Enjoy His Own Life Story And War Diary Narrated By Tom Skeyhill Visible In Softcover

is a very insightful book, Although the punctuation/spelling/grammatical errors were a little bit annoying, I know that they were because of the true genuine nature of this book.
Alvin C. York is an inspiration for many and his diary is a great eyewitness account of World War, “I only did my duty to God and my country, and every man should do this, ”

The true story of an extraordinary man of conscience who also happened to be an incredible shot with a rifle.
Yorks struggle with the conflicting dictates of his faith and his patriotism is perhaps a more compelling story that his battlefield exploits, and thosethough documentedare so incredible as to seem like pulp fiction.


“Great care has been taken to preserve his mountain dialect, ”

Writing this in Yorks semiliterate dialect may have played well in thes, but todays reader will find it obscure and dishonest.
This is obviously a “as told to” book with New Yorker Tom Skeyhill as the ghost writer,

“And that is the greatest victory I ever won, Its much harder to whip yourself than to whip the other fellow, Im atelling you, and I ought to know because I done both.
It was much harder for me to win the great victory over myself than to win it over those German machine guns in the Argonne Forest.
And I was able to do it because my mothers love led me to God, and He showed me the light, and I done followed it.
”

York was older than most doughboys, More mature. Hed had his time of smokin, cussin, drinkin, swearin and lawlessness after his father died, Hed come to the Lord, He tried to avoid serving because he felt killingeven in combatagainst Gods dictates, Eventually he was persuaded otherwise,

“I had orders to report to Brigadier General Lindsay, our brigadier commander, and he said to me, Well, York, I hear you have captured the whole damned German army.
And I told him I only had, ”

Then and now any account of that morning in the Argonne Woods must reflect on the improbability of one man overpowering and capturing most of a battalion of heavily armed veteran enemy.
Yes, York was a crack shot and a cool head, but he himself credits divine intervention, York didnt want to kill or be killed, and paradoxically may have saved lives on both sides by his quick action and leadership.


“Im atelling you the hand of God must have been in that fight, It surely must have been divine power that brought me out, No other power under heaven could save a man in a place like that, Men were killed on both sides of me and all around me and I was the biggest and the most exposed of all.
Without the help of God I jes couldnt have done it, There can be no arguments about that, I am not going to believe different as long as I live, ”
I only knew a little about Sergeant York because I once saw the movie with Gary Cooper playing York.
It was wonderful to read this overtly Christian testimony in York's own words, I didn't even mind his English errors, because he did such a good job at organizing and choosing the details of his life to talk about.
His version of "haha" Ho! Ho! tickled me, I read it to decide whether to include it in our readaloud list with the kids this year, but I have decided not to read it aloud.
It is wonderful, especially as an example of moral character for my boys, so I definitely want them all to read it, but I will just have the older boys read it now in their literature assignments, and my younger kids will do the same when they get old enough.
The accounts of all of the gore and death in the Argonne are too sad for the younger kids.
I was also a little more able to understand why the Americans joined the war, though I admit that I still feel a fog over my understanding about WW, especially what the US was doing there.
I've heard about Alvin C York my entire life, but primarily because of the bridge named after him that crosses the Tennessee River just west of my hometown.
I never really knew his story until now, The book was interesting and unexpected, Only a couple of chapters cover the WWI story that made him famous, Most are dedicated to what it was like to grow up in the mountains of East Tennessee shortly after the turn of theth century.
Interesting perspectives and good story of a man of simple, humble faith, Sergeant York and the Great War by Alvin C, York presents his Life Story and War Diary: The inspiring true story of "the reluctant World War I infantryman who became an American legend"in his own words The New York Times.
On October,: Amid the last of the Allies' attempts to defeat the Germans, Sgt, Alvin York of Tennessee, who had initially applied for conscientious objector status that was denied, found himself and his platoon of only seventeen men trapped in the thick of heavy machine gun fire.
Rather than retreating or calling upon the artillery to take out the nest, York singlehandedly took out twentyfive Germans, dropping them one by one, and capturedmore.
This is only one of the many tales of York's famed heroism, which were heralded as some of the most impressive battle stories in the history of modern warfare.
Sergeant York contains the legendary soldier's war diaries, which offer upclose snapshots of his fabled military career, Included in this new edition of a classic work are new forewords written by York's son and grandson, which provide both personal and historical recollections of their predecessor.
In Sergeant York, experience the fascinating life of an American hero from his humble upbringing in rural Tennessee and his conversion from a young hellraiser to a very religious person who did not approve of war.
Very inspirational true story that is also out as a film on DVD,

I enjoyed this a lot, One because I already knew a lot about Alvin York and two because his journal is just downright funny!

i.
e. "I was the third in a family of eleven children, eight boys and three girls, there was a whole litter of us and we jes sort of growed up like a lot of pigs.
I jes sorter mean that we were most always turned loose outofdoors on the mountainside, kinder running wild, playing and haunting around.
"

Some of Alvin's favorite words are: Kinder, sorter, knowed, and growed, But despite his lack of education which was only throughnd grade he was a man who knew what his duty was and did it, not asking anything in return.


So yeah, It was good, I enjoyed it and York is always pretty amusing, What an Amazing Story! Great story for read aloud to boy's, Hard to read his way of writing words, but we got the idea of his talent at marksmanship, and not schooling.
A treasure. SERGEANT YORK: HIS OWN LIFE STORY AND WAR DIARY
Edited by Tom Skeyhill

Gary Cooper played Alvin C York in themovie Sergeant York.
Having watched that movie on television years ago, I was always fascinated with Yorks story, I recently came across the ebook of his story edited by Tom Skeyhill and published by Racehorse Publishing and decided to give it a read.
Im so glad I did, I found it helpful for me to have heard Cooper speak in the mountain “dialect” in which Yorks diary is writtenand it made me smile in awe.


The main purpose for publishing Yorks story, after turning down many profitable offers to do so, was so that York could fund his cherished educational programs for the people of his mountains in Tennessee.


Yorks coveted story is the retelling of the actual events and miraculous victory that took place in Frances Argonne Forest on October,during World War I.
When the day started, he was a Corporal in the United States Army, Company G,th Infantry,nd Division.
York would be promoted to Sergeant as a result of his actions taken in the Argonne, Additional awards would come Yorks way: The Congressional Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, Frances Croix de guerre and Legion dhonneur, the Italian Croce di Guerra, and other service decorations.


The war story of Alvin C York is fascinating but, to me, I was more impressed by the overall person that he was.
He was one of eleven children born in a one room log cabin in the mountains of rural Fentress County, Tennessee.
Everything the Yorks had was provided by the mountains, Alvins daddy taught him to hunt and to shoot and they could be found on Saturdays at the local shooting matches competing with their neighbors.
But the solace and sustenance that the mountains provided also sheltered them from the educational opportunities that could be found “outside”.


Upon returning from Europe after the war, York reflected on his experiences in his travels and he knew that although he had receivedweeks of schooling every year foryears and had read his first book at the age of, the children growing up in the mountains would be at a clear disadvantage to the opportunities available to others.
York made it his mission to bring education to those children,

Included with the book were aboutpictures taken of York and his surroundings, Also, at the end is included the website: sitelinkwww, sgtyork. org for The Sergeant York Center for Peace and Valor, “a nonprofit organization to ensure the legacy of Alvin C York is not lost or forgotten.
Proceeds from this book go to support efforts to rebuild York Historic School, "

Amazingly true story of a Christian,World War I veteran, The journals of Sergeant Alvin York were originally compiled and edited by Tom Skeyhill in, Thiscopy included some black amp white photos and was edited by Richard Wheeler,

Most U. S. citizens have little knowledge of Americas involvement in World War I as it was not a part of their educational curriculum.
What the public recalls is primarily Yorks life and heroics through actor Gary Coopers Oscar winning portrayal in a Hollywood film.
The impact of this black amp white movie remains so strong that Coopers daughter, Maria Janis Cooper, was selected into the Board of Trustees of the National World War I Museum.


This firsthand account offers additional insight into Yorks mind, Growing up in the rural mountains of Tennessee I knew York bonded with his brothers, Getting drunk on moonshine and involved in fighting was a common part of his early manhood, Its common to protect ones turf, but I did not realize that many his brawls occurred along the Tennessee/Kentucky border.


Throughout life Yorks knowledge,

admiration and appreciation for nature remained as strong as his family roots.
He was very proficient with a rifle as a necessity to provide food, Folks familiar with York know that exposure to religion turned his life around, How the conscious objector became a true national war hero is a great simple story told by the man who shunned fame.


The “Editors Note” on pageincorrectly stated of Yorks division: “Thend Division was called the Rainbow Division, since it was made up of various nationalities.
” The famousnd Division held that moniker,
I kinda cheated since I listened to it on audio, Alvin's language makes this hard to read outloud unless you can put on a good "hick" accent! can't wait to watch the movie.
I read this story as part of my personal study of World War I, The book is more the story of York's life rather than his time at war, where he became the most decorated American soldier in history.
I had hoped to learn a little bit more about the war itself, but it was still an interesting read about a man who cared deeply for his family, friends and country.
His Own Life Story and War Diary

Thomas/Tom Skeyhill was a writer that became interested in the story of Alvin Collum York, WWI's most decorated soldier.
Tom followed his curiosity to the hills of Tennessee, where he befriended the veteran and was the final in a string of persons and events that finally convinced York to publish his diary and follow through on his own earlier attempts at transcribing his memory of the events leading up to and including his takingGerman prisoners almost singlehandedly.
York was famously introverted and refused numerous offers to publicize his story, himself insisting that "to take money like that would be commercializing my uniform and my soldiering.
"Besides, his simple upbringing and lack of "larnin" belied a keen instinct, for his refusal rested upon his observation that "they jes wanted me to show how I done killed the Germans in the Argonne.
"That Skeyhill was able to finally convince York to share his story in as near to his own words as possible reveals a bond of trust uncommon between popular culture and its combat veterans.
Skeyhill seems well aware of this, and treats his subject matter with care and precision,

The first three chapters are in Skeyhhill's voice, giving the context to his visitations with York before the biographer switches with permission to writing in York's own firsthand voice.
Diffusing the otherwise questionable literary editorial choice of notquiteghostwriting is Skeyhill's careful use of "mountaineer" dialect deferring to York's own linguistic nuance and at times confusing grammar unique to the frontier folk language of his time and place.
In fact, Skeyhill's interest from the getgo is to give York voice its fullest possible expression, weaving in his transcription of York's personal war diary which was against military regulation, given their proclivity for revealing operational intelligence were diarists to be captured.
Several pages are dedicated to reproducing images of the text itself, as well as helpful pictures of York's home and situation in the rural mountains in the Cumberland Mountains.


I have become something of a connoisseur of veterans narratives lately, especially those that have coverage in film as well.
Themovie Sergeant York starred Gary Cooper in the title role, earned him his first Oscar for Best Actor.
The popularity of the movie can be attributed to the timing of its release just two days before the Julyth holiday and just over five months prior to Pearl Harbor.
However, the film as opposed to the book took many liberties and betrayed much of York initial convictions surrounding the use of his life story.
Though thefilm probably has sept more into the minds of Americans, the book acts as a helpful antidote to the overt inaccurate nationalizing fervor of the Warner Brothers work which was pulled from theaters within months for violating the Neutrality Acts of the's, which forbade propaganda.
Though the book predated the movie by over a decade, it is well served as a counternarrative to that which was promoted by the cinematic embellishment that followed it.


Though York was known for his heroic acts in battle, they must not be separated from the pacifist convictions that initially formed his imagination about war.
Indeed, "hit is a most awful thing when the wishes of your God and your country get sorter mixed up and go against each other.
"When he received his draft notice atyears old, he had put the life of a fighter behind him.
In response to the question whether he claimed exemption to military service based on religious scruples, he wrote to the draft board, which his own pastor served as director, "Yes, don't want to fight.
" His draft card is viewable online via the National Archives, but also see p,. His church and everyone in it was opposed to war based on the fifth commandment, "Thou shalt not kill.
" The regional board, despite his pastor's support and explicit claim that his entire local church was opposed to all war, refused to recognize his objection.
So York appealed three times, and they stood firm the same number, If finally tookhours of prayer on a mountain near his home to convince him that God would protect York and that he could go to war even if it was against his and God's will.
His peace to do what he was ordered came by way of his realization that "no matter what a man is forced to do, so long as he is right in his own soul he remains a righteous man.
", emphasis added So off he went to war, troubled and troubling all the way, Like Job before him, York's intense faith would inspire God to "believe in and watch over" him,

The book spends a full half of its length before it finally gets to this point.
In fact, York insisted that any depiction of his life not be overshadowed by the specter or war.
When he signed the contract with Warner Brothers for the movie, he stipulated that no war scenes whatsoever be showed.
He even required that he have final say over the leading lady, for he would not have his wife depicted by any of the infamous glamour girls of hollywood.
Gary Cooper, who would play him on screen, was initially reluctant to portray the war hero because of the explicit pacifism inherent to York's story as well as not being himself a veteran, for Cooper was among the minority in America in being in support of American intervention in Europe during WWII.
In order to land the popular and talented actor, producers forged York's signature to a document insisting Cooper play the lead.
Whereas the movie does cover some of York's life according to Skeyhill's account, slightly over half the movie is of Cooper in uniform, either in garrison in Camp Gordon, GA or on the battlefield in France.
To be fair, the same proportion exists in the book, but no such agreement was made between York and Skeyhill, and York had much more control over the literary final product than he did the cinematic one.


The climactic scene of both the book and the movie is the one that takes place in the Argonne Forest in France, where York describes having been instructed to take out a machine gun nest to assist in his unit's advance toward Berlin in October,.
That the Armistice would occur just a month later did not deter intense fighting nohow, and York remembers the event vividly for Skeyhill.
Having come across an enemy command post, his unit suffers aattrition when the machine guns turn inward and take the lives of six of his men, including all the ranking noncommissioned officers.
Taking command, he instructs the privates the lowest in rank to secure the few prisoners they had while he went off to silence the automatic weapons fire.
His familiarity with rifles as a young man hunting for food in the mountains left him with a finely tuned marksmanship that enabled him to conserve ammunition and move between firearms rapidly, using a pistol when his carbine ran out of ammunition.



Random Ruminations
York refuses to lean on ideologies and streotype soldiers, even as a conscientious objector opposed to war.
His experience in WWI left him with the impression that "war brings out the worst in you, It turns you into a mad, fightin' animal, but it also brings out something else, something I jes don't know how to describe, a sort of tenderness and love for the fellows fightin' with you.
"Even of his enemies, he speaks so highly that he avoids the affects of dehumanization that can lead to posttraumatic stress or moral injury.
About one German soldier who refuses to surrender and continues to fire at York and even the Germans under his care, York writes "I had to tech him off.
. . he was probably a brave soldier boy, But I couldn't afford to take any chance, "

But he is also unwilling to call war good, for "God would never be so cruel as to create a cyclone as terrible as that Argonne battle.
Only man could ever think of doing an awful thing like that, "

Whereas the movie depicts York rather derogatorily gobbling at the Germans like turkeys in order to get them to poke their heads out, the actual story is not nearly as dehumanizing.
While York does indeed rely on strategy similar to that which he used hunting wild game, it is never to make animal noises at his targets that surely would have given away his position and compromised his safety.
Instead, it was the practice of firing on the trailing animal so that those ahead do not know they are being attrited.
"That's the way we shoot wild turkeys at home, "He does the same to the German soldiers, though only to those who are so busy firing on him or his buddies that he cannot call out to them to surrender the urgent need is to stop them firing, and their heads were the only parts of them he could see.
He "done hollered to them to come down and give up, He didn't want to kill any more'n he had to, "

For the rest of his life he was left to think about what he done, both good and bad.
He tried to forget it for awhile, never telling anyone, even his own mother, Lamentingly, he remarks "If they had done surrendered as I wanted them to when I hollered to them first, and kept on hollering to them, I would have given them the protection that I give them later when I tuk them back.
"The words "surrender" or "give up" never leave the lips of Gary Cooper during the same scene in the movie.

.