What a neat date! Aside from the numerical alliteration, it is also the anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I. My favorite hero from the Great War—aside from the fictional Snoopy and his exploits with the Red Baron, of course—is Alvin York, whose amazing story became the subject of a major motion picture in the 1940s. (Starring Gary Cooper, no less.) York was an undereducated man from backwoods Tennessee, a hard-scrabble fellow who became a Christian after realizing that his rebelliousness not only was breaking his mother’s heart, but was also costing him the woman he loved. As I wrote in Great Stories in American History, “York . . . made his peace with his family, his sweetheart and the Lord, but the world was not at peace.”
When York received his draft notice in June 1917, he was conflicted, believing that as a Christian, killing was wrong. In spite of his objections, however, he said, “I had to answer the call of my country, and I did.” A little over a year later, Alvin York became “the hero of the Argonne,” a much-decorated soldier who helped save many American lives by taking out a German machine gun nest and capturing over 100 prisoners. He refused to take credit for his exploits, though, pointing instead to God’s work in his life. His biographer John Perry wrote:
“He is a hero because he had the moral foundation to be a hero. Certainly he had his faults and shortcomings; even heroes are fallen creatures. But his life was guided by unshakable absolutes founded on the teachings of the Bible, which taught him what was right, and taught him his responsibility in seeing that right was done, regardless of the sacrifice.”
(Sgt. York: His Life, Legend, and Legacy, p. 332)
Tags: 11.11.11, Alvin York, Armistice Day, the Great War, Veterans Day, World War I
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