Veterans Radio

Veterans Radio


Alvin York WWI Medal of Honor Recipient

March 23, 2021

We talk to the author James Carl Nelson of   "The York Patrol -The Real Story of Alvin York and the Unsung Heroes Who Made Him World War I's Most Famous Soldier".  Alvin York grew up in the backwoods of Tennessee.  After being a hell-raiser in his teens, he found his way to a fundamentalist Christian church.  When drafted in WWI  he struggled with taking up arms and the commandment "Thou Shall Not Kill".   He did his duty and found himself in a bloody offensive in the Argonne Forest in October 1918.  His platoon leadership was decimated and he found himself in charge.  They capture roughly 130 Germans after a harrowing firefight.  This is a story of the other men and what Sgt Alvin York went thru during the rest of his life.  York became the poster boy hero of WWI, books, and movies were made of his efforts.  Gary Cooper starred in "Sgt York" a blockbuster biopic in 1941 when the country needed a shot in the patriotic arm while heading into WWII.  Listen to James Nelson tell this story to host Jim Fausone.