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Summary
Summary
"Exceptional military history worthy of its heroic subject." --Matthew J. Davenport
In the vein of Band of Brothers and American Sniper, a riveting history of Alvin York, the World War I legend who killed two dozen Germans and captured more than 100, detailing York's heroics yet also restoring the unsung heroes of his patrol to their rightful place in history--from renowned World War I historian James Carl Nelson.
October 8, 1918 was a banner day for heroes of the American Expeditionary Force. Thirteen men performed heroic deeds that would earn them Medals of Honor. Of this group, one man emerged as the single greatest American hero of the Great War: Alvin Cullum York. A poor young farmer from Tennessee, Sergeant York was said to have single-handedly killed two dozen Germans and captured another 132 of the enemy plus thirty-five machine guns before noon on that fateful Day of Valor.
York would become an American legend, celebrated in magazines, books, and a blockbuster biopic starring Gary Cooper. The film, Sergeant York, told of a hell-raiser from backwoods Tennessee who had a come-to-Jesus moment, then wrestled with his newfound Christian convictions to become one of the greatest heroes the U.S. Army had ever known. It was a great story--but not the whole story.
In this absorbing history, James Carl Nelson unspools, for the first time, the complete story of Alvin York and the events that occurred in the Argonne Forest on that day. Nelson gives voice, in particular, to the sixteen "others" who fought beside York. Hailing from big cities and small towns across the U.S. as well as several foreign countries, these soldiers included a patrician Connecticut farmer whose lineage could be traced back to the American Revolution, a poor runaway from Massachusetts who joined the Army under a false name, and a Polish immigrant who enlisted in hopes of expediting his citizenship. The York Patrol shines a long overdue spotlight on these men and York, and pays homage to their bravery and sacrifice.
Illustrated with 25 black-and-white images, The York Patrol is a rousing tale of courage, tragedy, and heroism.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this well-researched account, historian Nelson (The Polar Bear Expedition) adds depth to one of WWI's most celebrated stories: the "single-handed" capture of 132 German soldiers by Cpl. Alvin York. Raised in rural Tennessee, York was a born-again Christian who sought a religious exemption from the draft. Denied multiple times, he eventually determined it was "God's will" he should go to war. During an October 1918 offensive in France's Argonne forest, York's infantry company captured a German unit in a ravine behind enemy lines. As they rounded up the prisoners, German machine gunners firing from the hilltop above killed six Americans. York and other soldiers fired back, killing two dozen and forcing more than a hundred more Germans to surrender. York, who was credited with "the lion's share of the dead," received a congressional Medal of Honor and became a reluctant media sensation, sparking resentment among some of his platoon mates. Nelson spotlights York's forgotten comrades, including Bernard Early, an Irish bartender, and Otis Merrithew, who ran away from home to join the Army under a false name, and packs the account with detailed battlefield logistics. Military history buffs will savor learning the truth behind this WWI legend. (Jan.)
Kirkus Review
A military historian delivers a new biography of one of the best-known American doughboys. Alvin York (1887-1964) won the Medal of Honor for his actions on Oct. 8, 1918, when, "it was said, he single-handedly killed two dozen Germans, captured 132 more, and nabbed thirty-five machine guns to boot." Nelson, the author of three previous books about America's role in World War I, notes that "York was not alone that day." Of a 17-man patrol that went out that morning, 11 returned alive with the prisoners; only York went down in history. His exploits occurred when the patrol moved behind enemy lines, where they stumbled upon a German unit preparing for a counterattack. Believing the Americans were part of a larger group, the unit surrendered. As the patrol was organizing the prisoners, a hidden machine gun killed six and wounded three. The highest-ranking unwounded member, York silenced the machine gun, killed a few more German soldiers who charged the group, and led the prisoners back to American lines. York's achievement earned him a Distinguished Service Cross, soon upgraded to a Medal of Honor. Fame arrived after an adulatory cover article in the April 26, 1919, edition of the Saturday Evening Post, which had a circulation of 2 million. There followed numerous lucrative offers to exploit his fame, which York declined before returning home to Tennessee. Refreshingly, Nelson does not sugarcoat York's remaining years, portraying him as anxious to help his impoverished community but naïve about human nature. Benefactors gave him a large farm but ran out of money, leaving York with a burdensome mortgage, and his efforts to build local schools met with frustration. The bonanza from Howard Hawks' 1941 hit Sergeant York helped the schools but brought a huge bill for back taxes from the IRS. It also infuriated other members of his patrol, who had long complained that he was hogging all the glory. An admiring but realistic account of an American hero well suited to any WWI buff. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gary Cooper won the first of his two best-actor Oscars for the title role in Sergeant York, the 1941 film that dramatized the true story of Alvin Cullum York, an American soldier who, during WWI, virtually single-handedly killed two dozen enemy soldiers and captured more than 130. As Nelson points out in this account, the movie is deservedly acclaimed, and sticks relatively closely to the facts, but the full true story of York's life is far more dramatic and far more interesting. As he did in his three previous books about WWI (including Five Lieutenants, 2012), the author transports readers back in time, giving them not just a story about people but also a picture of what their world was like. His intent here isn't to disprove or debunk the York legend--the man was a true hero, that much is indisputable--but rather to augment it, to add to what we know about Alvin York so that we can better understand what made him a hero. A stirring account of an important incident and time in American history.
Table of Contents
| Author's Note | p. ix |
| Maps | p. xi |
| Chapter 1 The Day | p. 1 |
| Chapter 2 The Man | p. 7 |
| Chapter 3 The Paths of Righteousness | p. 15 |
| Chapter 4 The Salt of the Earth | p. 25 |
| Chapter 5 A Time for War | p. 37 |
| Chapter 6 From Paradise to Battle | p. 51 |
| Chapter 7 Toward the Unknown | p. 63 |
| Chapter 8 Lost Boys | p. 71 |
| Chapter 9 To Kingdom Come | p. 83 |
| Chapter 10 Day of Days, Part One | p. 93 |
| Chapter 11 Day of Days, Part Two | p. 105 |
| Chapter 12 An Epochal Exploit | p. 111 |
| Chapter 13 What Would York Do | p. 125 |
| Chapter 14 A Time for Peace | p. 135 |
| Chapter 15 Waiting for the Hero | p. 149 |
| Chapter 16 A Clear Conscience | p. 161 |
| Chapter 17 The Spoils of War | p. 169 |
| Chapter 18 A One-Man Army? | p. 183 |
| Chapter 19 His War Diary | p. 201 |
| Chapter 20 How a Hillbilly Got a Farm | p. 211 |
| Chapter 21 An Imitation of War | p. 221 |
| Chapter 22 Old Soldiers | p. 233 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 247 |
| Sources | p. 249 |
| Bibliography | p. 257 |
| Index | p. 261 |