Modern Man
of
Faith
As he got older, he became known for his accuracy with a gun and his tendency to look for trouble in area bars. Then in 1914 his best friend Everett Delks was killed in a bar fight and then Alvin later attended a revival conducted by H. H. Russell of the Church of Christ in Christian Union. These two things led him to a complete change of his lifestyle and his religion, he converted to this new found faith, which forbade drinking, gambling, dancing, swearing, and was strictly non-violent and opposed to all kinds of violence and war. York quit all of these things upright and became a leading member of the church, leading the choir and also teaching a Sunday school class. He also met his future wife, Gracie Williams, through this church.
York's conviction to remain non-violent was put to the test in 1917 when WWI errupted and the U.S. joined it. He remained against it and did not want to fight, but he received his draft notice in June of that year. He tried to seek conscientious objector status, but he was denied because the Church of Christ in Christian Union was not an official Christian sect, so he had to goto Georgia for basic training. There he joined the 328th Infantry in the 82nd Division, and his commander convinced him that sometimes war is necessary, moral, and deemed by God, so York finally agreed to fight.
On October 8, 1918, York and 16 other men were ordered to take an enemy radio station down. It was heavily guarded with more than 150 Germans. When they first got there, the Germans were confused by their numbers and thought there were far more than 16 Americans so they surrendered, but then they found out and opened fire, killing 9 of them right away. York and the remaining Americans took out one machine gun crew and killed 25 total Germans, the other 130 or so Germans surrendered for good this time to them. For his role in the victory, York was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and the French Croix de Geurre.
After the war, he returned home to Tennessee with a vision: to provide basic education to the children of Fentress County and also to bring technology to his home becuase they needed it in order to prosper. Throughout the 1920s he went on campaigns to raise money and support for starting a school and he also got money to improve the roads and the employment of the region. In 1926 he founded what would come to be known as the Alvin C. York Institute and he ran it privately for several years until 1937 and the Tennessee State Assembly placed the institute under the State's board of education control. "To the end that my people of Pall Mall and Fentress County and the boys and girls of this mountainious section may enjoy the liberating influences and educational advantages which were denied me, I dedicate this institution and my life to its perpetuation, and seek from the American people support in keeping it with great need." Alvin York (from York Institute)
In the 1930s, Alvin York got involved in major politics, running for the Senate as a democrat. In the 1932 election though he did not support Franklin Roosevelt, the Democratic candidate, because he promised to repeal Prohibition, which York and his church were all for. After the New Deal was announced though, he came back to the Democratic party and became greatly involved in the New Deal, becoming superintendent of the Cumberland Homesteads project in 1939.
Once again the threat of a world war loomed and York was again opposed to it first, but then he changed his mind again and became an avid supporter of it, joining the Fight for Freedom Committee which opposed U.S. isolationism. When the war broke out, he joined the Signal Corps and toured the country to sell war bonds and recruite more soldiers.
When asked how he wanted to be remembered, Alvin York replied that he would like to be remembered for his trying to improve the eduicational systems of Tennesee because he considered it to be the key to true success.
Alvin York is a good model of faith and Faith because first off he led wild life but then converted to God and completely changed. Then even though he was opposed to war and violence, he felt that both WWI and WWII were necessary to he took big parts in both of them, even going over and actually fighting the the first one. Finally, he founded a new school in his home region for boys and girls, and participated in FDR's New Deal. He was a very selfless man and always worked hard to improve the lives of other people.
SOURCES:
Alvin C.York.org
Alvin C. York Institute
World War I
Order of Centurions
Home of Heroes