(b. December 13, 1887; d. September 2, 1964) World War I hero and recruiting figure during World War II.

Alvin C. York was born the third child of eleven to William and Mary Brooks York in Pall Mall, Tennessee. York's family eked out an existence in a two-room cabin. York was raised as a country boy who had only attended school for nine months. In 1917, York's world was changed forever when he was drafted into the American Army. York resisted because of religious beliefs; his Church of Christ in Christian Union denounced killing. But because his church was not recognized by the draft board as a legitimate denomination, York could not be excused from service as a conscientious objector.

Sergeant Alvin C. York's amazing exploit near Chatel-Chehery in the Argonne Forest during World War I captured American imagination. On the foggy, rain soaked morning of October 8, 1918, York and...