gentle man with a soft, quiet voice and a Southern drawl. He was very
religious and was the Second Elder in the Church of Christ and
Christian Union when he was called to the service of his country.

The church to which he belonged did not believe in war. Like the
Quakers, its members were "conscientious objectors." It was supposed
that Alvin C. York would ask exemption as a "conscientious objector";
but he did not, although his friends begged him to do so. He reported
for duty at Camp Gordon, Georgia, on November 14, 1917.

He was often troubled however with the feeling that to kill men, even
in a righteous war to ensure liberty to all the world, was contrary to
his religion and the teachings of the Bible. He finally came to
realize that in this belief he was wrong, and that it was his duty, and
the duty of every brave man, to meet armed oppression by arms, and when
no other way was left, to kill those who would by force take away the
life and liberty of others.

He was an expert pistol and rifle shot, as are almost all Tennessee and
Kentucky mountaineers. In a shooting match with a major of his
division, York is said to have hit with his automatic pistol at every
shot a penny match-box over one hundred feet distant. His coolness and
courage in the face of danger and his skill with the pistol and rifle
enabled him to do the impossible--or at any rate, what every one would
have declared impossible, before Alvin C. York accomplished it.

All through the Argonne forest, from Verdun almost to Sedan, the
Americans were obliged to advance between hills, and often over hills
covered with dense tangles of shrubs, vines, and trees, among which the
Germans had hidden machine-gun nests.

Corporal York, on the morning of October 8, 1918, with his battalion
was attempting to get behind the machine-gun nests on a hillside and to
destroy them. The hill was then only known by number; it is now called
York Hill.

They were to climb the hill and come down over the crest, as in this
way they would get behind the German machine-guns. Sergeant Bernard
Early with sixteen men was ordered to undertake the task. Corporal
York was one of the men. At the start they were observed and were
caught by German fire from three directions. Six of the small company
were killed and three wounded, leaving Corporal York with seven
privates to advance up the hillside.

They succeeded in reaching the crest of the hill, although machine-gu