Sergeant York - The Man and the Movie

The Story of WWI's Greatest Hero

Alvin York, World War I hero, refused Hollywood's attempts to tell his story for years. He finally gave in to their pressures, but under one condition. Sergeant York would have to be portrayed by none other than the great Gary Cooper. If nothing else, Sergeant Alvin York could have been a casting director. The choice of Cooper was pure genius. His portrayal of Sergeant York won him an Oscar, and insured that the incredibly brave exploits of this true American hero would never be forgotten.

Hollywood has taken liberties with history, from the story of the Exodus to Braveheart to the Alamo, all the way to the Gulf War. The saga of Sergeant York is no different, with film makers not letting the facts get in the way of a good story. Yet, if anything, the movie fails to show the overwhelming odds that York truly faced when he captured 132 German soldiers in France.
Alvin Cullum York was born on December 17th, 1887, in Pall Mall, Tennessee, the third of eleven children. He had very little education and as late as 1914, when he was 26, he was a trouble-making drinker that constantly got into fights in the boondocks saloons of his home state. Unlike the movie, where his "wicked ways" come to an end when lightning strikes his gun and almost kills him, the real Alvin York lost a good friend in a bar fight. That event, plus the pleas of his mother to stop drinking and the preaching of his pastor, helped him turn his life around, to the point where he became a respected member of his church. When he was drafted in June of 1917, York sent the notice back with the words "I don't want to fight" written on it. His church teachings told him that killing was wrong, and he labored with the moral dilemma of obeying the word of God or the laws of his country. When the draft board denied him an exemption because his church did not expressly prohibit killing during war, York had a hard ethical decision to make.