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Alvin C york was born on December 13, 1887 in a two room log cabin in a farm near Pall Mall, Tennessee.
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Alvin C York grew up on a farm andgot drafted into World War 1. He became one of the most decorated WW1 soldier.He received the Medal of Honor for leading an attack on a German machine gun nest, taking 32 machine guns, killing 28 German soldiers and capturing 132 others.
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William York died in November 1911. Which left Alvin to help his mother on the farm and help with his 10 other siblings.
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On January 1 1915 durig a revival at church, York came clean with his drinking and converted his life to God.
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York registered for draft at the age of 29 as all men his age did.
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November 1917, while York's application was considered, he was drafted and began his army service at Camp Gordon in Georgia.
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York's group was ordered to go behind German lines to take out German troops The group worked their way behind the Germans and overran the headquarters of a German unit, capturing a large group of German soldiers who were preparing a counter-attack against the U.S. troops. Early's men were contending with the prisoners when machine gun fire suddenly peppered the area. As his men remained under cover, and guarded the prisoners, York worked his way into position to silence the German machine guns.
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From the day he registered for the draft until he returned from the war on May 29, 1919, York kept a diary of his activities
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He had been home for barely a week when, on June 7, 1919, York and Gracie Loretta Williams were married by Tennessee Governor Albert H. Roberts in Pall Mall.
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York suffered from health problems throughout his life. He had gall bladder surgery in the 1920s and suffered from pneumonia in 1942. More strokes and another case of pneumonia followed, and he was confined to bed from 1954, further handicapped by failing eyesight. He was hospitalized several times during his last two years. York died at the Veterans Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 2, 1964, of a cerebral hemorrhage.