Alvin York did not get to come home immediately after the Armistice was signed. During these months after the war, while he was still in France, he attended the first meeting of the American Legion.
"I went back to Paris again in April. I was ordered to represent my division as a non-commissioned officer at the first meeting of the American Legion. That was when it was formed." - York "So you see I'm a charter member of the American Legion. It begun right there in Paris, at the Hotel de Gabriel. The meeting lasted all day until about 5:30 in the afternoon. I attended all the sessions. I jes knowed hit was going to grow into a big organization. It sorter seemed right that the buddies who fought together in France should have some sort of organization that would keep them together in peace." - York |
"The American Legion was chartered by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic veterans organization. Focusing on service to veterans, servicemembers and communities, the Legion evolved from a group of war-weary veterans of World War I into one of the most influential nonprofit groups in the United States." - The American Legion |
Alvin left home unknown. He came back an American Hero.
YORK, ALVIN. SGT., U.S.A.: REP. HULL OF TN; SGT. YORK; SEN. McKELLAR; SEN. CHAMBERLAIN -1919
“I have been a heap criticized for what I done when I come back from the war; for turning down all them-there offers to go on the stage and into the movies and in business. I knowed I was turning down fortunes. I knowed I could never hope nohow to make a lot of money like that agin. But I couldn’t help it.” - York |
Source: Sergeant York: His Own Life Story and War Diary
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Sergeant York was anxious to return to normal life and reluctant to discuss the war.
"It's over; let's just forget about it." -York
"As soon as I got back to the little old log cabin in the Valley of the Three Forks of the Wolf I went a-hunting--not for coon, or possum or fox or squirrels--I went a-hunting for Gracie. I done found her too. And what I said to her and what she said to me and what we said to each other ain't nobody's business nohow." - York |
Then I went out on the mountainside where I used to pray and when it was all quiet and there was nobody around nohow, I returned thanks to God. He had given me my assurance that even if I didn't think it right I should go jes the same; and would be protected from harm; and would come back without a hair of my head injured. I don't know what I said to Him. I disremember. I don't know that I said anything. I jes felt." - York |
"And, oh, my, what a joyful time I had with them-there hound dogs of mine. I done set down and looked at them and patted them and they wagged their tails and licked my hands, and then, ho, ho, they bayed and sorter circled round, and sorter lit out for the woods; jes to sorter remind me that they hadn't been foolin' round nohow while I was away, and they still knowed where the coons and possums and the foxes were." - York |
After many years, York's story was finally told on the big screen.
“Lasky approached York first with a letter but was unable to get a reaction. Then he tried another appeal, one designed to touch York’s patriotic and political sentiments. The producer sent a telegram requesting a conference so that the two could discuss the making of ‘a historical document of vital importance to the country in these troubled times.’ At last York agreed to a meeting. He talked with Lasky not only because of his interest in the international situation but because of his own financial needs back in Tennessee. York had been busy planning for the opening of an international Bible school in his state, but he lacked sufficient money to move the project forward. A movie contract promised a quick source of funds. Consequently, in March 1940 York met with Lasky in a Crossville, Tennessee, hotel to begin discussions.” – Toplin “In their efforts of focus on historical details and promote their movie as an authentic, nonpartisan examination of a war hero’s experiences, the moviemakers conducted more research into the background of their story than was typical of Hollywood productions at the time.” – Toplin The official 1941 "Sergeant York" movie trailer - Source:Youtube.com
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Source: garycooperscrapbook.proboards.com
“The producers recalled that for many years, Alvin York had resisted efforts to make a movie about his life.” – Toplin “York said he hoped that the film would contribute to ‘national unity in this hour of danger’ when ‘millions of Americans like myself, must be facing the same question, the same uncertainties, which we faced and I believed resolved some twenty-four years ago.’ “ – Toplin |
“ ‘Sergeant York’ served as a powerful metaphor, showing how one young man’s experience could represent a model for a nation struggling to decide what it should do about a serious international problem.” – Toplin