million. The articles heading was The Second Elder Gives Battle. His actions and heroism were told in the film Sergeant York. The film was released in 1941. It was a biographical film about Alvins life. He was called the most-decorated American soldier of World War 1. In conclusion I think what Alvin York did was very brave and courageous. He was among the thousand other soldiers who went and fought for their country and they are still being remembered today. I would like to leave you with a quote that inspired me and made me think different about wars. Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind.