{"id":59108,"date":"2019-09-28T01:14:41","date_gmt":"2019-09-28T01:14:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/09\/28\/this-one-time-conscientious-objector-recorded-25-confirmed-kills-in-a-single-day\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T10:15:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T10:15:29","slug":"this-one-time-conscientious-objector-recorded-25-confirmed-kills-in-a-single-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2019\/09\/28\/this-one-time-conscientious-objector-recorded-25-confirmed-kills-in-a-single-day\/","title":{"rendered":"This one-time conscientious objector recorded 25 confirmed kills in a single day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Over 100 years after the conclusion of World War I, Alvin York\u2019s heroics remain difficult to fathom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSergeant York,\u201d the one-time conscientious objector from Tennessee who never advanced beyond the third grade, would transform from an anonymous corporal to a national hero following his actions in the Argonne Forest on the morning of October 8, 1918.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But his path to becoming a military icon almost never materialized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

York put up heavy resistance as the draft plucked young men from across America and plunged them into military service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to his newfound Christian faith, York doubted whether he was capable of taking another human life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After applying for a religious exemption \u2014 and appealing four times \u2014 York was thrust into service nonetheless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quickly, his superiors, including his battalion commander, Maj. George Edward Buxton, were made aware of his concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps sensing honesty in York\u2019s conundrum, Buxton, a devout Christian himself, allowed the hesitant recruit to take a 10-day hiatus to consider his future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Call it a spiritual revelation, but whatever York experienced during the 10-day span certainly did the trick, and he reported back to his unit determined to fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
York. (U.S. Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By the time October 1918 rolled around, York was a battle-hardened veteran, having participated in numerous assaults along the Western Front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He witnessed sheer devastation on the front lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friends were mutilated as the result of incessant shelling. Others fell victim to German chemical attacks, their final breaths taken in agony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But York remained steadfast, and on October 8, the unassuming squad leader who once wrote in his 1928 autobiography that his men \u201calmost led me\u201d would take on an unprecedented role in military history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just before 6 a.m., York and the men from 2nd Battalion, 328th Infantry Regiment, 82nd Division, began to make their way toward Castle Hill and into an adjacent valley, a critical juncture on their way to securing a roadway and rail line the Germans used as primary supply routes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unbeknownst to the attackers, the Germans had positioned over 50 machine guns with clear views of the valley where the Americans were ordered to assault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 6:10 a.m., rifle fire cracked the air as the Americans fired the first shots at German defenses, many of whom were caught off guard due the lack of an American artillery barrage that was supposed to precede the assault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miles away, the American gun line had not yet received the order to fire \u2014 a mistake that wound up benefiting York and the men of the 82nd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Castle Hill was quickly taken, but as the Americans entered the valley, the Germans unleashed a hailstorm of ammunition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo you see we were getting it from the front and both flanks,\u201d York described.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, the first and second waves got about halfway across the valley and then were held up by machine gun fire from the three sides. It was awful. Our losses were very heavy. … They stopped us dead in our tracks.”<\/p>\n\n\n